WBB | Notre Dame’s Hot Start Sets Up 30 Point Win
Notre Dame scored the game’s first 18 points and ultimately beat Wake Forest by 30 points — 78-48 at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish were active defensively and on the boards to hold Wake Forest to just 15 first half points. The Irish defense limited Wake Forest to 28.6% from the field — 14 for 44 from two and 4 for 19 from three for the full game.
“I thought we did a good job playing in the zone and that was number one of our keys to the game,” said head coach Muffet McGraw. “So, I was really pleased defensively. Through three quarters, I thought we played pretty well defensively. Offensively, I thought Bri and Jess were really active today and Marina shot the ball well.”
Brianna Turner, Jessica Shepard and Marina Mabrey combined to shoot 20 for 29 from the field (69%) and matched the Demon Deacons full game scoring with a total of 48 points. Mabrey led all scorers in the game with 18 points — she was 7 for 11 overall including 4 for 7 from three. She also added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block. Shepard scored 16 (7-9 from the field). She had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and a block. Turner grabbed 12 rebounds to go with 14 points (6 for 9 from the field), 2 assists and 2 steals. Shepard only played 18 minutes and Turner just 22.
The Irish dominated inside — scoring 52 points in the paint to Wake’s 22 and out-rebounding the Deacons by 55 to 33, which disappointed Jen Hoover, the Wake Forest head coach.
“We came in wanting to focus in and try to protect the paint — that was our big emphasis,” said Hoover. “The rebounding is a big issue. We had never been outrebounded (this season) until the Boston College game and today we got out-rebounded by 20 some — that can’t happen.”
In contrast to Mabrey, Turner and Shepard, the rest of the team only made 12 of 40 attempts from the field — just 30%. The Irish shot 46.4% overall. When the starters played most of the first and third quarters, Notre Dame made 19 of 35 shot attempts (54.3%) and scored 47 points.
After leading the team with another 30 point effort on Thursday night against Louisville, Arike Ogunbowale had a game to forget quickly — 1 for 11 from the field and just 4 points. It was the first time this season that she has failed to score in double figures and it was her lowest scoring game since her freshman season.
McGraw is not worried about her leading scorer having an off day, “Sometimes you just have that kind of day. Coming off a big game like Louisville, she struggled to find her shot and her rhythm, but she did some other things like five assists.”
Once the Irish established a substantial lead, McGraw played reserves throughout the final three quarters. Mikayla Vaughn played 18 minutes, scored 9 points, blocked four shots, and pulled down 3 rebounds. Dani Patterson played 14 minutes with 6 points and 5 rebounds. Jordan Nixon played 20 minutes.
With the win, the Irish move to a perfect 4-0 record in ACC play and 16-1 overall. The Irish travel to Blacksburg, Virginia this Wednesday to play Virginia Tech before returning home next Sunday for the first to two games this season vs. Boston College.
