Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 DECEMBER 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI L ike a traveling road show, No. 1 Notre Dame played in two different arenas in Houston Nov. 22, albeit involuntarily. Seeking a homecoming game for All-American junior forward Brianna Turner, the Irish finally found a will- ing opponent in Louisiana Lafay- ette to play them at Houston's M.O. Campbell Educational Center. However, with the Irish up 38-17 late in the first half, a power outage struck the arena, and after nearly a two-hour delay, the teams took bus- ses about 21 miles across town to the vacant Rice University Tudor Field- house, where Notre Dame put the finishing touches on their 91-51 win over the Ragin' Cajuns. Tu r n e r re c o rd e d h e r s e c o n d straight double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while soph- omore guard Marina Mabrey tallied a career-high 27 points. The 5-0 Irish, winners of the Pre- season WNIT on Nov. 20, have three more contests prior to their nation- ally televised (ESPN2) matchup with the reigning four-time national cham- pion Connecticut Huskies Dec. 7 at Purcell Pavilion. In what is expected to be a No. 1 ver- sus No. 2 showdown, it's unclear who will be No. 1 and No. 2 at the time. The Nov. 22 Associated Press poll had the Irish No. 1 and the Huskies No. 2 — but both had 16 first-place ballots (No. 3 South Carolina had one). "I would be happy if Connecticut got No. 1 right now," Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. "I would be happy to play with a chip on our shoulder instead of with a target on our back." Despite being in a "rebuilding mode" with the loss of three start- ers (the top three picks in the WNBA Draft), UConn already has vanquished then No. 12 Florida State (78-76) in a tight game on the road and then de- feated then No. 2 Baylor (72-61). It is projected to have an 82-game winning streak coming in, which elicits memories of the Notre Dame men's basketball team snapping UCLA's NCAA-record 88-game win- ning streak on Jan. 19, 1974. The pressure will be more on Notre Dame. If the Irish win at home, pop- ular opinion might hold that UConn is rebuilding and will be better by the NCAA Tournament "when the games really count." Notre Dame routinely defeated the Huskies from 2011-13, but it was UConn that emerged vic- torious in three Final Four meetings, including two championship games, from 2013-15. However, if the Irish lose, then it looks like it missed its opportunity to seize the throne, while the UConn dynasty continues. PRESEASON WNIT CHAMPS Notre Dame used a powerful first quarter to take command and capture Showdown With UConn Awaits No. 1 Irish win Preseason WNIT and seek much more hardware Junior forward Kathryn Westbeld averaged 9.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during Notre Dame's 5-0 start. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND