Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI A t times, the No. 3-ranked and 11-1 2015-16 Fighting Irish have ap- peared destined for a sixth con- secutive Final Four appearance. On other occasions, it has appeared a little more vulnerable than usual and this year might advance "only" to the Elite Eight. The 62-61 victory at home Dec. 28 versus No. 10 Oregon State, the Pac-12 favorite, manifested all the optimism, complemented by a tad of skepticism, about this year's squad. The positives included the return of star sophomore forward Brianna Turner, who had missed six games with a shoulder injury, fully utilizing a deep rotation and continuing to make clutch baskets in crunch time (the Irish have won 23 straight games decided by single digits). Notre Dame entered the Oregon State game easily pacing the nation in three- point shooting at 46.3 percent, and then drained six of nine (66.7 percent) against the Beavers to improve to 47.4 percent. Overall, though, the Irish shot a season-low 37.3 percent from the field while the Beavers dictated the pace, outscoring the Irish 30-14 in a stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters to take a 59-56 lead with 4:11 left. "On a night we didn't shoot the ball well, we talked about how we're going to have to concentrate and really fo- cus on our defense," Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. "We were able to do that." The Irish are at their best running the floor with a four-guard look, but they need to operate better in half-court sets. "I think we get a little frustrated and impatient when that happens," McGraw said. "We were forced to ex- ecute half-court offense and we didn't execute it as well as we could have, missing a lot of shots that we normally make … they were a great defensive team." Oregon State entered the game sec- ond nationally in rebound margin (19.2 per game). It showed against the Irish while winning the battle on the boards 46-33 (13-6 on offense). "Rebounding is a big problem for us," acknowledged McGraw, who picked up her 798th career victory. "We're just not doing the job on the boards, particularly the guards. We need to find some guards that can re- bound. That's going to be a priority." There is a bit of a Catch-22 for Mc- Graw. Her most effective lineup has featured a four-guard look — especially with "instant offense" freshmen guards Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale in the game — but then the boards might need to be sacrificed. That makes Turner's presence all the more crucial. The 6-3 Turner played only eight minutes in her return at Saint Joseph's Dec. 21 while getting into foul trou- ble. Against Oregon State — which featured a tough matchup against 6-6 Ruth Hamblin plus 6-5 Marie Gullich, among others — Turner played with more confidence, blocking four shots, altering numerous others, recording three steals, pulling down nine re- bounds and scoring eight points in 33 minutes. Her rhythm on offense is not there