Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 NOV. 13, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA T here's hardly ever much to take away from a Power Five pro- gram like Notre Dame blowing out a Division II school like Emporia State in an exhibition game, but Nov. 1 at Purcell Pavilion felt a little different for a few reasons. For starters, Notre Dame didn't have the luxury of exhibition games last year. Niele Ivey was tossed into the fire in her first year as head coach, and it was a flame her team couldn't extinguish in a season- opening 86-85 road loss to Ohio. The Irish should feel much more prepared for the Ohio Bob- cats a year later when they get them in South Bend for the season opener Nov. 9. The performance against Emporia State indicated as much, anyway. The Fighting Irish whizzed past the Lady Hornets, 104-46. The size advantage was clear cut. The athleticism differential didn't make for much of a match. Notre Dame exploited both advantages from the opening tip and cruised to a comfortable, get the gears go- ing type of victory. "The game plan was winning the rebound battle because I want to run," Ivey said. "I want to push pace and establish our in- side presence. That was a goal. I knew we had a size advantage, and that's something we'd been working on." Nobody made use of the size advan- tage as well as 6-foot-3 graduate transfer Maya Dodson. She opened the scoring 12 seconds into the game. Any preseason questions of who the Irish's go-to post presence would be this season were an- swered rather early and often. Dodson scored 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and added eight rebounds. "It was great just to see where I stack up against another team," Dodson said. "I had a great game today. There are a lot of things I can learn from because we're going to have some hard competition coming forward. So, it really helped me figure out what I'm doing and what I need to work on. But overall, I think it was a great matchup for me, and I'm happy I was able to play today." Dodson wasn't the only player who made her Notre Dame debut in the ex- hibition. Freshman guard Sonia Citron was the first player off the bench. She scored 15 points on five shot attempts. She made 6 of 7 free throws. The 6-foot-1 combo guard played the wing most of the night. She snagged six rebounds and seemed to have a knack for asserting her presence on both ends of the floor. She picked up two first-half fouls and only scored two points as a result. She bounced back to play a clean, effective second half. Ivey was pleased to see that from a first-year player in her first competitive collegiate action. Sophomore Nat Marshall played the first nine minutes of her career, too. She sat out the entire 2020-21 season re- habbing a knee injury. She scored eight points and secured six rebounds in just nine minutes. Ivey said Marshall should keep growing with each game. Perhaps it was a good sign for Notre Dame's offensive identity that last year's leading scorer, sophomore for- ward Maddy Westbeld, didn't score her first points until the second quarter. The Irish had already put 33 points on the board before Westbeld chipped in with her first two. She finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Notre Dame's backcourt duo of freshman Olivia Miles and senior Dara Mabrey were exactly what a coach is looking for in a pair of guards. Mabrey led the team with 10 assists. Miles had six. They only combined to turn the ball over five times. Miles scored 13 points. Mabrey had 12, all of which came on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. They combined for 12 rebounds. Asked about the identity of Notre Dame this season, Dodson said it's not so much based on personnel but rather the way players like Mabrey sacrifice for the betterment of the program. "We love playing with each other," Dodson said. "We have a lot of heart. We want this season to be great. I wasn't here last year, but I was watching. "And I think we're even better than last year. We're going to be a great team this year." ✦ Irish Provide An Enticing Glimpse Of What To Expect This Season Maya Dodson, a graduate transfer from Stanford, scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds in her Irish debut during a 104-46 win over Emporia State Nov. 1. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 2021-22 WOMEN'S EARLY BASKETBALL SCHEDULE As of Nov. 4 Date Opponent Time (ET) Nov. 1 Emporia State^ W, 104-46 Nov. 9 Ohio 7 p.m. Nov. 11 Western Illinois 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at Syracuse* 12 p.m. Nov. 18 Fordham 7 p.m. Nov. 21 Bryant 5 p.m. Nov. 26 vs. Georgia# 4:30 p.m. Nov. 27 vs. Oregon State# 7 p.m. ^ Exhibition; # Daytona Beach Invitational in Day- tona, Fla.