destinee walker – Syndication Server

Notre Dame earns four selections on ACC All-Academic Team

Whatever Notre Dame does for the rest of the season, it can say there are some bright players in its program.

Whatever Notre Dame does for the rest of the season, it can say there are some bright players in its program. The ACC has released its All-Academic Team, and four Irish players made the cut. The Notre Dame players who shine best in the classroom while also performing at a high level on the court are Destinee Walker, Anaya Peoples, Dara Mabrey and Maddy Westbeld. This is Notre Dame’s best showing on the ACC All-Academic Team since entering the conference.

Mabrey and Walker are on this team for the third time, while this is the debut for Westbeld and Peoples. Players qualify for the list by achieving a 3.0 GPA for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative GPA throughout their academic career. Seeing how most collegiate athletes leave their competitive playing careers behind upon leaving school, this is a nice thing to put on a resume. Being able to balance your academic and athletic sides so well should be the goal for anyone who chooses to play sports in college.

Notre Dame’s Ivey records first career win

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team improved to 1-1 on the young season Sunday as they won new head coach Niele Ivey’s first home game.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team got off to a tough start over Thanksgiving weekend as they fell on the road to Ohio, 86-85, despite entering the fourth quarter with a 65-62 lead.

Better news came in the form of new head coach Niele Ivey’s first career win as the Irish bounced back by trouncing Miami (Ohio) on Sunday, 88-68, and moving to 1-1 on the young season.

Sixth-year-senior-guard Destinee Walker paced Notre Dame with 24 points while freshman Maddy Westbeld added 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block.

Notre Dame got out of the gates quickly as they took a 45-30 lead to halftime and cruised to a fairly easy victory.

Ivey was cleared excited to get win number-one out of the way on what was an understandably emotional day.

“This was a dream, something I visualized, something I’ve prayed about, just to be able to say that I can get a win,” Ivey said, sounding both relieved and thrilled. “To be the head coach and walking into Purcell Pavilion was an absolute dream.”

Ivey and the 1-1 Fighting Irish return to the court on December 3 when they host No. 24 Michigan on Thursday night.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Barely Beat Orange

Notre Dame had every right to feel good about itself after Sunday’s 72-70 victory over Syracuse. The Irish (11-17, 6-10) had to get a little bit of offense down the stretch and then crack down on defense to defeat the Orange (15-12, 9-7), but they …

Mikki Vaughn scored the final two of her career-high 21 points on two free throws to break a 70-all tie with 1:02 left. Syracuse had the ball at half court out of a timeout with 10.1 seconds left. Two missed shot attempts later, the Irish secured the victory. Credit goes to the defense for helping that happen.

Destinee Walker scored 16 points, tied her career high of six assists and recorded three steals. Katlyn Gilbert also dished out six assists and had three steals to go with 12 points. Sam Brunelle finished one rebound shy of a double-double while scoring 15 for the afternoon.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Not Enough to Beat Hoakies

In a trying season like this one, it’s nice to see Notre Dame have moments like it did Thursday against Virginia Tech, even if they’re futile. The Irish (10-17, 5-10) held a 23-9 scoring advantage over the Hokies (20-6, 5-10) in the game’s final six minutes. However, the 20-point deficit the Irish were faced with earlier proved to be too deep of a hole in a 68-62 loss. The game got as close as five points with 11.8 seconds left.

Sam Brunelle scored 18 of her 20 points on a career-high six 3-pointers. Destinee Walker wasn’t far behind with 19 points. But unlike Brunelle, Walker was cold from deep as she missed all five of her 3-point attempts.

This game featured more than a career performance for Brunelle, an ACC Rookie of the Year candidate. The six 3s she made were one short of the program record for most 3-pointers in a game by a freshman. Just over 20 years to the day, Alicia Ratay made 7s against Rutgers.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Downed by Cardinals

Notre Dame had a decent start on the road against No. 9 Louisville on Sunday, ending the first quarter trailing, 18-16. But the Irish (10-16, 5-9) had a rough going in the second and third quarters as the Cardinals (23-3, 12-2) outscored them, …

The Irish scored eight unanswered points in 90 seconds during the first quarter to gain an 8-4 lead. That advantage grew to 12-10 as the Irish made six of their first eight shots. However, it was all Louisville after that first quarter as it went on a couple of sustained scoring runs that made it impossible for the game to become competitive. Such things happen when one team clearly is outmatched by the other.

