March 1, 2014
2013-14 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 29
#2/2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (28-0 / 15-0 ACC) vs. #13/17 North Carolina State Wolfpack (24-5 / 11-4 ACC)
DATE: March 2, 2014
TIME: 2:30 p.m. ET
AT: Raleigh, N.C. – Reynolds Coliseum (8,560)
SERIES: ND leads 1-0
LAST MTG: ND 64-53 (11/20/96)
TV: ESPN3/WatchESPN (live)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1)/WatchND (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @ndwbbsid
TICKETS: (919) 865-1510; gopack.com/tickets
Storylines
- Notre Dame plays its third consecutive top-15 opponent, something it has not done in the regular season in more than 17 years.
- The Fighting Irish are making their third visit to the state of North Carolina in 28 days, and will return to the Old North State for next week’s ACC Championship in Greensboro.
No. 2 Fighting Irish Wrap Up Regular Season Sunday At No. 13/17 North Carolina State
Two months after venturing largely into the unknown with its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 2 Notre Dame wraps up its inaugural ACC campaign at 2:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday when it travels to Raleigh, N.C., to take on No. 13/17 North Carolina State at Reynolds Coliseum. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN mobile app, while the Notre Dame Radio Network broadcast can be heard free on the official Fighting Irish athletics multimedia platform, WatchND.
Notre Dame (28-0, 15-0) posted its second consecutive wire-to-wire win over a ranked opponent on Thursday, shooting 61 percent in the field goal en route to a 100-75 win over No. 14/11 North Carolina at Purcell Pavilion.
Senior tri-captains Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa combined for 52 points, while sophomore guard Jewell Loyd added her fourth double-double of the year (12 points, 10 rebounds) to pace the Fighting Irish.
Rankings
- Notre Dame is No. 2 in this week’s Associated Press poll and is No. 2 in this week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.
- North Carolina State is No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press poll and is No. 17 in this week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.
Quick Hitters
- Notre Dame has clinched the outright ACC regular season title in its first season in the conference. It’s the first time the Fighting Irish have won three consecutive outright regular season conference titles (following BIG EAST crowns in 2011-12 and 2012-13), and just the second time they have won three consecutive regular season conference titles in the program’s 37-year history (they shared the 1988-89 Midwestern Collegiate/Horizon League championship before claiming the top spot outright the following two seasons).
- Notre Dame is the first school to win the ACC regular season women’s basketball title in its first year in the conference since the ACC began sponsoring the sport in 1977-78.
- Notre Dame is the first NCAA Division I program to win consecutive conference titles in different leagues since 2000-01, when both TCU and Louisiana Tech did so.
- At 28-0, Notre Dame is off to the best start to a season in program history, surpassing the 23-0 debut by the 2000-01 club.
- The current Fighting Irish 28-game winning streak is the second-longest in program history beyond only last year’s 30-game run.
- Notre Dame has won a school-record 51 consecutive regular season games and 26 consecutive home games, dating back to Dec. 5, 2012 (a 73-61 loss to No. 3 Baylor). The 26-game home winning streak is the second-longest in school history and tied for the second-longest active run in NCAA Division I.
- The Fighting Irish have won a school-record 34 consecutive regular season road games (41 of their last 46, as well as 25 in a row overall, the fifth-longest streak in NCAA Division I history) since a 94-81 loss at top-ranked Baylor on Nov. 20, 2011, in the Preseason WNIT championship game.
- Now in its inaugural season in the ACC, Notre Dame has won 35 consecutive conference games, as well as 23 consecutive league road games. The Fighting Irish last lost a regular season conference game on Feb. 12, 2012 (65-63 at home vs. West Virginia), and dropped a regular season league contest on the road on Feb. 28, 2011 (70-69 at No. 12/11 DePaul), both in BIG EAST play.
- Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Notre Dame is 35-5 (.875) against ranked opponents (13-2 on the road).
- Notre Dame stands at No. 2 in the AP and WBCA/USA Today polls, the third consecutive season that the Fighting Irish have earned the second position in both surveys.
- Notre Dame is ranked among the top 11 in seven NCAA statistical categories, including No. 2 rankings in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and assists (but not including won-loss percentage, for which they are one of two remaining teams in the nation without a loss).
