They were hungry for the ultimate ‘prize’ in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. The Fighting Irish wanted to win a National Championship. This team knew what needed to be done to accomplish the mission. They needed to play for each other, they needed to play for the love of the game, and they needed to play for their love of Notre Dame.

What they went through and experienced this entire season is what set this team up for the NCAA tournament and ultimately the National Championship. Game after game, week after week, practice after practice, the hard work of playing with a short bench and building up the endurance of playing extra minutes is what brought home that hardware. Most basketball teams would have just cashed the season in and said “we will get back at it next year.”

The tournament, like the regular season, is about the battle of the fittest. Only the strong survive and move on. This team was the fittest despite not having three of their scholarship players. The attitude of “focusing on what we have, instead of what we don’t have” made them mentally stronger as well. Those words did not just come from Coach McGraw, they came in interviews with Marina Mabrey, Jessica Shepard, and Jackie Young. This team is truly committed to the course that has been charted by Coach McGraw.  That commitment was displayed in each of the last three games this team played.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

The Championship Game

Let’s talk about Sunday’s game. The National Championship game was a combination of games we had already seen during the regular season. During the beginning of the first quarter the Irish set the tempo of the game. A stifling defense, an offense that was scoring as the opportunities presented themselves, along with an offense that was also showing some dominance. The Irish didn’t score in the final 1:10 of the first quarter. They also didn’t score until 3:08 left in the second quarter, and scored only three points in ten minutes of play.

That’s the moment in which I was reminded of a post game press conference in which Coach McGraw said “we went down to Louisville and got our ass kicked in and we really needed to respond, and I think we had something to prove tonight.” That was the press conference following the game in which Notre Dame came back from down 23 points to beat Tennessee.

Watching the team come out in the third quarter was like watching a team that just had just been refocused and pointed back in the direction of their goal. To win a National Championship, the team was going to have to come out with a fire in their belly. They needed to find the ability to pass the ball better, commit to play better defense, and play a lot looser. These were going to be the keys to an Irish  victory. The Irish came back to their top form. The defense was causing turnovers and scoring on the opposite end. The team was also scoring with the clock not running. The Irish were not going to let this game slip away. The entire team was contributing and doing their part. The Irish closed out the third quarter on a 10-0 run that lasted 3:30, and tied the game at 41-41 on a jumper by Jessica Shepard.

Quarter number four was about sustainment of defense.  Coach McGraw was rotating Kathryn Westbeld and Kristina Nelson in and out. Guarding Tearira McCowan was not an easy task. The 6’7″ Center was not having her way in the fourth quarter. Keeping fresh bodies on her gave the Fighting Irish an advantage. McCowan was not dominating as well as she had been earlier in the game and could not keep pace. She missed her last three jumpers. The Irish had worn her out. At 1:11 she committed her fourth foul and with :03 left in the game, she fouled out. That set the stage for the next play for the Irish. The steal by Jackie Young, that led to McCowan fouling out, allowed the Irish to call time out and set up one more play. With :03 remaining, the ball goes to Ogunbowale, and she dribbled and drained a game winning three pointer.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

The shot was heard around the world! Clutch cannot even begin to define what Ogunbowale did at that moment in time. It was a team win, coupled by a group of individuals who refused to lose. That is what happens when you stare adversity in the face and accept its challenge. You win a National Championship! The icing on the cake is the fact that Coach McGraw won her 800th game as a Head Coach.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

Your box score:

Jessica Shepard 19 points (8-10 from the  field, 3-3 on free-throws)

Arike Ogunbowale 18 points (6-21 from the field, 1-3 from three-point range 5-7 on free throws)

Marina Mabrey 10 points (3-9 from the field , 1-4 from three-point range, 3-3 on free throws)

Cheers & GO IRISH!

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Mission Accomplished! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

There was the deficit the Irish came back from (15). The record low number of points that Notre Dame scored in the second quarter that caused said deficit (3). Muffet McGraw’s career win total (800). The amount of bullshit seconds added back to the clock to halt the Irish celebration (0.1).

However, the numbers that truly stick out, and define the season, can be sorted in a simple, clean countdown from four to one:

4 – Season-ending ACL injuries.

3 – Losses all season.

2 – Comebacks sealed with clutch game-winners from Arike Ognbowale.

Clutch. Clutch AGAIN.

