WBB | Happy Homecoming for Arike, Irish Win 87-63
Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale returned to her hometown of Milwaukee and led the Irish to a comfortable 87-63 win against Marquette. Ogunbowale scored 13 of her game-high 32 points in the first half before exploding for 15 points in the third quarter - she scored the first 11 points of that quarter for Notre Dame as the Irish stretched a 13 point halftime lead (42-29j to lead by 17 (67-50) after three quarters. The Irish pulled away in the final quarter - Marquette only scored 5 points in the first 8:11 as the Irish put the game out of reach.
Ogunbowale made 13 of her 21 field goal attempts and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the free throw line. She also added 3 assists and two steals. Her 32 point total ties her career high for a single game.
Marquette had no answers for Notre Dame’s superior size up front. Brianna Turner scored 20 points (9-12 from the field) and Jess Shepard added 15 (7-12). Shepard had 18 rebounds and Turner 8. Turner led the Irish in the first half with 16 points. Shepard added 10 before the break.
Notre Dame trailed at the end of the first quarter 18-17 as Natisha Hiedeman hit 3 three-pointers. Notre Dame outscored the Golden Eagles 70-45 over the final three quarters.
The Irish withstood a pressing Marquette team and only committed 12 turnovers while forcing 14 Marquette giveaways. Marquette was forcing over 20 opponent turnovers before today.
ND was aggressive in defending the three-point line - Marquette only made 5 of 22 attempts (22.7%) - and just 2 after the first quarter. The Golden Eagles were averaging 9.5 made threes a game.
Notre Dame shot just under 60% for the game, while limiting Marquette to 34.3% from the field. The Golden Eagles had been converting 47.6% of its field goal attempts and 38.4% from beyond the arc. Marquette’s leading scorer, Allazia Blockton, was held to just 4 points (2-14 from the field) — for the season, she was averaging 18.6 and making over 51% of her attempts. Hiedeman led Marquette with 23 points.
ND had 26 assists on 37 made baskets. Jackie Young had 9 and Marina Mabrey added 5. It’s the third straight game that ND has had more than 20 assists. The Irish were 11 for 13 from the free throw line (84.6%).
Dani Patterson and Abby Prohaska gave Notre Dame useful minutes off the bench. Patterson scored 6 points in 10 minutes on the floor and Prohaska had 3 assists and scored 2 points in 12.
The Irish now head home for Christmas — a short drive for Ogunbowale. They’ll return to campus before the end of next week to get ready for their final non-conference game vs. Lehigh on Sunday afternoon, December 30th. ND opens ACC play on Thursday evening, January 3rd, against Pittsburgh.