- Notre Dame has appeared in the AP poll for 133 consecutive weeks (including the past 63 weeks in the AP Top 10), extending a program record that dates back to the 2007-08 preseason poll, and ranking sixth in the nation among active AP poll appearances. What’s more, every current Fighting Irish player has competed for a ranked Notre Dame squad during her career, with the vast majority of that time (83 of 94 weeks) spent in the AP Top 10.
- Senior forwards Natalie Achonwa and Ariel Braker, and senior guard Kayla McBride have helped Notre Dame to a 129-14 (.902) record in their careers, putting them on the verge of matching last year’s senior class of Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner, who helped Notre Dame to 130 wins in their careers.
- Of the 14 losses suffered by the current Fighting Irish senior class, eight were decided by single digits (and three others by 10-13 points).
- Notre Dame aims to continue its remarkable success at Purcell Pavilion, with the Fighting Irish owning a 399-90 (.816) all-time record in 37 seasons at the facility, including a 76-5 (.938) record since the arena was renovated prior to the 2009-10 season.
- Notre Dame ranks third in this week’s NCAA attendance rankings (8,683 fans per game), and is the only school in the country to fill its arena to better than 90 percent capacity, something the Fighting Irish have done each season since 2009-10.
- With a 106-72 victory over Central Michigan on Dec. 22, the Fighting Irish became the 27th NCAA Division I women’s basketball program to record 800 all-time wins.
- With 654 victories in her 27 seasons at Notre Dame, head coach Muffet McGraw ranks second on the Fighting Irish athletics all-time coaching wins list (across all sports), trailing only men’s/women’s fencing coach Michael DeCicco (774-80 from 1962-95).
- With 742 career wins, McGraw has moved into 10th place on the NCAA Division I career list. She is one of two ACC coaches in the top 10 along with current North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell (second with 929).
- McGraw reached a remarkable career milestone on Feb. 27 vs. North Carolina, when she coached her 1,000th game.
The Notre Dame-North Carolina State Series
Notre Dame and North Carolina State will be facing one another for just the second time ever, and first in more than 17 years. The teams’ only other matchup came in the Preseason WNIT third-place game (which no longer exists) on Nov. 20, 1996, when the Fighting Irish posted a 64-53 win over the Wolfpack in Ruston, La.
The Last Time Notre Dame And North Carolina State Met
Katryna Gaither scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Rosanne Bohman added 15 points and five rebounds to lead No. 14/7 Notre Dame to a 64-53 victory over No. 8/12 North Carolina State in the third-place game of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 20, 1996, at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La.
Gaither registered her second double-double of the 1996-97 season and went over the 20-point mark for the fourth consecutive game. She was 11-of-17 from the field as the Fighting Irish had their best shooting performance of the young ’96-97 season, connecting on 56.5 percent of their shots for the game, including a 12-for-18 performance in the second half (66.7 percent).
While the Fighting Irish had their best shooting performance, it was defense that was the difference in the game as Notre Dame held North Carolina State to just 32.2 percent for the game and forced 22 Wolfpack turnovers.
Notre Dame jumped out to an early 13-8 lead in the first half, but North Carolina State outscored the Fighting Irish, 13-3 over the next five minutes to take a 21-16 lead with 6:15 left to play before intermission. North Carolina State’s run was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by Jennifer Howard.
The Fighting Irish then went on a 15-4 run to close out the first half as Notre Dame built a six-point lead at the half (31-25) and held Notre Carolina State to just eight field goals as the Wolfpack were just 8-of-27 from the field (29.6).
Notre Dame extended its lead to eight points on a Gaither layup along the baseline with 16:12 left in the contest, but saw its lead quickly diminish when North Carolina State went on a 10-0 run to take a 39-37 lead on a Katie Smrcka-Duffy three-pointer.
Bohman’s hook shot tied the score at 39-39 with 12:22 left to play in the contest and ignited a 15-6 Fighting Irish run as Notre Dame jumped out to a 54-45 lead. Sheila McMillen, who came off the bench to score seven points, had five points for the Fighting Irish during the rally.
Notre Dame then iced the victory with its free throw shooting, hitting 9-of-11 in the second and finishing the evening 12-of-15.
Smrcka-Duffy led the Wolfpack with 17 points, while Howard had 13 and Umeki Webb had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Other Notre Dame-North Carolina State Series Tidbits
- Notre Dame closes out the regular season with four consecutive games against teams from the state of North Carolina. The Fighting Irish are 19-2 (.905) all-time against North Carolina schools (including an active nine-game winning streak), with a 6-1 record in true road games.