Take a look back at the game winners by Arike Ogunbowale that lifted @ndwbb to its second national title. #WFinalFour pic.twitter.com/qWcWU3nO63

— NCAA (@NCAA) April 2, 2018

1 – Legendary coach that deserves a damn statue for this title run (and, as a bonus, how about we give her one pair of national title heels to wear on the sideline, especially in front of Geno).

PURE JUBILATION. pic.twitter.com/M6eY53YFvn

— NCAA WBB (@ncaawbb) April 2, 2018

Well done, ladies!

Welcome home, champs.#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/5Rr3DteFNK

— Notre Dame WBB (@ndwbb) April 2, 2018

The post A National Title Countdown appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

Notre Dame versus UConn, a tale of two foes from the Big East matching up in an unlikely place. Their two worlds collided at the Final Four in Columbus Ohio. The Final Four is the 48th time that Notre Dame and UConn have done battle on a basketball court. Going into Friday evening, UConn led the series 36-11. In NCAA tournament play against each other they are at three wins apiece. There is no other way to get the National Championship than watching the two teams settle the score on a basketball court.

UConn came into the basketball game with a 36-0 record on the season and the overall #1 seed. Notre Dame came into the evening with a 33-3 record and the #1 seed coming out of the Spokane region. The Huskies had not lost a game since last year’s match up against Mississippi St. Notre Dame had lost to UConn earlier in the season at Storrs, and to Louisville twice. Notre Dame basketball had the hardest road to get to this point. Playing without three scholarship players the entire season, and their starters having to put in longer minutes as the bench developed through the season. Certainly adversity had stared in the face of this team all season.

Adversity is defined in the Oxford dictionary as: “a difficult or unpleasant situation.” Coach McGraw talked about the adversity all season. The one message constantly delivered was “we are focusing on what we have, not on what we don’t have” It’s those words that delivered this team to this point. The team on the floor Friday night was preparing for this moment all season.

It was no surprise that UConn started out very strong in the beginning moments of the game. That is what UConn does. Impose their will early and it is over for their competitor before it even starts. that lasted for a brief moment. The Fighting Irish defense was stifling. Shutting down the mighty Huskies by playing great defense early and controlling tempo on the offense. The question for the Fighting Irish was, who is going to step up and be the difference maker? The answer to the question came into focus early as Jackie Young was unstoppable. Scoring 11 of the 24 points by the Fighting Irish. Defensively the Irish played as a solid unit and holding the tenacious Huskies to 14 points. The Huskies were stunned by the energy of the Irish. ND won the first quarter 24-14.

The Huskies play at a level in which Coach Auriemma sets for all his teams. That level is losing is just not acceptable. Year after year, team after team, the players from UConn buy into his method of coaching and are very successful in his style of teaching. The second quarter showed just that. UConn opened up the quarter with a 13-0 run and the Irish appeared confused as to what had happened. Jackie Young stopped the run as the Irish were now trying to climb out of the deficit that had been created. The Irish had only a handful of baskets in the quarter as UConn set its own form of tempo to hold the Irish to 10 points across 10 minutes. The Huskies scored 27 points and won the second quarter with a score of 27-10 and a score of 41-34.

At the half social media blew up. ND fans were concerned with the previous quarter was the image of quarters to come. Being mindful and understanding this team, I remarked “Coach McGraw will get the team into the locker room and reset the offense and defense. I also reminded them that this team had come back from 23 down against the Volunteers and if anyone could come back it was this team.”

The third quarter was a quarter of resurgence. The Irish fought back. The defense tightened up and the offense went back to work. Arike Ogunbowale, Marina Mabrey and Jackie Young all contributed with points from beyond the arc. While the defense didn’t completely shut UConn down they limited the Huskies to just 19 points, the Fighting Irish starters contributed 22 points which led them to winning the quarter and down 3 points with the score of 60-57 to end the third quarter.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

To start the fourth quarter, I remembered a quote from Coach Brey earlier in the season. “The one-quarter you don’t want to lose is the fourth quarter.”

UConn was pressing on as they worked towards earning yet another trip to the National Championship game. Crystal Dangerfield was not going to let ND get back in the game as she drilled a three-pointer to put the Huskies up by eight with 6:49 remaining in the game. That was not going to stop the Irish. Ogunbowale went on her own personal run of 5-0, cutting again into the Huskies lead. The Irish pulled within two with a score of 69-67.

The Irish were not done. Late in the fourth quarter the Irish went on a 6-0 run, throttled by Ogunbowale and Young and the Irish took the lead 79-74 with 21 seconds remaining. That much clock left in a game is an eternity in basketball. After a three-pointer by Napheesa Collier, Kia Nurse got the ball back after an ND turnover and tied the game at knotted at 79.

Kia Nurse once again a factor to start overtime, drained a three-pointer that gave the Huskies a lead once again. The adversity that ND had faced all season came to a climax. The Irish had their own run of 9-2, that powered them to the lead. But the juggernaut that is the Huskies responded with a three-pointer by Dangerfield, to the game at 89. In a season of buzzer beating shots, Ogunbowale delivered the shot heard around the world. She drains the two-pointer to launch the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the National Championship. UConn was denied again an opportunity to return to the National Championship game.

Photo Courtesy Erin Locascio

Jackie Young put the team on her shoulders and carried them to victory. Her points while the clock wasn’t running was the key to the game. She was 10-11 from the line, which was also a career best. While shooting 10-15 from the field including 2-4 from three-point range. Silently Young scored a career best 32 points enroute to the National Championship game. Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points on 9-21 from the field including 3-6 from three-point range.

Photo Courtesy of Erin Locascio

The Irish will play for the National Championship on Sunday evening at 6 PM EST against Mississippi ST on ESPN.

Congratulation ND Women’s Basketball on your win and best wishes in the National Championship game against Mississippi ST.

Cheers and Go Irish!

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Through Adversity To The “FINAL” appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

On the run

They say you can’t hit a moving target, and the same rule applies in basketball. Quick ball movement leads to chasing the ball and not covering players. Nova forced the Irish to do just that in the first quarter. The Irish were chasing the ball, which lead to scoring opportunities for the Wildcats. That style of play caused the Irish defense to give up four three-pointers in the first quarter. On the other side of the ball the Irish were spreading the wealth. Arike Ogunbowale brought Purcell Pavilion to life as she drained the first three-pointer of the game. The Irish continued to spread the wealth and make quality shots; which set up Jessica Shepard nicely. She was uncontested on most of her shots in the first quarter. Eight of Shepard’s ten points were in the paint. The Irish won the first quarter 19-18.

As the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team moved into the second quarter, they picked up on a piece of the Villanova game plan. Coach Perretta commented about his game plan. “The goal of the game was to make a lot of threes, because we knew they were going to make a lot of twos.” And the Irish made a lot of twos. The twos were either by lay-up or by a jumper. Twelve points in the paint is a lot to give up. On the Nova side of the ball, their three-point shooting was taking off. Adrianna Hahn had two; and Jannah Tucker, Megan Quinn, Kelly Jekot, and Alex Louin all contributed with a single baskets from beyond the arc.

The Irish were also scoring points at will from the free throw line. A key to the Lady Irish’s success is to score when the clock is not moving. The Irish were quite successful in that stat. Ogunbowale made five free throws and Jackie Young would contribute two as well. Marina Mabrey was drawing much of the Nova defense and was not allowed to shoot the ball from deep as she normally does. Then opportunity knocks and Mabrey was obliged to answer it. With the score tied 31 all, Mabrey makes the three and Purcell Pavilion erupted in celebration. Everyone loves a buzzer beater. They love it even more when you are the walk-on. Kaitlin Cole ended the half as she laid it in for an easy two at the buzzer, as she brought the score to 45 all.

A story of two halves

The third quarter started on a high note for the Irish. Kathryn Westbeld had checked into the game after sitting out the first half. Westbeld made her presence known on the floor. Her first play was a defensive rebound, that brought the Irish faithful to their feet. And at that point, the tempo of the game switched. The Irish dominated the third quarter. The game turned into a game of runs. The Irish had an 8-0 run over the time span of a minute and a half, and a second run of the same amount of points in the last two and a half minutes.

A couple of highlights from the quarter included a Mabrey steal in which she then she threw a touchdown pass to Young who scored an easy two. As Ogunbowale was not going to be out done by her teammate, she rebounded the ball from the defensive glass and took it coast to coast and laid it in for two. Nova had only three baskets and two free throws in the third quarter. Compare that to seven missed shots, which included a three-pointer and eight missed free throws. By the end of the quarter, the Irish had built up their lead to twenty points, allowing only eight points by the Nova offense.

And don’t look back

The fourth quarter was about keeping the foot on the throttle, while not letting Nova get a second wind. The Irish as a group did not allow the Wildcats a single three-point shot in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were 0-5 the entire second half. The Irish had finally figured out the Nova offense, forcing them into the paint and making them abandon their game plan completely. Instead of making three-pointers, Nova would have to settle for two point scoring and get back to making free throws. Ogunbowale added a little salt to Nova’s wounds as she added a reverse lay-up to her evening game. Overall the Irish played a fantastic game. The team had 48 rebounds, 19 on offense and 29 on defense. With 4:02 left in the game, Westbeld exited the Irish court for the last time. Westbeld waved to the fans in attendance and was greeted by a hug from Coach McGraw.

Jessica Shepard again put in major points in just her second NCAA tournament game.  Shepard scored 25 points: 10-of-12 field goals, 5-of-7 free throws, and ten rebounds. Arike Ogunbowale scored 24 points: 8-of-19 field goals, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, 7-of-7 free throws, and nine rebounds. But Sunday night would be a career night as Jackie Young. Young had 24 points, 8-of-17 field goals, and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Post Game

Coach McGraw remarked about the game. “We obviously defended a lot better in the second half. We were very excited to have Kat available for the second half and change the course of the game. We’re just a very different team with her on the floor,” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. “Jess was just unstoppable inside. Our game plan was to go inside and she did everything we needed her to do.”

The Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team travels West to Spokane, WA for a match-up against #4 Texas A&M (26-9). The game will be broadcast on ESPN (4PM EST, 1 PM PST.) #GoIrish

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: How Sweet “16” It Is appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

On Monday evening, the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team hosted a “watch party” at the Purcell Pavilion. The watch party was to celebrate the reveal of seeding and region selection for the women’s basketball team. At approximate 7:15 EST, they found out their destiny. The Notre Dame women will play in the Spokane Region and play sixteenth seed CSU Northridge. Yes, playing a sixteen seed means the women earned a number one seed in the Spokane Region. Coach McGraw commented about the seeding. “Playing the nation’s toughest schedule, and getting a number one seed, I am so proud of this group for what they accomplished.” Coach went on to say “It’s been an emotional ride for us, coming off a loss, it feels like it’s a new season, a new opportunity”

Waiting patiently to find out their destiny

The players were available to take questions and I was able to catch up with a couple of them. Jessica Shepard was first. Question to Jessica, “Looking back to the beginning of the season, you were not even sure if you were going to be able to play. Now you are about to play with this team in the NCAA tournament. What does it mean to be with this team this season?” Jessica’s response, “just the opportunity to play for a University like Notre Dame, is something I don’t take for granted. Especially a team like this, we fought through a lot of adversity. We focused on what we do have, we don’t focus on what we lost, it’s about what we do have. We look at the five starters we have, we look at the two players that come off the bench; it’s a tough lineup for any team.”

Next up is Marina Mabrey. I asked her, “with all the adversity this team has gone through this year, what’s the strongest part of this team?” “The competitive nature. The players we have are truly dedicated, and forget what we lost. We have a pretty special group of people. We are pretty talented and are trying to focus on the positives.”

Your Notre Dame Women’s basketball team opens up play on Friday evening at 5 PM at the Purcell Pavilion against CSU Northridge to kick-off the NCAA Tournament. Come on out and support your team as they will need all the energy they can get. Cheers and Go Irish!!!

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: NCAA says “Go West, ND!” appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

On Senior Day, the underclassmen want to send the Seniors off with a win. In order to win, the Irish were going to have beat a 22-6 overall and 11-4 ACC Wolfpack team. And they did just that. The Irish defeated the NC State Wolfpack 86-67 and claimed their fifth consecutive ACC regular season championship. “That’s the first deep breath I have taken since November 1st,” coach Muffet McGraw said. “I am just so proud of this team and all they have overcome. We just kept losing people throughout the year and we never put our heads down and felt sorry for ourselves. They just came back to work every day, and they stepped up individually and as a team. I couldn’t be prouder of any team. That’s the most rewarding championship we have had.”

Arike Ogunbowale started the afternoon with a huge three-pointer to neutralize the previous three-pointer by NC State Kaila Ealey. The Irish were playing with an intensity that stopped the scoring ability of NC State as the Irish went on a 7-0 run. Then there was a shift in play, as NC State countered with their own 5-0 run, which triggered big emotions out of Jackie Young. Young was driving to the hoop, when the mask she had been wearing for the last couple months to protect her broken nose, broke from the force from her opponent’s forearm. Jackie took the mask and threw it under the hoop and resumed play. That moment, was a moment of transition for her. Marina Mabrey finished the quarter with a three-pointer that capped a 17-16 Irish first quarter.

The second quarter was quite like the end of the first quarter. The Irish defense applied a significant amount of pressure to the Wolfpack offense that forced them to turn the ball over four times in two-and-a-half minutes and a total of five in the second quarter. The Irish offense took advantage of the turnovers, and they went on an 8-0 run in that time frame. The two main contributors to the Irish second quarter scoring were Young and Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale had ten points, two defensive rebounds and one offensive rebound. Young had six points, one steal and one defensive rebound. Young and Ogunbowale were setting the pace to make sure the Seniors were leaving on high note.

The Wolfpack, however, were not going to just roll over and let the Irish have their way with them. The Wolfpack came out with a point to prove. Ealey opened up the quarter with a big three-pointer. The Wolfpack would apply some of their own pressure and they came within two points of the Irish at 6:08 remaining in the third quarter. The Wolfpack opened up with a 12-6 scoring drive in that time period. But, Ogunbowale was not going to let this team fall behind. Ogunbowale nailed a three-pointer that ended the scoring the surge of the Wolfpack. From that point the Irish never looked back.  Ogunbowale drilled a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounds to end the quarter. Ogunbowale finished the quarter with eight points, two steals, an offensive and a defensive rebound. Young contributed six points, and one offensive rebound.

With the end in sight, the Irish poured on an extra layer of pressure. Mabrey started the offensive pressure of a 7-0 run, of which she had five of them including a crowd rousing three-pointer. Young also continued to contribute through the fourth quarter. They contributed twelve of the twenty points scored by the Irish in the quarter.

As the game drew to a close,  the moment of frequent sub-in and sub-out started. Each senior getting her own moment of coming off the floor for the last time. Kathryn Westbeld was first. Her day ended with sixteen points, 2 offensive rebounds, 4 defensive rebounds and 4 assists. Coach McGraw commented about Westbeld’s performance. “I would play Senior Day everyday if Katie Westbeld played like that, she was unbelievable; just a great game by Kat.” Next was Kristina Nelson. Her day ended with four points, five defensive rebounds, one offensive rebound and four assists.

Jackie Young was the stand out of the day. Jackie led all Irish scorers with 22 points, just short of her career high. She also had four offensive rebounds and two defensive rebounds in 37 minutes of play. From the moment the mask broke early in the first quarter, Jackie was on a mission. Coach McGraw commented on a question about the Jackie’s mask breaking and it being cast aside. ” She was actually cleared to play without it and was going to wear it anyway. She played well and I think she likes playing without it.” Arike Ogunbowale was next with 21 points, 2 offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds.

#GoIrish

“

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Young Steps Up To Send Off Seniors appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Purcell Pavilion was the scene for yet another historical moment in Notre Dame Women’s Basketball history. The Lady Irish took a 23-point deficit and converted it into a win over the Lady Vols in a comeback for the ages. The Lady Irish ended the night with a 37-point swing, defeating Tennessee 84-70. Let’s take a glimpse into this storied night to see how this comeback unfolded.

First Quarter

The first quarter started with a series of uncharacteristic events  unfolded for the Lady Irish. The sloppy play started with a turnover by Marina Mabrey on the first offensive possession. This was followed by a steal on the Lady Irish defensive end by Kathryn Westbeld, but Jackie Young missed a jumper on the other end, and an offensive rebound by Mabrey led to another missed jumper, this time by Arike Ogunbowale. Jessica Shepard scored the first two points for the Irish, followed by Mabrey with a lay-up for another two points. Those points would be the last points scored by the Lady Irish in a span of three minutes.

The Lady Vols had two strong runs in the first quarter. Mercedes Russell and Meme Jackson both contributed 4 points each, starting their first run, a 10-0 effort.

Shepard stopped the bleeding with a jumper for two points, but the Lady Vols regrouped and started another 11-0 run. This time Jaime Nared led the run with five points, including a three-pointer. This run was stopped when Mabrey drew a foul from Evina Westbrook and made both free throw attempts.

Tennessee also had a third, shorter  4-0 run to close out the first quarter with Evina Westbrook and Rennia Davis scoring two points apiece. The Lady Vols took a commanding 27-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, which they dominated with their defensive pressure and offensive ball control.

The Irish deficit sat at 17.

Second Quarter

The second quarter brought a minor shift in momentum for the Lady Irish, but it wasn’t easy. The Lady Irish only scored seven points in the first 4:27 of the quarter. On the other side of the court, the Lady Vols scored 9 points, building their lead to 23 points.

