Tag: Dara Mabrey

Notre Dame wins ugly game against cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh

Good thing they don’t give points for style.

If you watched Notre Dame’s game against Pittsburgh and didn’t know the ACC standings, you never would have known the Panthers are in last. A contest that few expected to be close was exactly that almost throughout. It couldn’t have been a pleasant feeling for [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] seeing her top-10 Irish struggle to shake the inferior Panthers. Still, she undoubtedly will take the 69-63 win.

The Irish (19-4, 10-3) led by as much as 11, but you probably would have forgotten that had you watched the game. There were eight lead changes, and the Panthers (8-16, 1-12) in front as late as early in the fourth quarter. The Irish ended up losing the field-goal percentage battle, .440-.431. The possibility of a real letdown after a tough loss against Duke four days earlier was real.

In the end, the Irish made more clutch plays. When [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] hit a 3 to extend their lead to six with two-and-a-half minutes to go, the game pretty much was sealed. While the Panthers had a chance to creep closer, they never did. The result is the Irish breathing a sigh of relief that they didn’t lose back-to-back games at home.

Citron scored 20 points and showcased her defensive skills with three steals and three blocks. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] did the same with 11 points and 13 assists. The Irish as a whole had significant advantages in rebounds (41-27), second-chance points (25-8) and fast-break points (10-1).

Perhaps [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag]’s presence could have allowed the Irish to assert their authority more. Instead, an injury kept her from playing once again. While she could be back soon, the Irish need to learn how to dominate without her or [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] in the lineup. Otherwise, their NCAA Tournament run could be a short one.

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Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld speak after loss to Duke knocks Irish out of first

Read some inside thoughts on the defeat.

SOUTH BEND – The good news for Notre Dame is there’s plenty of time to reclaim first place in the ACC after Duke claimed it.

The bad news is the 57-52 loss the Blue Devils handed the Irish means [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] will have to figure out how to play catch-up. That’s not where a team wants to be with less than a month to go before the ACC Tournament. Alas, the Irish have no choice.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] played the entire game and had 15 points and seven rebounds. But she contributed to the Irish’s 2-of-13 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, missing all three of her shots. In fact, the six points [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] scored in that frame were all the Irish produced. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] surely could have helped stop the bleeding had she been available, but we’ll never know for sure.

Here is some of what Ivey and Westbeld said about the Irish’s toughest loss this season:

Notre Dame battles Duke to break tie for first in ACC

Who will triumph?

SOUTH BEND – As impressive as Notre Dame’s win over UConn in December was, it still was a nonconference game. Nothing can compare to the conference schedule, and that’s what makes the Irish’s contest with Duke a lot more important. Both teams are tied for first in the ACC, so only one of them will walk out of Purcell Pavilion atop the conference. With only a month to go before the ACC Tournament, this game potentially could play a role in seeding, too.

It’s not a question of whether either team makes the NCAA Tournament. After all, the ACC is one of three conferences to have eight teams in ESPN’s latest Bracketology. However, it could play a measuring stick as to what happens when both teams play quality opponents. The Irish still are adjusting to life without the injured [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag], and we don’t quite know the full extent of her loss yet.

The pressure is on in South Bend as this is the programs’ only meeting during the regular season. Which team can handle that pressure better? We’re about to find out.

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Notre Dame can’t complete fourth-quarter comeback at NC State

Being atop the ACC alone will have to wait.

Notre Dame undoubtedly had its visit to NC State circled on this year’s schedule. After all, the Wolfpack knocked the Irish out of the 2022 NCAA Tournament with a thrilling come-from-behind victory. Revenge had to have been on the Irish’s mind. That revenge will have to wait for another time as the Wolfpack held off a late Irish run and won 69-65.

The Irish (17-3, 8-2), who were unable to move into first outright in the ACC after Duke’s loss earlier in the day, got off to a good start with 20 first-quarter points. After that, the Wolfpack (16-5, 6-4) mostly controlled the direction of the next two quarters, leading by as much as 16. Having already lost [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] for the season and with [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] also injured, things looked grim for the Irish.

The fourth quarter saw the Irish work their way back on both ends as they cut the deficit to three with 11 unanswered points. They eventually got within two but just couldn’t get any closer despite opportunities to do so. Facing what turned out to be the final score in the last half-minute, they weren’t able to shake the Wolfpack’s defense and took too long developing a play that would give them a decent look. Even when they did get a couple of 3-pointers off, neither fell, and that was that.

Diamond Johnson led all scorers with 20 points and also led the Wolfpack with eight rebounds. Once the conference’s leading 3-point shooter this season, she made a game-high four shots from beyond the arc. Complimenting her was Mimi Collins and her 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Irish wasted an incredible game from [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who had 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] also dished out five assists to go with 13 points, six boards and three steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 11 despite shooting 3 of 12 from the field, but it was a rough day for the Irish’s backcourt as she and Miles committed five turnovers each. [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] also had 11 points coming off the bench.

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Notre Dame overcomes sluggish start to beat Florida State

It’s how you finish, not how you begin.

It looked like Notre Dame might immediately suffer the effects of [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] being out for the season. After all, Florida State is a ranked team stacked with talent, so this wasn’t an opponent the Irish could take lightly. While that might not have been the case, trouble appeared to have been in the cards anyway. In the end, the Irish righted the ship and won, 70-47.

The Irish (17-2 8-1) had a rough first-half stretch as they missed 14 consecutive field-goal attempts, allowing the Seminoles (18-5, 7-3) to rattle off 14 unanswered points despite having their own shooting troubles. The Irish went down by 10 in the second quarter, but they completely made that deficit up and ultimately trailed by only one at halftime. They finally took firm control of the game in the third quarter by outscoring the Seminoles, 27-10. A nice fourth quarter gave them a 48-24 scoring advantage for the entire second half, effectively doubling up the visitors.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] led all players with 19 points. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag], who took Mabrey’s starting spot for this game, achieved a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] scored 15 off the bench. While [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] shot only 2 of 7 from the field on a seven-point night, she did have a game-high six assists.