- North Carolina State’s Reynolds Coliseum is the last of four ACC arenas Notre Dame will visit for the first time during its inaugural season in the conference. The Fighting Irish made their first trip to Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena on Jan. 12, as well as Florida State’s Tucker Center on Feb. 6, and Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 20.
- Sunday is the third of Notre Dame’s four trips to North Carolina within a five-week span. The Fighting Irish visited Duke on Feb. 2 and return to the Old North State on Feb. 20 to take on Wake Forest. Notre Dame will be back in North Carolina March 7-9, heading to Greensboro for the ACC Championship.
- The Fighting Irish will be playing in the state of North Carolina for the 10th time in school history (8-1 record, including wins over St. Bonaventure and Maryland in the 2012 NCAA Raleigh Regional).
- In its 37-year history, Notre Dame has had just two North Carolina natives on its all-time roster — Raleigh product Mary Joan Forbes (1980-81) and Charlotte resident Erica Williamson (2006-10).
- North Carolina State senior associate athletics director for sports administration & student services Sherard Clinkscales served as pitching coach on the Notre Dame baseball team from 2006-09.
One Tough Stretch
Notre Dame is in the midst of one of the most challenging schedule stretches in the program’s 37-year history, playing eight of its final 13 games against teams that are ranked or receiving votes, all during the closing six weeks of the regular season (five of those eight coming on the road).
With its 88-67 win at third-ranked Duke on Feb. 2, Notre Dame earned its third road win over a top-10 opponent this season, something the Fighting Irish had never done in a single regular season campaign during the program’s 37-year history (Notre Dame has numerous postseason road wins over top-10 foes).
What made the Duke win even more remarkable is that it was the third consecutive road game against a top-10 opponent for the Fighting Irish, following ESPN2 Big Monday visits to No. 11/10 Tennessee (86-70 win) and No. 8/6 Maryland (87-83 win) on Jan. 20 and 27, respectively.
Before its recent run, Notre Dame had never even played top-10 teams in three consecutive road games during the same regular season, let alone defeated all three and done so in such a short period of time (13 days).
In fact, prior to last year, the Fighting Irish had not defeated two top-10 teams on the road in the same regular season before they earned victories at No. 1 Connecticut (73-72) and No. 9 Tennessee (77-67) — and those wins came more than three weeks apart.
Ranking File
Notre Dame is 8-0 against ranked opponents (5-0 against top-10 teams) and has won seven of those eight games by double figures, the lone exception being an 87-83 victory at No. 8/6 Maryland on Jan. 27 (a game in which the Fighting Irish led by 22 points late in the first half).
With Sunday’s visit to No. 13/17 North Carolina State, Notre Dame will be playing its third consecutive ranked opponent, the first time the Fighting Irish have done that since the 2012 NCAA Championship, and the first time in the regular season since Feb. 3-11, 2009, when they lost at No. 22/24 Pittsburgh (82-70), defeated No. 25 DePaul at home (62-59) and lost at home to No. 10/12 Louisville (71-66).
This also marks the first time Notre Dame will play three consecutive top-15 teams (according to the AP poll) in the regular season since Nov. 17-20, 1996, when the Fighting Irish competed in the Preseason WNIT, winning at No. 6 Iowa (61-50) in the quarterfinals, then losing in the semifinals to No. 3/2 Tennessee (72-59) before rebounding to defeat No. 8/12 North Carolina State in the third place game (64-53) — the latter two games were played on a neutral floor in Ruston, La.
Getting The Jump
At 28-0, Notre Dame is off to the best start in the program’s 37-year history. This year’s start surpasses the debut of the 2000-01 Fighting Irish squad, which reeled off a (then) school-record 23 consecutive wins en route to a 34-2 final record and the program’s first national championship.
Streak Stats
Notre Dame’s current 28-game winning streak is the second-longest success string in program history, and it’s the third consecutive season the Fighting Irish have posted a winning streak of 20 games or longer, including last year’s school-record 30-game run.
What’s more, the Fighting Irish have cobbled together the fourth-longest winning streak by any team in the modern era (since 1950) of Notre Dame athletics. In fact, the women’s basketball program holds three of the seven longest winning streaks in Fighting Irish athletics history during the past six decades.
