It was a rough end to the weekend for the Irish women’s basketball team. Notre Dame collected an impressive Sweet Sixteen win over Ohio State on Friday. However, on Sunday, for the second year in a row Stanford ended Notre Dame’s season in Lexington’s Rupp Arena.
Friday: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Friday’s game against the Buckeyes was Notre Dame’s first since losing junior forward Brianna Turner to a torn ACL in the second-round win over Purdue. Erin Boley rejoined the starting lineup in Turner’s place. Notre Dame started the scoring with a three-pointer from Marina Mabrey, but Ohio State responded with a three of their own. After that opening basket, the Irish struggled with cold shooting. They were able to get some good looks, but nothing was falling as they started with 1-9 shooting. Fortunately, OSU was struggling during this stretch as well. The Buckeyes seemed content to take outside shots, not trying to get in the paint. This was somewhat surprising, given Notre Dame’s small lineup with Turner out. The teams continued to trade baskets through the first quarter, with Ohio State leading 25-24 at the end of the first. Notre Dame shifted into another gear in the second quarter. Shots started falling, and they seemed to make every shot they put up for a stretch. To go along with the hot shooting, the Irish played some solid defense and did some impressive rebounding to pull ahead to a 45-35 lead. The team continued shooting well, making five three-pointers in the second quarter for a total of eight in the half. A buzzer beater from Lindsay Allen just missed the mark, and ND carried a 50-42 lead into halftime.
The Buckeyes came out strong early in the third quarter and cut the Irish lead to four. This forced an ND timeout, but it was well spent. After the timeout, the offense started clicking beautifully. With nice passing and a pair of three-pointers, ND stretched the lead back to double digits at 63-53. They never looked back from this point, continuing to extend the lead. The third quarter ended with the Irish up 80-65. They just extended this lead throughout the fourth quarter, reaching a 20-point lead at 90-70 on a Westbeld jumper. Not satisfied with this, they stretched it to 99-76 by the end of the game. This game was a triumph for Notre Dame in pretty much every category. With everyone questioning how they would play without Turner, they came out ready to shoot the lights out. Pick your favorite stat on this one: Six ND players scored in double-digits. Westbeld had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Allen had a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. Arike Ogunbowale gave an incredible performance, scoring a career-high 32 points. The team made 19 of 20 free throws. They shot 12 of 24 from three. They outrebounded the Buckeyes 42-30. There were so many things to like in this game.
If you’re having a rough day, just stop reading here. Pretend that was the last game of the tournament.
Sunday: Notre Dame vs. Stanford
Notre Dame faced an Elite Eight matchup against a Stanford team that knocked them out in the Sweet Sixteen last year. Notre Dame defeated Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen two years ago. It might be nice if these two teams weren’t in the same corner of the bracket next year. Three regional meetings in a row feels like plenty. The Irish went with the same starting lineup that worked so well for them on Friday, inserting Boley for the injured Turner. Stanford hit a three-pointer right away after winning the opening tip, but Mabrey sunk a three to respond. That’s about how the rest of the first quarter went. The teams traded baskets and the lead. ND eventually went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-16 lead, but Stanford pulled back in front to end the first quarter up 24-22. The second quarter opened with more of the same. The teams seemed evenly matched, but Stanford held on to a slight lead as the teams traded baskets. Notre Dame finally took the lead back at the 6:14 mark on two Ogunbowale free throws that made it 28-27. These ended up being part of a larger run, as ND stretched the lead to double digits with less that 3:30 remaining in the half. They continued their run, stretching it to 18-0 and a 40-27 lead behind another star performance from Ogunbowale. Continuing to play well, the Irish went into halftime holding a 45-31 lead over the Cardinal. Ogunbowale contributed 21 points in her exceptional first half.
At this point, I think a lot of Irish fans joined me in hoping we were seeing a repeat of Friday’s performance. However, it was not to be. Stanford started chipping away at the Irish lead right away in the third quarter. The Cardinal then went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 51-43. Allen and the rest of the Irish struggled to score, having trouble finding good shots and missing them when they did. After shooting 56% in the first half, ND shot only 25% in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Stanford hit their stride and looked more and more confident as the quarter went on. By the end of the quarter, the ND lead had dwindled to two at 57-55. Stanford took their first lead of the second half early in the fourth quarter on a three-pointer from Brittany McPhee that put them up 58-57. The fourth quarter turned into an intense struggle – one that would feature six ties and 13 lead changes. The Irish continued to struggle on offense and couldn’t find an answer for Stanford on defense. They particularly struggled to contain McPhee, who would finish the game with 27 points. Finally, Stanford’s Alanna Smith hit a jumper to give them a 76-75 lead with 23 seconds remaining. Allen’s ensuing shot was blocked out of bounds, giving the Irish one last chance to inbound with 2.2 seconds remaining. They were able to get the ball to Ogunbowale but her shot was blocked by Erica McCall, giving Stanford the win and a trip to the Final Four. The Irish shot only 33% in the second half, including going 2-11 from three. Ogunbowale’s 25 points led the Irish, followed by 20 points from Mabrey. In her last game for the Irish, Lindsay Allen provided another double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. These three players were named to the all-region team, and Ogunbowale was also named the region’s Most Outstanding Player. However, I’m sure the honors didn’t mean much to these players since they didn’t come with a trip to the Final Four.
Observations
If you had told me before this weekend that the Irish would be in the Elite Eight, in a close game against Stanford with a chance to take the game-winning shot in the closing seconds, I would have taken that deal in a heartbeat. This loss certainly stings, but I’m trying to look at it with a little more perspective a day later. When Turner was injured in the second round, and the news broke that she was done for the season, I thought there was a good chance the team was done too. Not that the rest of the team isn’t talented – she is just one piece of a team that is full of talented individuals – but to have to replace the contributions of the team’s leading scorer, rebounder, and shot-blocker while totally changing the style of play to account for the loss of size inside, with only a few short days to make the adjustments, seemed like a nearly impossible task even for Muffet McGraw and her great assistants.
Then they dominated in the Sweet Sixteen, against a talented Ohio State team. The loss in the Elite Eight shouldn’t take anything away from that performance. I wondered if they had used up their tournament magic in the Sweet Sixteen, and thought anything after that point would be icing on the cake. However, their excellent second quarter against Stanford got my hopes up again. To have a shooting performance like they did on Friday two games in a row was unlikely, and it looked like they just ran out of gas. To make it further in the tournament than they did a year ago, despite losing three good seniors from that team and losing Turner mid-tournament, is a huge accomplishment. They were one blocked shot away from a trip back to the Final Four. I would never have expected that earlier in the year, when they were losing their ACC opener and struggling to put the pieces together. This team fought hard all year and came a long way to secure ACC regular season and tournament titles for the fourth year in a row. It’s never fun to have the season end on a loss, but they should be proud of what they accomplished.
Coming Up
This season has ended, but there is a lot to look forward to next year. The team returns a lot of talent, and will look to build on this year’s successes. One fun fact about the bright years ahead for ND women’s basketball: of the 99 points scored in Friday’s victory over Ohio State, 73 were by freshmen and sophomores.
In the meantime, the 2017 WNBA Draft will take place on April 13th. I’m looking forward to seeing which team makes the wise choice to select Lindsay Allen.
You just have to wonder about what would have happened with Turner in the lineup.
Let’s get ’em next year, Irish! I’d love to see the women get another National Championship.