This was not a pretty game if you like shooting. The teams combined for a field-goal percentage of .315, so any shooting enthusiasts who threw their remotes at their TVs could be forgiven (although we don’t condone that behavior). Still, the Irish were rolling on defense from the start, and that ultimately played a big role in the outcome. They’ll need that as they continue a stretch of three ranked opponents in four games.

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Notre Dame’s Dara Mabrey done for season, career with ACL tear

Not what anyone wanted.

When [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] went down in excruciating pain during Notre Dame’s win over Virginia, many feared the worst. Unfortunately, those fears have come true. Mabrey announced on social media Monday that she has torn her ACL. Not only will this put the graduate student out for the season, but it’s the end of her collegiate career:

This is a bad loss for the Irish as Mabrey has been part of the same starting lineup [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] has had every game this season. Not only will she have to make alternate plans now, but the road to the ACC title might have just gotten a little tougher. Also, will the Irish be able to make as deep an NCAA Tournament run with [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] or [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] as the new starter as they would have with Mabrey? A lot of questions just opened up.

Mabrey will finish five years of college basketball, the first two coming at Virginia Tech, with averages of 10.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game and a shooting slash line of .401/.380/.842. She started every game for the Irish the past three seasons and was their leading 3-point scorer in her first two. She leaves this season as the Irish’s top 3-point scorer with 33, and that figure certainly will be passed two or three times before the year ends.

Hopefully, Mabrey will be just as effective helping her team from the sidelines. With the stakes continuing to rise as the season goes on, the Irish need every advantage they can get. Mabrey becoming a de facto assistant coach should provide one.

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Notre Dame dismantles Ball State, 95-60

The Irish keep rolling.

The following is courtesy of Notre Dame athletics:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The most complete performance to date.

That was the way Karen & Kevin Keyes Head Coach Niele Ivey unquestioningly described her team’s 95-60 dismantling of Ball State (2-2) on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion to move to 4-0 on the year. No. 9 Notre Dame left little to no doubt from the start, scoring 27 points in both the first and second quarters and holding Ball State to just nine points in the second 10 minutes. Notre Dame led by as much as 39, and five Irish players finished with 10+ points for the second time this year.

A huge piece of that first-half deluge came as a result of guard Dara Mabrey’s five three-pointers before the break, the first time she’s had such a showing since sinking seven threes against Oklahoma in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Mabrey finished with a total of 19 points, three rebounds and three assists.

“Dara’s one of the best three-point shooters in the country,” Ivey said. “Seeing her light it up from the perimeter right away from the beginning of the game [is awesome].”

Notre Dame topped the Cardinals in every category, including bench points (41-17), fast breaks (19-11) and second chance points (15-6). The Irish blocked eight shots, including a season-high three from center Lauren Ebo. She had her first double-double in a Notre Dame uniform on Sunday, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

A couple of newcomers posted career highs in the points category against the Cardinals; graduate student and Stanford transfer Jenna Brown had 10, while freshman KK Bransford posted 16.

“It was special for me, and it was special for my teammates to see what I can bring to the team,” Bransford said after the game. “Tonight I felt really confident just knowing that [my teammates] have my back.”

Bransford went 8-8 from the free throw line and posted six rebounds as well. She is the lone freshman currently on the team, but she played like a veteran on Sunday.

The depth and contributions across the board bode well for Ivey, who has hopes of making the Final Four for the 10th time in program history.

“I think that we’re just scratching the surface.”

Notre Dame heads to the Bahamas this week to play in the Goombay Splash for a Thanksgiving tournament. First up is a match against American (0-3) on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. The contest can be streamed on FloHoops, and additional information about the tournament can be found here.

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Niele Ivey, Sonia Citron speak after Notre Dame beats Northwestern

Hear what the Irish’s coach and game’s leading scorer had to say about this eventful win.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Notre Dame beat Northwestern, 92-58, in a game that seemed uneventful on the surface. However, some fireworks throughout kept things interesting, and this will be one of those rare 34-point games that is talked about within both programs for the rest of the season thanks to technical fouls and ejections. Both the win and those fireworks were talked about when [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] met with the media afterwards. Here is some of what was said:

Niele Ivey, Olivia Miles and Kylee Watson discuss Notre Dame win

The Irish speak about their win in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS — Notre Dame’s 90-79 win over California at the Shamrock Classic in St. Louis came tougher than anticipated. Still, a win is a win, and to have it come live from the Enterprise Center on NBC made it all the more special. The opportunity for [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to do it in her hometown was among the topics covered in her postgame news conference with [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag]. Here is some of what they said:

Notre Dame overcomes foul trouble to win Shamrock Classic over Cal

A bit tight, but still a win.

ST. LOUIS — [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]’s St. Louis homecoming could have gone a lot smoother. She didn’t plan on so many key players having to sit at a crucial time so that could be on the court at the end of the Shamrock Classic. Still, she gladly will take a 90-79 win over California.

The Irish (2-0) led by as much as 14 in the third quarter, but three players ([autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] and [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag]) had four fouls before the end of that frame. With Ivey forced to go to her bench as the fourth quarter began, the Bears (1-1) whittled the deficit down to three. Fortunately, the Irish were able to calm themselves down, and the reserves were able to tread water before the foul-plagued starters could return. Once that happened, it was relatively smooth sailing.

[autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] led the Irish with 16 points before fouling out. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] had 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14, Miles achieved a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists, and 12 points came from Westbeld.

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