Notre Dame also has strung together 14 double-digit winning streaks in the program’s 37-year history, with 12 of those coming during the tenure of Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-88 to present).
Dating back to the start of last season, the Fighting Irish are 63-2 (.969) and have won 51 consecutive regular season games. In that span, their lone losses have come against a pair of third-ranked teams — Baylor (73-61 on Dec. 5, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion) and Connecticut (83-65 on April 7, 2013, in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinals at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, La.).
In addition, Notre Dame currently shares the nation’s longest winning streak against unranked opponents (in the Associated Press poll), having earned 48 consecutive victories since a last-second 65-63 home loss to West Virginia on Feb. 12, 2012 (research for this note provided by STATS via the AP).
Road Warriors
Notre Dame has won a school-record 34 consecutive regular season road games (and 41 of its last 46, and 25 in a row overall), including the Feb. 20 victory at Wake Forest. The Fighting Irish last tasted defeat on the road in the regular season on Nov. 20, 2011, a 94-81 setback at No. 1 Baylor in the Preseason WNIT championship game.
Notre Dame’s current 25-game road winning streak also is the longest active run in the nation, more than doubling the next-closest pursuers (12 by Connecticut and Chattanooga, as of Friday), as well as the fifth-longest in NCAA Division I history.
The highlight of this current run came on Jan. 5, 2013, when Notre Dame edged No. 1 Connecticut, 73-72, in Storrs, Conn., earning its fourth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent and first-ever victory on the road.
The Fighting Irish also have won a school-record 23 consecutive conference road games, with their last loss coming as part of the BIG EAST Conference on Feb. 28, 2011 (a last-second 70-69 loss at No. 12/11 DePaul).
The Comforts Of Home
Notre Dame has won 26 consecutive home games since a 73-61 loss to third-ranked Baylor on Dec. 5, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion. As of Friday, the Fighting Irish are tied with Dayton for the nation’s second-longest active home winning streak, with this run also the second-longest in school history (longest since a school-record 51-game stretch from Dec. 12, 1998-Feb. 19, 2002).
What’s more, Notre Dame has won its last 18 conference home games since a 65-63 loss to West Virginia on Feb. 12, 2012, when both the Fighting Irish and Mountaineers were members of the BIG EAST Conference.
Conference Call
With its 81-70 victory over No. 7 Duke on Feb. 23 at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame secured its third consecutive outright conference regular season title, and first as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Fighting Irish are the first program to earn the ACC title in their first year in the conference since the ACC began sponsoring the sport in 1977-78.
Notre Dame also has won three consecutive outright conference regular season championships for the first time in its 37-year history, and won three in a row of any kind for just the second time. In their first three seasons (1988-89 through 1990-91) in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now known as the Horizon League), the Fighting Irish won the regular season title each time, although they shared the MCC crown in their inaugural season in that league with Loyola-Chicago.
Different Address, Same Result
According to STATS, Notre Dame is the first NCAA Division I school to win consecutive regular season championships in different conferences since 2000-01, when TCU (WAC to Conference USA) and Louisiana Tech (Sun Belt to WAC) pulled off the feat. Middle Tennessee followed Notre Dame’s path this year, as it has won the C-USA title in its first season there after winning last year’s Sun Belt crown.
Loyd Earns Weekly National/ACC Honors
For the second time this season, both in the past three weeks, a Notre Dame player has earned a pair of major weekly honors, this time with sophomore guard Jewell Loyd having been selected as both the espnW National Player of the Week and the ACC Player of the Week, it was announced Monday.
Loyd was chosen as the ACC Player of the Week via a vote of the conference’s Blue Ribbon Panel. She becomes the second Notre Dame player to earn the award in the program’s inaugural ACC season, following the path of senior guard/tri-captain Kayla McBride, who was chosen for the honor (plus the espnW national award) on Feb. 3.
Last week, Loyd averaged 25.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game with a .509 field goal percentage as Notre Dame picked up three ACC wins, including an 81-70 victory over No. 7 Duke on Feb. 23 that clinched the ACC regular season title for the Fighting Irish in their inaugural season in the conference.
That’s Some Sharp Shooting
Notre Dame currently is in a virtual tie for the national lead with a .513 field goal percentage, highlighted by 18 games this season in which the Fighting Irish have shot better than 50 percent, including six games where they topped 60 percent from the field.
In addition, Notre Dame had a remarkable three-game stretch from Dec. 7-22 when it connected at better than a 55-percent clip in each contest. It was the first time the Fighting Irish had three consecutive 55-percent outings since Nov. 20-29, 1997, when they did so in victories over North Carolina State (.565), Bowling Green (.558) and Ohio University (.567).
Notre Dame’s sharpshooting brigade has been led by senior forward/tri-captain Natalie Achonwa, who is third in the ACC (sixth in the nation) with a .599 field goal percentage, along with a .618 mark in conference play (second in the ACC).
Achonwa has been very efficient from the field in her last 10 games, connecting at a .651 clip (56-of-86), including 10-of-12 on Feb. 6 at Florida State, en route to a game-high 24 points.
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd (.520) has moved into 15th in the ACC in field goal percentage (ninth in conference play at .527), thanks in part to her own recent hot streak that has seen Loyd shoot .549 (95-of-173) during her last 12 outings, notably going 9-of-11 for a game-high 23 points in the Feb. 9 win over Syracuse.
Eight other Notre Dame players are shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season, led by freshman forward Kristina Nelson (.578), junior forward Markisha Wright (.563) and freshman guard Lindsay Allen (.549), but none has made the minimum number of shots (three per game) to qualify for ACC ranking.
Life In The 60s
Not only has Notre Dame shot better than 60 percent from the field in six games this season, but the Fighting Irish have put up similar sizzling shooting numbers in single halves this year.
In fact, Notre Dame has posted a field goal percentage of .600 or better in 17 of its 56 halves, equating to a 60-percent performance approximately one out of every three periods of basketball it plays, with the distribution almost even (eight times in the first half, nine times in the second half).
The Fighting Irish also have shot better than 60 percent in both halves of a game twice this season (UNC Wilmington and Pittsburgh), along with a season-high single-half percentage of .710 in the second period against Central Michigan, a rate that just missed the top 10 on the school’s all-time chart.
A pair of marks that did make it into one of the program’s top 10 lists were Notre Dame’s first-half shooting percentages at Michigan (.688) and Maryland (.667), which now rank as the sixth- and eighth-best figures during the opening 20 minutes in school history.
Dialing Long Distance
Although not usually a primary part of the Notre Dame arsenal, the Fighting Irish have found the three-point shot much to their liking this season. Notre Dame ranks second in the nation with a .410 three-point percentage, with three different players connecting at 40 percent or better from beyond the arc (and two more at .387-.399).
Sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey leads the way for the Fighting Irish with a .404 three-point percentage that ranks fifth in the ACC, while senior guard/tri-captain Kayla McBride (.387) stands eighth in the conference.
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd (.390) would rank seventh on the ACC overall chart, but she is three made three-pointers shy of meeting the minimum qualification standard (1.0 3FG/game).
During ACC play, Loyd (.457) is second in the conference, while Mabrey not far behind her in the fourth position (.429).
In addition, Mabrey is 10th in the ACC with 2.0 three-pointers per game (ninth in ACC play at 2.2 per game), a mark she bolstered on Feb. 9 against Syracuse with a career-high (and Purcell Pavilion record-tying) six triples. It’s one of seven times this season Mabrey has canned at least three treys in a game, and the third time this year a Notre Dame player has made five three-pointers in a contest (Mabrey went 5-for-6 against Boston College on Jan. 9, while junior guard Madison Cable posted a 5-for-6 effort against UCLA on Dec. 7).
In fact, Cable (.442) and freshman guard Lindsay Allen (.484) would rank among the top five in the ACC as well, but like Loyd, they don’t quite meet the minimum standard for the overall ACC rankings despite their efficiency from distance.
As a team, the Fighting Irish have connected on 10 three-pointers in a game three times this season (UCLA, Tennessee and Syracuse), their highest production outside the arc in nearly four years, dating back to a similar 10-triple performance on Jan. 30, 2010, at Syracuse.
What’s more, Notre Dame’s .750 three-point mark (9-of-12) on Jan. 16 at Pittsburgh was its best performance from long range (with a minimum of five attempts) in more than five years, stretching back to Nov. 23, 2008, against Boston College at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., when the Fighting Irish made 7-of-8 three-pointers (.875) in a 102-54 win.
A Helping Hand
As of Friday, the Fighting Irish rank second in assists at 21.2 per game (Connecticut is first at 22.2).
