Notre Dame Fighting Irish
ACC (29-3, 15-1)
After losing at Louisville back on January 11 by a score of 100-67, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team was at a fork in the road moment in their season. They could have very easily let their season go south and fall out of contention for a top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Fighting Irish rose to the occasion and won every game during the remainder of the regular season and are playing their best basketball of the season right now.
Big Wins: 11/26 vs South Carolina (92-85), 1/18 Tennessee (84-70), 1/28 at Florida State (100-69)
Bad Losses: 1/11 at Louisville (67-100), 3/4 vs Louisville (72-74)
Coach: Muffet McGraw
Why They Can Surprise:
Notre Dame is not going to play in fear of anyone as they have a very experienced starting lineup. This experience should help the Fighting Irish deal with adverse situations as they move forward in the postseason. Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey are a very lethal scoring combination in the backcourt as Ogunbowale is averaging 20.2 points per game on the season. Mabrey is shooting 36.7 percent from behind the three-point line on the season. Jackie Young rounds out the backcourt and does a nice job of attacking the basket. She should cause some interesting matchup issues for opposing teams. Jessica Shepard is going to be a key player down in the post as Shepard has done a nice job rebounding the basketball all season long.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The lack of depth could be an issue if Notre Dame runs into a team like a Connecticut, Oregon, or UCLA in the elite eight that can crank the tempo up and get the game into the 90’s. In the loss to the Huskies back in December, the Fighting Irish played well for three quarters but were outscored 26-9 in the fourth quarter as Connecticut wore down Notre Dame. Foul trouble with such a short bench is going to be a concern for head coach Muffet McGraw as that could cause an earlier than expected exit in the NCAA Tournament.
Probable Starters:
Arike Ogunbowale, Junior, Guard, 20.2 ppg, 2.8 apg, 5.4 rpg
Marina Mabrey, Junior, Guard, 14.2 ppg, 4.3 apg, 4.6 rpg, 2.0 spg
Jackie Young, Sophomore, Guard, 14.2 ppg, 3.7 apg, 6.3 rpg
Kathryn Westbeld, Senior, Forward, 7.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Jessica Shepard, Junior, Forward, 15.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg
Key Role Players:
Kristina Nelson, Senior, Forward, 5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Danielle Patterson, Freshman, Forward, 2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 85.0 (4th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 66.1 (198, 13)
Field-Goal Percentage: 50.2 (3, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 38.9 (102, 9)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 4.7 (276, 13)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.3 (54, 4)
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.4 (58, 3)
Rebound Margin: 7.8 (25, 4)
Assists Per Game: 19.0 (8, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 14.5 (86, 3)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2017 NCAA Round of 64 win over Robert Morris
2017 NCAA Round of 32 win over Purdue
2017 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Ohio State
2017 NCAA Regional Final loss to Stanford
2016 NCAA Round of 64 win over North Carolina A&T
2016 NCAA Round of 32 win over Indiana
2016 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Stanford
2015 NCAA Round of 64 win over Montana
2015 NCAA Round of 32 win over DePaul
2015 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Stanford
2015 NCAA Regional Final win over Baylor
2015 NCAA National Semifinal win over South Carolina
2015 NCAA National Final loss to Connecticut
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Robert Morris
2014 NCAA Round of 32 win over Arizona State
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Oklahoma State
2014 NCAA Regional Final win over Baylor
2014 NCAA National Semifinal win over Maryland
2014 NCAA National Final loss to Connecticut
2013 NCAA Round of 64 win over Tennessee Martin
2013 NCAA Round of 32 win over Iowa
2013 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Kansas
2013 NCAA Regional Final win over Duke
2013 NCAA National Semifinal loss to Connecticut
2012 NCAA Round of 64 win over Liberty
2012 NCAA Round of 32 win over California
2012 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over St. Bonaventure
2012 NCAA Regional Final win over Maryland
2012 NCAA National Semifinal win over Connecticut
2012 NCAA National Final loss to Baylor
2011 NCAA Round of 64 win over Utah
2011 NCAA Round of 32 win over Temple
2011 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Oklahoma
2011 NCAA Regional Final win over Tennessee
2011 NCAA National Semifinal win over Connecticut
2011 NCAA National Final loss to Texas A&M
2010 NCAA Round of 64 win over Cleveland State
2010 NCAA Round of 32 win over Vermont
2010 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Oklahoma
2009 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Minnesota
*all team stats through 3/1