At 5:33 in the second, the Lady Irish turned on some of their own pressure. The run started with Ogunbowale shooting a monster three-pointer that brought Purcell Pavilion to its feet.

A minute later, Ogunbowale did it all over again and it’s clear the Lady Irish have found  the inside of the hoop.

With some much needed offense and defense, ND ended the quarter with a 10-0 run. The Lady Irish won the second quarter 17-12, bringing the score at halftime to 39-27 Lady Vols.

The Irish cut their deficit to 12.

Third Quarter

In the first six minutes of the second half, the Lady Vols pushed their lead back to 16.. Jackson had seven points including a three-pointer and Russell contributed 4 points as well.

The Irish also had approximately two minutes  of scoreless basketball; however, Mabrey brought Purcell Pavilion thundering to life with a deep three-pointer. Shepard wouldn’t be denied either as she contributed four late points.  By the end of the third quarter, the Irish put 23 on the board compared to the Lady Vols 21. The score after three quarters was 60-50 Lady Vols.

The Irish deficit was now down to 10.

Fourth Quarter

In the fourth, the Lady Vols pushed their lead to 11 points early, but from there, the Irish started to chip away. The Lady Vols left 22 points on the court by missing six free throws, 4 three-pointers, and two jumpers. The Irish exploited those mistakes.

With a solid defensive hold, the Irish shut down the Lady Vols on two runs of their own, starting with a10-0 run. Layups by Westbeld and Ogunbowale cut the Vols lead to one. Ogunbowale went to the charity stripe and made two free throws and the Irish had their first lead since 8:05 in the first quarter.

The Lady Irish came all the way back and even added some for protection. The Irish shot 12-20 from the field including 3-3 from three-point range and 7-7 from the charity stripe. The Irish won the fourth quarter 34-10, completed the comeback, and made history with a final of 84-70.

Ogunbowale led all scorers with 27 points, shooting 9-20 from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range, and 6-6 from the free-throw line. Mabrey followed with 20 points, shooting 7-12 from the field, including 3-5 from three-point range, and 3-3 from the free throw line. Young was not denied her points either, going 8-21 from the field, and 2-2 from the free throw line.

Post-Game Press Conference

Coach McGraw summed up the evening with her opening statement. “That was an unbelievable win. I am so proud of this team right now because of the fight. We went down to Louisville and got our ass kicked in and we really need to respond and I think we had something to prove tonight. We got down 23 and we continued to fight and we continued to compete. I thought the difference in the second half was our defense. We got deflections. We got steals and rebounds and that got us our transition game. We attacked the rim in the second half.”

Congratulations Lady Irish!!! Great WIN!!!

The post ND Women’s Basketball: 37 Point Swing To Victory appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Prior to Thursday night’s contest, the Irish learned they will be without grad student Lili Thompson due to an ACL injury that will keep her sidelined for the remainder of her season. With this injury, the fourth knee-related injury of the season, the Irish will be carrying only seven scholarship players the rest of the season.

The short bench will force the Lady Irish to play at a much higher level without another big on the bench. The Lady Irish have the tenacity, but they need to play a game that will allow them to have some energy at the end. Miami was their first test of this strategy.

The Miami Hurricanes came in off a big win over Duke on New Years Eve. They definitely carried that momentum into Thursday night. Miami wasted no time putting points on the board, as they put six quick points up against the Lady Irish in the first quarter.

Some poor ball control by Irish, coupled with a defensive press by the Hurricanes, led to a quarter of offensive and defensive miscues by the Irish. It took the Irish all quarter to cut the deficit to four as the Canes took a 22-18 lead to the second quarter.

In the first, the Irish were 5-15 from the field and had only eight rebounds, all on the defensive end. Arike Ogunbowale led all Irish scorers with 6 points and Marina Mabrey followed with 5 points.

The second quarter saw the winds of change creep in against the Lady Canes. The Lady Irish opened with a 6-2 run to bring the game back to even at 26-all. The run was capped by a shot from Mabrey from beyond arc that brought the packed arena to its feet.

Rebounding on both ends of the court was the momentum changer in the quarter for ND. The Irish out-rebounded the Lady Canes 16-15, with 6 offensive rebounds that led to 5 second chance points.

Jackie Young brought the fans to their feet again with a layup with two seconds left in the quarter. With a solid performance to end the half, the Irish righted the ship and went into the locker room with a 40-36 lead. Mabrey led all scorers with 14 points on 5-8 shots from the field, including 2-3 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, the Lady Canes came out with something to prove. Their suffocating defense applied pressure on the Lady Irish offense once again, forcing Irish turnovers that led to a quick six points on the other end for the Canes. After a timeout, Mabrey hit a big three-pointer to stop the Canes run.

Towards the end of the third quarter, both teams struggled to find the basket. The Irish went 3:58 without scoring a basket and the Canes went scoreless for 2:35 to close out the quarter, leaving the game at a 55-all tie.

In the third, Kristina Nelson contributed with 4 points. Mabrey had 3 points and 30 minutes played. Jessica Shepard, Jackie Young, and Kathryn Westbeld all contributed with 2 points apiece.

The Irish opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run.  From that point forward, the Irish would not look back. The Irish worked to a seven-point lead which opened up to nine points late in the quarter. Shepard had a monster rejection on the defensive end just before the media time out at 4:44 to highlight the run.

In all, the Irish prevailed on a total team effort. With 28 points in the fourth quarter, the Irish finished the game to beat the Canes 83-76. Mabrey led all Irish scorers with 21 points in a 40 minute effort, 4 rebounds , 7-14 from the field, including 3-8 from three-point range. Ogunbowale followed with 20 points, including 11-12 from the free throw line and 4-17 from the field.

Coach McGraw opened her press conference praising her opponent, and their “their ability to make layup after layup” as well as their defense that “played really well and hard defensively.”

A question was asked about the Irish not having a point guard and how hard it was to keep pace with the up and down of the game. Coach McGraw responded that “We have a point guard in Marina and we started off the game and had nothing to do with the point guard. I thought the beginning part second half start was a point guard problem. We struggled at times against the press. We were looking for a couple different people to help us out. We did not move to the ball and we didn’t help out each other.”

A question was asked about the resiliency of the group and how they were able to overcome the slow start. Coach McGraw’s response: “It’s big and we can’t let it use it as an excuse. That’s my big worry. We only have seven scholarship players and you can only play five of them at a time, and they need to be ready to play.”

I made a comment to Coach McGraw about Mabrey’s 40 minutes and 21 points and Coach responded  that “she’s in great shape and she really is. I don’t look at her conditioning as a factor at all. I think she can play the whole game with pressure. The zone helped a little bit by not chasing anyone around. I love that I can depend on her. She is so resilient.”

Next up for the Irish the Louisville Cardinal on the road at 7PM EST. Good Luck and Go Irish!

The post Marina Mabrey: The 40 Minute Cardiac Kid appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

A question circulating on press row before the start of last game was whether or not Jessica Shepard would suit up and play in the conference opener against Syracuse due to her ankle injury. That answer became apparent when Jessica came out to floor for pre-game warm ups and with her uniform on. Now the question would be whether or not that ankle would hold up throughout the game. Another question floating around the press area was how will Jackie Young perform with a new protective mask.

Both ladies had answers for the inquiring minds. Jessica answered the questions about her status by scoring the first five points for the Irish. Young answered the questions on the mask adjustment by scoring eight points, shooting 2-3 from three point range.

Lets Get This Game Started

But beyond those two, the Lady Irish were looking for a way to get some momentum going in the first quarter as they struggled on the offensive glass. Zero second chance points showed that offensive rebounding was a difficult task early in the game. On the other end, ‘Cuse had six second chance points along with ten points in the paint. The Lady Irish gave a 15-6 lead as ‘Cuse went on a 9-0 run. At the end of the quarter, the Irish would go on their own 5-0 run, taking a 20-15 lead.

The second quarter saw ‘Cuse turn on the defensive pressure using a man-to-man press, as well as a half court press. They also continued to score on second chance opportunities. The Orange had the offense and defense working and at moments the Lady Irish had a struggle to stop them scoring and prevent them from retrieving the rock off the Irish offensive board.

The Irish were out rebounded 27-17 and the Orange had 12 second chance points, while the Irish had 11 points off of turnovers. The Irish scored three points off the bench, which ended up being quite important as the Irish nursed a 42-38 lead into halftime. Jessica Shepard led all scorers with 11 points at the half.

Early on in the third quarter, Syracuse Coach, Quentin Hillsman, got a technical foul for his constant riding of the officials on the floor, which started from the moment the game tipped-off. However, the technical foul seemed to fire-up the Orange as they continued to out-rebound the Irish on on both ends and finding the offensive basket.

The basket seemed to shrink for the Irish for a period of time. Shepard was working the offensive glass, but had some trouble with getting the ball to get in the basket. The Orange, with their defensive and offensive play led by Tiana Mangakahia, brought the ‘Cuse from a deficit, to a tie and then a lead.

Late in the third, the Lady Irish went on a 10-0 run and regained the lead for good with help from Ogunbowale, Shepard, and Young. The Irish ended the quarter with a 64-58 lead over the the Orange.

The Irish did not look back and controlled the ball for the remainder of the game. The Irish defense tallied 7 defensive rebounds and only allowed the Orange to score 14 points during the fourth quarter. Jackie Young contributed with eight points and Kathryn Westbeld contributed with six points in the quarter.

The Lady Irish went on to win their ACC opener 87-72. Jessica Shepard led all Irish scorers with a double-double, 24 points and 12 rebounds. Next was Jackie Young, who has come back from mask issues had 23 points, 2-4 from three-point range and 5 rebounds. Wrapping up the top three was Kathryn Westbeld who was just short of a career high 17 points with 16 points including 3-3 from three-point range and 5 rebounds.

The Irish Win Their ACC Opener

In the post game interview, Coach McGraw was asked what she saw in the second quarter that she liked. She responded, “We were running. We were making shots, attacking and taking care of the ball.” Coach also praised Jackie Young for taking control.

I asked Coach McGraw about Tiana Mangakahia of Syracuse and how she prepares for similar players down in the ACC schedule. Coach McGraw responded “We have to do something different. We obviously couldn’t guard her today. We need a little more help. We need to be able to guard her man-to-man, through ball screens and every time they set up a screen we ended up with match up we didn’t want. So we need to come up with some new ideas and we have some already. She is a spectacular player and she did everything she could to help her team win.”

The Lady Irish go on the road and play a New Years Eve game against Wake Forest at 1PM EST. Good Luck ladies and #GoIrish

The post Jackie Young: Back In The Mix appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The ND Women’s Basketball team had their hands full on Sunday against the Blue Demons who definitely tormented the Fighting Irish. The Blue Demons came out very physical against the number two team in the country.

The Irish seemed kind of surprised by the physical defense of DePaul, but DePaul couldn’t covert on their opportunities and they had no solution for Jessica Shepard. Shepard was scoring at will and her teammates constantly fed her. Shepard was a perfect 6-6 from inside the paint. Shepard added an additional 14 points to the scoreboard in the second quarter for a total of 26 first half points and the Irish took a 41-40 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Knowing Coach McGraw and her passion for good defense, you could be rest assured that a discussion on better defensive play was had during the halftime locker room discussion, but DePaul made some defensive adjustments on their own. Shepard had only 5 field goal attempts and converted on four of them. In shutting down Shepard, Ogubowale got some looks from beyond the arc, hitting three shots from downtown.

However, the basket seemed to be shrinking for most the of Irish as the shots were not finding their way past the rim. The Blue Demons kept pace with the Irish who continued to struggle on defense. The Blue Demons were able to keep that pace until the fourth quarter which saw a strong Irish effort, socring 31 points, earning a 92-81 victory.

Another Irish Victory

Shepard had a career day that included a Double-Double, 39 points and 11 rebounds. Arike Ogunbowale had 21 points and 3-4 from beyond the arc. Marina Mabrey silently scored 13 points on 2-10 FG’s, 8-8 from the charity stripe, 1-3 from beyond the arc and 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

The key stat in this one was the amount of minutes logged by the Irish in the 40 minute contest: Shepard 33 minutes, Mabrey 36 minutes, Jackie Young (Broken Nose) 36 minutes, Ogunbowale 35 minutes, and Lili Thompson 32 minutes. With five players over 30 minutes, the short bench certainly seems like a major issue at this point.

In the post game interview, Coach McGraw stated that once the Irish got a lead, she saw her team relax on defense throughout the game. She also complimented DePaul on their total play.

I pointed out to Coach McGraw that the team team continues to grow with the short bench at the half way point of the season. I asked her what is her assessment of the team moving forward. She responded: “we are playing six people hard, and they are in good shape. Jackie just couldn’t see with the face mask, but a more custom fit mask is coming.”

Jessica Shepard was asked about her game and she flat out stated “the girls did a great job of getting me the ball.”

The next game for the ND Women’s Basketball is Wednesday afternoon at 3 PM as they will face Marquette.

That’s A Wrap

Congratulations Lady’s on the the win!!!  #GoIrish

The post Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Shepard On Fire appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.