Mikayla Vaughn led the Irish with 16 points and tied with Sam Brunelle and Katlyn Gilbert for the team lead with six rebounds. Destinee Walker played all but 27 seconds and scored 12 points to go with a team-high three assists.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Lose Heartbreaker at Buzzer

After Destinee Walker’s go-ahead layup with 1.8 seconds left, Notre Dame only had to play defense successfully to walk away with its fourth consecutive win Thursday. But on the night before Valentine’s Day, the Irish ended up jilted as Emma Guy hit …

After the Eagles (14-10, 7-6) began the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run, the Irish (10-15, 5-8) responded with an offensive barrage of their own that gave them a two-point lead with just over two minutes left. Boston College took the lead out of a timeout with 33.2 seconds left on an elbow jumper from Georgia Pineau. That paved the way for the aforementioned heroics on both sides, though the Irish were the ones left unhappy in the end.

Walker finished with a game-high 21 points to give herself three consecutive 20-point contests for the first time in her career. She also finished one rebound short of a double-double. Katlyn Gilbert complimented Walker with 10 points.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Pulverize Panthers

Notre Dame has momentum after winning its third straight, 74-52, over Pittsburgh on Sunday night. After trailing, 17-14, to end the first quarter, the Irish (10-14, 5-7) had their best scoring frame in the second with 24 points while the struggling Panthers (4-19, 1-11) shot 3 of 17 from the field. The Irish took over from there, playing their game while Pittsburgh made only 18 field goals. As the Panthers made only 2 of 18 field-goal attempts in a four-point fourth quarter, Muffet McGraw emptied her bench, which allowed volleyball player Kristin Baer to enter the game and score the first basket of her collegiate basketball career.

Destinee Walker scored a game-high 24 points and led all shooters with four 3-pointers despite foul trouble that caused her to miss nearly the entire third quarter. Katlyn Gilbert scored 17 points to go with a team-high five assists. Sam Brunelle scored 10, and Mikayla Vaughn grabbed 10 rebounds in exactly 19 minutes.

Despite the relatively easy contest for Notre Dame, Pittsburgh only had 13 turnovers compared to 18 for the Irish.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Down Deacons

On Thursday, Notre Dame had one of its highlights in a season that’s featured few of them, at least compared to what the program is known for. The Irish survived a fourth quarter that featured 13 of the game’s 19 lead changes and defeated Wake …

Notre Dame (9-14, 4-7) got a significant boost from Destinee Walker, who scored 22 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. She shot 8 of 15 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. There was nothing the Demon Deacons (12-11, 5-7) could do to stop her. She now has scored at least 20 points a team-high six times this season.

Katlyn Gilbert scored 12 points, Mikayla Vaughn added 11, and Sam Brunelle totaled 10 to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Marta Sniezek flirted with a double-double with nine points, her highest scoring output since Dec. 8, and eight rebounds.

The Irish led by three in the final seconds, and a missed jumper by Ivana Raca paved the way for a Vaughn free throw to end it.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Down Yellow Jackets

Notre Dame showed it was ready for Georgia Tech and its second-ranked defense with a 59-51 road win Sunday. The Yellow Jackets (14-8, 5-6) entered the contest allowing only 50.6 points a game, but in this case, it was the Irish (8-14, 3-7) allowing …

Midway through the third quarter, the Irish broke a 33-all tie and went a 9-2 run to provide the game’s first lead of larger than four points. Notre Dame then began the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run. It allowed only one field goal over the previous 10 minutes before a media timeout at the 4:52 mark. Jasmine Carson got Georgia Tech within seven by scoring eight consecutive points, but the Irish held off the rally with a few clutch plays and were home free for the win.

Mikki Vaughn scored a career-high 20 points while shooting 10 of 15 from the field and bringing down seven rebounds. Destinee Walker scored 15, and Katlyn Gilbert had 11 points and five assists.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Roughed Up vs. Cavaliers

Even with Kobe Bryant’s untimely death earlier in the day, basketball still had to go on. For Notre Dame, that meant a road game against Virginia. Unfortunately for the Irish, it also meant another chapter in a disappointing season. This time, it …

The Irish (7-13, 2-6) shot 32.1 percent from the field, which was enough for the Cavaliers (8-12, 3-6), who shot 47.2 percent. Virginia outscored Notre Dame, 34-17, in the second quarter, breaking open what had been a seven-point contest. Further hampering the Irish’s efforts was a stretch in the third quarter in which they missed 17 consecutive shots en route to a 1-of-18 showing in that quarter. By the time it was over, Muffet McGraw had emptied her bench.

Local native Sam Brunelle, who played almost the entire game, led all scorers with 21 points and four 3-pointers. Katlyn Gilbert scored 16, and Destinee Walker had an 11-point outing despite shooting 2 of 12 from the floor.