Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JAN. 1, 2021 57 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL and that nucleus still, and that was part of the problem today. " Westbeld led Notre Dame with 21 points, all in the second half, and nine rebounds. At center, Vaughn saw her first ac- tion since undergoing ACL surgery last spring and played 24:51. She fin- ished 2 of 9 from the floor for seven points to go with six rebounds and four blocked shots. Team chemistry on the court re- mains a prime issue. There is no true point guard other than freshman Ala- sia Hayes, and there is a greater need of post presence (the Irish were out- rebounded 50-36 at Clemson). It's more of a hodgepodge of tal- ented individual parts not yet work- ing together well, and now under the direction of a first-time head coach. "We're a brand-new team regard- less of who's on the court," said Westbeld, the team's leading scorer (17.1 points per game) and rebounder (7.6) after the defeat. "We're just try- ing to find everybody's place … It's definitely different. It's something we have to adapt to as a team, play- ing with different matchups." KEEPING HOPE ALIVE Four days later the Irish were fac- ing an 0-2 hole in league play before displaying the type of promise that demonstrated it has NCAA Tourna- ment potential. Trailing 30-19 against another NCAA Tournament-caliber team in Virginia Tech, Notre Dame closed the first half with a 20-5 run to take a 43-38 lead into the halftime locker room, easily playing their best quar- ter of the year, with junior Abby Pro- haska and Hayes supplying energy off the bench. After back-to-back threes put the Hokies ahead 70-64, and following a bucket by 6-5 star Elizabeth Kit- ley that gave them the lead again at 75-73 with 2:27 remaining, strong defense and patient offense enabled Notre Dame to finish with an 11-3 run. Westbeld tied it at 75 with a move inside, and Peoples had back-to-back clear-out drives to the hoop that provided a 79-75 cushion, followed by two free throws by Mabrey that pushed the advantage to six points. Westbeld paced the Fighting Irish with 23 points while adding six re- bounds, and Peoples had 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds and three assists. Particularly uplifting was the re- emergence of sophomore forward Sam Brunelle, who is working back into a rhythm after knee and foot injuries shelved her much of the pre- season. She provided 17 points off the bench, converting 5 of 9 from three-point range, and grabbed four rebounds. During Notre Dame's 20-5 run in the second quarter, Brunelle scored eight points, twice converting be- yond the arc. ✦ Three-Point Play 1. What's Her Destiny? While attempting to achieve a team chemistry, tough decisions need to be made. In the two game-stretch versus Georgia Tech (Dec. 13) and Virginia Tech (Dec. 17), it appeared the staff might be phasing out sixth-year senior guard Destinee Walker, last year's leading scorer. She did not play the entire second half in the loss to Georgia Tech and was not inserted in the win versus Virginia Tech, and it wasn't because of an injury. Yet in the 78-55 loss at Clemson on Dec. 20, Walker played 18:26 off the bench and paced the Irish in scoring with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. This again demonstrated how finding the right combinations in the lineup remains a work in progress, yet also can be detrimental to team flow and rhythm. 2. Dear Abby After sitting out last season with pulmonary embolism, junior guard Abby Prohaska has proven to be an ideal glue figure off the bench. She takes the charges, sets the needed screens for the shooters and regularly makes the right pass or basketball play. In the comeback win versus Virginia Tech Dec. 17, Prohaska (four points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist) had the highest plus-minus (plus-14) rating in the game and combined with freshman point guard Alasia Hayes (plus-11), to provide needed defensive intensity. Then in the somber effort at Clemson, Prohaska scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 19:02 off the bench. 3. Taking A Knee In what is certain to be a hot-button issue, prior to the Dec. 13 tip-off at home versus Geor- gia Tech, numerous members of the Irish team for the first time took a knee during the pre- game playing of the national anthem. The program released a long statement that included: "We kneel in protest of the systematic racism, police brutality, and continuous racial injus- tice towards Black Americans that permeates throughout the core of our society. We also kneel to mourn the lives of our Black brothers and sisters that have died unjustly. For all of the reasons that we choose to kneel, disrespecting the flag or those who have served or are serving this country under the banner of the flag is not one of them. "We support every member of our team — those who are choosing to kneel and those who are choosing to stand during the national anthem — just as we support their reasons for doing so." — Lou Somogyi Seeing her first action of the season after recovering from ACL surgery last spring, senior center Mikki Vaughn started, scored seven points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked four shots in an 82-67 home loss to Georgia Tech Dec. 13. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER