Sam Brunelle – Page 2 – Syndication Server

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: Gilbert Named Rookie of the Week

Katlyn Gilbert’s terrific freshman season has given Notre Dame hope in what’s been a rare dreary season for the program. Everyone can see the potential even clearer after Gilbert was named the ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday. In wins against Wake …

In wins against Wake Forest and Pittsburgh, Gilbert averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 38.7 percent from the field. With 12 points against the Demon Deacons and 17 against the Panthers, she has a team-high 21 games in which she’s scored in double figures.

Of course, Gilbert isn’t the only freshman making an impact for the Irish. She and Sam Brunelle are the top scoring first-year players in the conference with averages of 13.9 and 13.6 points a game, respectively. Throughout the country, only Fresno State’s Haley and Hanna Cavinder can join them as freshman teammates who have scoring averages of at least 13.5 points a game.

If the season ended today, Gilbert’s scoring average would rank fourth all-time for Notre Dame freshmen.

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 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.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Trying Season Continues at Duke

Haley Gorecki went on an 8-0 run by herself to draw Duke within one at 42-41 before Notre Dame’s final field goal of the night came with Sam Brunelle hitting her career-high fourth three and the Irish a 45-41 lead with 6:34 to go.

On a night that the Notre Dame Women’s basketball team played their best defensive quarter and half of the season, they fell in perhaps their most-frustrating loss of the season, a 50-47 decision at Duke on Thursday night as three turnovers in the final minute did the Irish in.

“I thought we lost that game entirely on our own – the turnovers were just so costly down the stretch. We couldn’t even get shots” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said after the game.

The Irish got off to a very fast start, going on a 14-2 run in the first quarter and not allowing a point the final 6:37 of the first frame, taking a 14-4 lead to the second quarter.

Duke’s offense came alive to the tune of 16 second quarter points but Notre Dame’s Mikki Vaughn led the Irish with eight points in the quarter herself to help aid Notre Dame to 15 themselves in the second quarter which led to a 29-20 halftime lead.

A 9-0 Duke run in the third quarter cut the Irish lead to three at 34-31, but Notre Dame responded with a run of their own to stretch the lead back to 40-33 entering the fourth.

Destinee Walker kicked off the fourth with a layup that pushed the Irish lead to nine but unfortunately that accounted for half of her made field goals on the night and Notre Dame would score just five more points on the night.

The Irish however would be turnover-happy down the stretch and only score again by sinking a couple of free throws as Duke rallied to win 50-47 on their home court.

No quit in us.

We drop a tight one to Duke, 50-47. Back at it Sunday when we host Miami at 1 p.m. ET.#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/J93cARzUNY

— Notre Dame WBB (@ndwbb) January 17, 2020

The loss drops Notre Dame to just 6-12 overall and 1-5 in ACC play while Duke improved to 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the ACC.

Notre Dame looks for their second conference win of the season again Sunday when they return home to take on Miami in a game that can be seen on ACC Network.