Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 28, 2016*

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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50 NOV. 28, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY LOU SOMOGYI R anked No. 1, Notre Dame opened the season with consecutive home victories in the Preseason WNIT against projected Mid-American Conference favorite Central Michi- gan (107-47), Fordham (67-36) and veteran, scrappy Green Bay (71-67) — who has been in the NCAA Tour- nament 16 of the last 18 years — to advance to the championship game, held in the Purcell Pavilion Nov. 20 versus No. 17 Washington, which crashed the Final Four last season. By Thanksgiving weekend, reign- ing four-time national champion UConn with its 77-game winning streak might return to No. 1 after al- ready dispatching No. 12 Florida State (78-76) and No. 2 Baylor (71-62), set- ting up a Dec. 7 showdown between the Huskies and Irish. • Senior point guard Lindsay Allen has been the steadying force on both ends of the court for the Irish, playing the full 40 minutes against Green Bay and even 37 versus Fordham. She had 21 assists compared to five turnovers, nine steals, an 11.3 scoring average and an impressive 5.3 rebounds per contest at 5-8. • The perimeter-laden lineup has made 6-3 All-America and junior for- ward Brianna Turner (12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game) a target for the opposition. "Brianna [Turner] is really getting beat up inside, and all the posts are," Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said. "People are trying to really bother us with the physical play, and we've got to learn how to adjust to that." • Junior forward Kathryn West- beld is establishing herself as a glue figure. The fifth-leading scorer (7.3 points per game) behind sophomores Arike Ogunbowale (20.3) and Marina Mabrey (12.3), plus Turner and Allen, Westbeld pulled in 19 rebounds in the unaesthetic wins over Fordham and Green Bay while also making several vital plays on defense. • Ogunbowale was mainly a slasher last season with her powerful drives to the basket, so teams began giving her the outside jumper. In 35 games she was 18 of 46 (39.1 percent), but made a huge effort to improve that aspect of her game this summer. She made her first seven treys this season (5 of 5 versus CMU). "Freshman year they sagged off a lot on me, so I knew they would prob- ably start it this year," Ogunbowale said. "They have to play me, I guess, fair. They have to guard me on the three and guard me driving. That's what I really tried to work on." • Freshman guard Jackie Young missed the first two games with a thumb injury, but played 15 minutes against Green Bay, highlighted by recording seven rebounds (four on offense) and drilling her lone three- point attempt. The bench has contributed qual- ity minutes from 6-4 senior Kristina Nelson, whose nine points and seven rebounds versus Fordham provided a huge boost, and junior guard Mychal Johnson, who has averaged just more than 23 minutes per game. Freshman Erin Boley, the team's best pure shooter, is adjusting to the college tempo while making only three of her first 16 shots. Sophomore Ali Patberg, recovering from major knee surgery as a freshman, had not taken a shot in 21 minutes while as- similating into game action. ✦ Irish Roundup WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY Notre Dame notched an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. Sophomore Anna Rohrer was the top per- former for the Irish in the 6,000-meter race, crossing the finish line in third place with a time of 19:44. Fellow sophomore Annie Heffernan finished 41st with a time of 20:24. HOCKEY (6-4-2, 3-2-1 HOCKEY EAST) The No. 9 Irish notched a 5-2 victory at Northeastern Nov. 12, but the second game of the series with the Wildcats was stopped after two periods of play and the score 0-0 due to a Zamboni malfunction causing problems with the playing surface. Notre Dame returned home and fell 4-1 to UMass Lowell Nov. 17, before bouncing back with a 4-1 victory of its own the following day. The Irish will host the Shillelagh Tournament Nov. 25-26. They will open with Holy Cross and then play either Clarkson or Yale on day two. MEN'S SOCCER (11-6-2, 3-3-2 ACC) Notre Dame earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament — the 19th time in pro- gram history it will play in the event — and was seeded No. 13. The Irish had a first-round bye and will face Loyola (Ill.), which defeated Illinois-Chicago 2-0 in an opening-round matchup, in South Bend Nov. 20. WOMEN'S TENNIS Notre Dame inked a trio of talented pros- pects during the November early signing pe- riod. Ally Bojczuk of Franklin, Tenn., Cameron Corse of Baltimore and Caroline Dunleavy of Darien, Conn., will all join the program in the fall of 2017. Bocjczuk, Dunleavy and Corse are the Nos. 31, 32 and 33 recruits in the nation, respectively. VOLLEYBALL (19-9, 10-6 ACC) The Irish blew a 2-0 lead versus Virginia and lost 3-2 at home Nov. 13, extending their los- ing streak to three. After playing at Clemson Nov. 18, Notre Dame will close out the regular season with home matches versus Boston College Nov. 23 and Syracuse Nov. 25. — David McKinney Sophomore Arike Ogunbowale averaged a team- high 20.3 points per game during Notre Dame's 3-0 start. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS No. 1 Women's Basketball Challenged Early

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