Notre Dame breezes by Harvard to open the 2018-19 season
Written by Dave McGovern
The Notre Dame women’s basketball team opened its national championship defense with a 103-58 thumping of Harvard at Purcell Pavilion on Friday afternoon.
Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard combined for 58 points to lead the Irish, while Brianna Turner scored 11 points to go with 11 rebounds.
Shepard scored just eight seconds after the opening tip. Harvard hit a three point shot on its first possession to take the Crimson’s only lead of the game before the Irish reeled off the next eleven points to open a ten point lead.
Coach Muffet McGraw was pleased with the offensive effort, but still sees room for improvement: “I thought Jess was really hard to guard inside. Arike got a lot of good shots off of ball screens. It was a little bit better decision making, but we still have a long way to go on the offensive side. I think we can dominate more and turn the ball over less. On offense, I think we can play better and on defense I know we can play better.”
The Irish led 23 to 11 at the end of the quarter and stretched the lead to 50 to 29 at the half. Notre Dame scored four points in the final four seconds before the half-time buzzer. After Brianna Turner made a layup, Jessica Shepard stole the inbounds pass and hit a 12 foot jumper as time expired.
The Irish poured in 36 points in the third quarter including a ten to nothing run in the first minute and half of the quarter. The Irish made 14 of 21 shots in the third quarter, and the 36 point total was higher than any quarter last season.
Dominant inside play from Shepard, Turner, and Mikayla Vaughn produced 58 points in the paint to just 14 for Harvard. ND had a 55 to 30 rebounding advantage and blocked six shots, led by Vaughn’s four.
After a disappointing defensive effort in last week’s exhibition game, Coach McGraw was more satisfied with the work on the defensive end vs Harvard. “We worked on our defense pretty much every day. I think they made the decision that they were going to come out and guard today. Their one-on-one (defense) was much better.”
Harvard did have success from beyond the arc — making 11 of 34 attempts. The Crimson shot 26% from two-point range (10 for 38). Notre Dame only attempted seven three-three-point shots during the contest. They made just two. The Irish converted 27 of 37 free throws with Ogunbowale going a perfect 9 for 9 from the line.
Shepard made 12 of her 16 shots (75%). She added four free throws, eight rebounds and four assists.
The Irish committed 16 turnovers, but Coach McGraw was relatively comfortable with that statistic because of the effort to pass to open teammates on the break:
“I think we’re a really unselfish team. I like the way they’re looking for each other and I think they’re playing well together. I like the transition mistakes because we’re trying to push the ball. We had people up and down the floor and while some passes weren’t exactly right, we can work on that. I thought the decision making was really good.” The Irish scored 19 points in transition to just four for Harvard.
Jackie Young was wearing a protective face mask at the start of the game, but threw it to the sideline after taking a hit to the face in the second quarter. After the game, McGraw said that Young suffered a broken nose in the exhibition game last week. She added that it wasn’t as severe as the break she suffered last year and probably won’t require surgery at the end of the season.
Marina Mabrey and Danielle Patterson were not available for today’s game. McGraw says she expects to have Patterson back for Monday’s game against Pennsylvania, but that Mabrey is still day-to-day with a reported quadriceps injury.
Freshman Jordan Nixon started in Mabrey’s absence and played a team leading 29 minutes. She passed out three assists but had six turnovers. McGraw said that Nixon played well overall: “We’ve got a freshman at the point, who is doing a great job, but it’s a big difference than having a senior out there. Plus, we miss Marina’s three point shooting. I want to see her (Nixon’s) pace improve and make quicker decisions. I would like to see her offensively be a little more aggressive looking for her shot.”
Freshman Danielle Cosgrove sat out the game against Harvard for a team rule violation. She will be back on Monday.
The 2018 National Championship banner ceremony will take place at Monday’s game vs Penn. McGraw said It will put an exclamation point on the championship season, but once the banner is raised it will be time to move on and focus on what’s happening now.
