Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL head coach Muffet McGraw on the 2001 national champs. "They got too many second chance points. They played hard, scrapped and found a way to win." • A week later, the now No. 16 De- Paul Blue Demons employed an ag- gressive full-court press to up the tempo while playing 10 people, but Notre Dame consistently broke it and shot a blistering 76.5 percent (26 of 34) from the floor, including 8 of 11 from three-point range to build a 65-39 half- time cushion. In the second half, it was a 180-de- gree turn with the Blue Demons out- scoring the Irish 51-30 on the strength of converting 9 of 13 three-pointers (69.2 percent). Notre Dame also shot an uncharacteristic 7 of 16 from the foul line in the second half, but held on for a 95-90 victory. "The defense was absolutely unac- ceptable," McGraw said afterwards of her team. "That is not the way we want to play. We got complacent … we know better." The most impressive effort during that stretch might have been on the road against the Connecticut dynasty Dec. 5. Playing again without its top two frontline players, the Fighting Irish showed why they are still one of the top two or three programs in the coun- try. Notre Dame took the lead three times late in the first half before fall- ing behind at the intermission, 45-43, against the three-time defending na- tional champs. It was still within strik- ing distance at 58-54 before UConn had a decisive 20-2 blitzkrieg in its 91-81 victory. A torrid 21-point first-half effort by freshman guard Marina Mabrey, on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, kept the Irish in the game, and the overall 2015-16 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 7 Wayne State* W, 101-52 Nov. 15 Bucknell W, 85-54 Nov. 18 Toledo W, 74-39 Nov. 21 at South Dakota State W, 75-64 Nov. 23 at Valparaiso W, 110-54 Nov. 27 vs. Denver^ W, 94-52 Nov. 28 vs. UCLA^ W, 92-84 (OT) Dec. 2 Ohio State W, 75-72 Dec. 5 at Connecticut L, 91-81 Dec. 9 DePaul W, 95-90 Dec. 12 at TCU W, 88-71 Dec. 21 at St. Joseph's (Pa.) 7 p.m. Dec. 28 Oregon State 7 p.m. Dec. 30 Georgia Tech 7 p.m. Jan. 3 at Pittsburgh (RSN) 3 p.m. Jan. 7 at Virginia 7 p.m. Jan. 10 North Carolina (ESPN2) 1 p.m. Jan. 14 at Boston College 7 p.m. Jan. 18 Tennessee (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 21 Syracuse (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Jan. 24 Virginia Tech 1 p.m. Jan. 28 at Georgia Tech (RSN) 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at Duke (ESPN2) 6 p.m. Feb. 4 NC State (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at Louisville (ESPN/2) 2/4 p.m. Feb. 14 Miami (RSN) 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at Wake Forest 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at Florida State (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 25 Clemson 7 p.m. Feb. 27 Boston College 1 p.m. March 2-6 ACC Tournament$ TBD * Exhibition; ^ Junkanoo Jam at Freeport, Bahamas; FSN — FOX Sports Net; RSN — ACC Regional Sports Network; $ at Greensboro, N.C.