The Notre Dame women’s basketball team took fans on a bit of a roller coaster this week as they continued their lengthy stretch of road games. After a solid win over Chattanooga on Tuesday, the team lost to North Carolina State in their ACC opener on Thursday.

Game Summaries & Observations

The Irish hit the ground running in Tuesday’s game against Chattanooga, jumping out to an early lead and never trailing in the game. Sophomore Arike Ogunbowale returned to the starting lineup after Mychal Johnson got the start against Michigan State in the previous game, and all eleven Irish players saw playing time. Ali Patberg’s minutes were still very limited as she continues to recover from her illness earlier in the season. The team recorded several impressive numbers on their way to a 79-58 win. Junior Brianna Turner led the team with 24 points, five rebounds, and six blocks. This included her 200th career block, a total reached by only two other Irish players to date. That contributed greatly to the win, as Notre Dame outscored Chattanooga in the paint 54-22. However, the highlight of the game was the play of senior point guard Lindsay Allen, making her 125th consecutive start for the Irish. Allen was all over the court on Tuesday, recording her first triple-double (in fact, her first double-double) with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists. It was great to see such a successful night for a player who means so much to this team.

If only the week could have ended with that game. However, on Thursday, Notre Dame traveled to North Carolina State to begin their ACC schedule against the Wolfpack. The outcome could not have been more different from Tuesday’s game.

Against Chattanooga, Notre Dame never trailed. Against NC State on Thursday, Notre Dame never led. NC State came out ready to play, and ND did not. The team appeared to struggle with every facet of the game. In fact, there were moments when they looked like they had never played with each other before. Only Marina Mabrey (with 22) and Lindsay Allen (with 12) scored in double figures for the Irish. Mabrey had the team’s best performance, adding five rebounds and four assists to her 22 points, but it was not enough. The Wolfpack stretched their lead to as high as 19 points late in the third quarter. Brianna Turner was held to seven points for the Irish before fouling out with 2:21 remaining in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame attempted a fourth quarter comeback as Mabrey scored 11 of her 22 points, and they cut the deficit to five points with less that two minutes remaining in the game. However, it was a case of too little too late, and the game ended in a 70-62 win for NC State.

This was only the team’s second conference loss since they joined the ACC in 2013. Certainly one bad loss does not mean the season won’t be a success, but this one sure left some questions. After last week’s win over Michigan State, the team looked to be starting to come together and improve steadily, and this feels like a big setback. It came as a surprise to me, and I’m guessing to the team as well. They certainly shouldn’t be overlooking any of the teams on their schedule the rest of the year, which would have been easy to do with their excellent record in the ACC. Interestingly, despite the game feeling painfully lopsided while watching it, ND and NC State actually ended up with similar or identical numbers in most statistical categories, even slightly outscoring the Wolfpack in the paint. One thing that really stands out, and that will need to improve significantly if the Irish want to win close games this year, was the free throw shooting. While the team has struggled more than usual from the free throw line all season, Thursday’s performance was truly awful. The Irish made only four of 11 free throws, for a rate of 36.4%. The Wolfpack shot 14-15 from the line, for 93.3%.

The free throws are an easy thing to point to, but Thursday’s performance was rough all around. I would love to have heard what Muffet McGraw said to her team in the locker room after that game. Let’s hope things get back on track this week.

Burger Basket Leaderboard

At Notre Dame home games where the Irish score 88 points or more, the fans in attendance receive coupons for a free burger. We’re tracking which player is responsible for feeding the fans the most often over the course of the season.

The team is still on the road, so there are no changes this week. Jackie Young keeps the lead for now.

Jackie Young – 2
Erin Boley – 1
Arike Ogunbowale – 1

Coming Up

A busy week awaits the Irish, with several chances to (hopefully) prove that Thursday’s bad game was a fluke, not an indicator of the ACC season to come. On Monday, the team will finally wrap up its six game road trip with a visit to Georgia Tech. Thursday they will return home to play Wake Forest. On Sunday, they hit the road again for a matchup with Miami, the only other team to have beaten Notre Dame in ACC play.