Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2016 41 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL the 2016 Preseason WNIT title with a 71-60 win over No. 17 Washington Nov. 20. The Huskies advanced to the Final Four last season and have one of the nation's premier outside- inside tandems in guard Kelsey Plum and forward Chantel Osahor. The Irish asserted control quickly, jumping to a 12-0 lead in the opening four minutes, and held a 25-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. Seven different players scored for Notre Dame during those opening 10 min- utes, led by Tournament MVP Arike Ogunbowale's nine. The sophomore guard from Milwaukee finished with a team-high 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists in 33 minutes of action. ESPNw named Ogunbowale its National Player of the Week after she tallied 78 points in the four tourna- ment games. "The great thing is the way Arike came back this summer," McGraw said. "She went home and worked really hard on her game. She im- proved her three-point shooting. "She is a different player this year. She is really comfortable, in rhythm and shooting the ball extremely well." Washington head coach Mike Neighbors, whose team averaged 93 points during a 3-0 start, referred to that first quarter as a "punch in the mouth," while McGraw said it was a vast improvement defensively from a 71-67 win versus Green Bay three days earlier. Senior point guard Lindsay Allen joined Ogunbowale on the all-tour- nament team and controlled the pace in the second half, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. A case also could have been made for junior forward Kathryn Westbeld making the all-tourney unit. With classmate Brianna Turner (10 points and 12 rebounds) plagued by foul trouble, Westbeld took control in the third quarter, including drain- ing both of her three-point attempts. She finished with 14 points, eight re- bounds, three assists and three steals, and corralled 27 rebounds in the last three games of the tourney. She does not have the low-post range and reach of Turner nor quite the scoring prowess of wings Arike Ogunbowale or Marina Mabrey. She can do a little of everything, though, and her 11 rebounds (four on offense) in 24 minutes was her main contribu- tion this time. The Notre Dame transition game might be the team's top strength, which is understandable in the guard-heavy lineup and consider- ing that 6-3 forward Turner runs the floor probably better than any post player in the country. Conse- quently, the offense has gone into a little less motion while attempting more quick-hitting plays to take ad- vantage of mismatches. It's not quite in sync right now, especially with the half-court sets, but few teams are in November. "This time of year we're going to see all kinds of new things, all kinds of new ways to guard us," McGraw said. ✦ 2016-17 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 3 Roberts Wesleyan# W, 129-50 Nov. 11 Central Michigan! W, 107-47 Nov. 14 Fordham! W, 67-36 Nov. 17 Green Bay! W, 71-67 Nov. 20 Washington! W, 71-60 Nov. 22 vs. Louisiana Lafayette& W, 91-51 Nov. 26 TCU 1 p.m. Nov. 30 at Iowa@ 9 p.m. Dec. 4 Valparaiso 1 p.m. Dec. 7 Connecticut (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at DePaul 8 p.m. Dec. 18 at Toledo 2 p.m. Dec. 20 at Michigan State 7 p.m. Dec. 27 at Chattanooga 6:30 p.m. Dec. 29 at North Carolina State* 7 p.m. Jan. 2 at Georgia Tech* 7 p.m. Jan. 5 Wake Forest* 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Miami* (ESPN/2) 3 p.m. Jan. 12 Pittsburgh* 7 p.m. Jan. 16 at Tennessee (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at Boston College* 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at North Carolina* (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Jan. 26 Duke* 7 p.m. Jan. 29 Virginia* (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Feb. 2 at Virginia Tech* 7 p.m. Feb. 6 Louisville* (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 12 Georgia Tech* 1 p.m. Feb. 16 at Clemson* 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at Syracuse* (ESPN2) 5 p.m. Feb. 23 Boston College* 7 p.m. Feb. 26 Florida State* (ESPN2) 1 p.m. # Exhibition; ! Preseason WNIT; CBSSN — CBS Sports Net- work; & at the Campbell Center in Houston; @ ACC-Big Ten Challenge; * ACC game; dates and a venue for the ACC Tournament will be announced at a later time Three-Point Play 1. The Iron Woman — Senior point guard Lindsay Allen and junior forward Brianna Turner are Notre Dame's linchpins, but head coach Muffet McGraw knows she will need to use her deep bench more. In hard-fought WNIT wins over Green Bay (71-67) and Washington (71-60), Allen played all 40 minutes. She even logged 37 minutes in a 67-36 romp over Fordham in the second round of the WNIT. Backup Ali Patberg, coming off ACL surgery, has missed several games while battling a virus that required her to be treated with antibiotics. "I really need to take Lindsay out, but she makes it so much easier for me when she is in," McGraw said. "[Junior] Mychal Johnson is ready — if just for a few minutes a quarter. She is able to do it." Meanwhile … 2. When push comes to shove — With Notre Dame such a perimeter-laden lineup, opponents have taken to double-teaming the 6-3 Turner down low and jamming all her cuts. McGraw noted how exhausted Turner was after several games. All her work on offense, after coming off spring shoulder surgery, just to get into low-post position could sap some energy on defense, too. "Nothing is coming easy for her, but she continues to battle," McGraw said. 3. Young talent — Freshman guard Jackie Young, the 2016 Naismith Player of the Year, missed the first two games with a sprained thumb ligament, but made an instant impact on her return. The all-time leading scorer in Indiana prep annals plays passionately in all aspects and performs so much taller than her listed six feet. Against Louisiana Lafayette Nov. 22, she scored 13 points, hauled in six rebounds and handed out four assists. "She will be one of the best to ever come out of here," McGraw said. "She can be the lock-down de- fender. She is going to be able to guard the other team's best player. She can score. She is not shooting the ball as much as I would like, but she will when she figures it all out." — Lou Somogyi IRISH STATISTICS Through five games Eight players have averaged anywhere from 13 minutes (freshman forward Erin Boley) to 27 (Turner), while a ninth, Allen, is at 32.2. Scoring: Ogunbowale (17.4 points per game), Mabrey (13.6), Turner (12.4), Allen (9.8), Westbeld (9.2), Jackie Young (8.0) and Kristina Nelson (5.4). Rebounding: Turner (7.8 a game), Westbeld (7.6), Nelson (5.6), Allen (5.4) and Young (5.0). Assists: Allen (34 for the season), Mabrey (13), Mychal Johnson (nine), and Westbeld and Nelson (eight).