Notre Dame also has dished out at least 20 helpers in 17 games thus far, plus 19 assists in five other outings (along with a season-high 31 dimes against UCLA on Dec. 7), with the Fighting Irish piling up assists on 64.1 percent of their made field goals this year (594 of 927).
Notre Dame also ranks sixth in the nation (and tops in the ACC) in assist/turnover ratio (1.41), led by two players who rank among the top 10 in the ACC in that category — freshman guard Lindsay Allen (3rd – 1.95) and senior guard/tri-captain Kayla McBride (7th – 1.73).
What’s more, McBride (107 assists) and Allen (107) are the fourth set of Notre Dame teammates in the past decade to register 100 assists in the same season, and the first since 2010-11, when Skylar Diggins (186) and Brittany Mallory (101) pulled off the feat.
Visiting Century City
Notre Dame has scored at least 100 points in a school-record five games this season (with three other games of 95-99 points), topping last year’s mark of three triple-digit outings.
The Fighting Irish have piled up 10 100-point games in the past three seasons (and eight other games of 95-99 points), a remarkable offensive explosion considering Notre Dame had 13 triple-digit games in the first 34 years of the program’s existence (and just four in the 12 seasons prior to its current run).
In addition, Notre Dame’s 100-75 win over No. 14/11 North Carolina on Feb. 27 was just the second time in program history (and first in more than 15 years) the Fighting Irish reached the century mark against a ranked opponent, following a 101-93 win over No. 25/23 Illinois on Nov. 24, 1998, at Purcell Pavilion.
Spreading The Wealth
Notre Dame has had at least four players score in double figures in 19 games this year, going 19-0 in those contests. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Fighting Irish are 94-5 (.949) when they have four or more players reach double digits in the scoring column, including wins in 64 of their last 65 such outings (the lone loss coming in last year’s NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinal against Connecticut).
Nearly In A Class By Themselves
For the third consecutive season, a Notre Dame senior class is threatening to re-set the bar in terms of career wins by one group. The current class of tri-captains Natalie Achonwa, Ariel Braker and Kayla McBride is second all-time with 129 wins (129-14, .902), behind only the seniors from 2012-13.
Last year, led by its two-player senior class of Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner, Notre Dame posted the best four-year record (130-20, .867) in school history, topping the win total (117) compiled by the previous year’s seniors (Brittany Mallory, Fraderica Miller, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters).
Prior to the 2011-12 season, the highest four-year win total by a senior class was 109, set by the Class of 2001 that included (among others) consensus national player of the year and 13-year WNBA veteran Ruth Riley and current Fighting Irish assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Niele Ivey.
Notre Dame’s 1,000-Point Scorers
Senior tri-captains Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa will spend their final season at Notre Dame steadily climbing the program’s all-time scoring list, after both entered the Fighting Irish 1,000-Point Club last year.
McBride currently is seventh in program history with 1,707 career points, passing both Trena Keys (1,589 from 1982-86) and Karen Robinson (1,590 from 1987-91) with her 18 points against Syracuse on Feb. 9. McBride also is one of just seven players ever to score 1,600 points under the Golden Dome.
Meanwhile, Achonwa stands 17th in Notre Dame history with 1,418 points, and has a chance to make a big move up the ladder in the next couple of weeks, standing within 74 points of the next five players on the list.
Another current Fighting Irish player could join the program’s 1,000-Point Club in the coming weeks. Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd currently has 947 points in 63 career games, putting her on pace to become one of the fastest players ever to reach 1,000 points at Notre Dame, and just the third to do so before the end of her sophomore season (the others being Beth Morgan in 1994-95 and Skylar Diggins in 2010-11).
McBride Is Money
Following her team’s 81-70 win over No. 7 Duke on Feb. 23, sophomore guard Jewell Loyd described her senior backcourt mate and tri-captain Kayla McBride quite simply:
“She’s money. Kayla McBride is money. That’s cash. Every time she shoots that thing, it’s going in.”
McBride’s career-high 31 points against the Blue Devils (followed by a 28-point effort four nights later against No. 14/11 North Carolina) are just the latest in what has been a series of peak performances for the Erie, Pa., native in her final season at Notre Dame. As a returning All-American and prime candidate for both ACC and National Player of the Year honors as well as every major All-American and specialty player award in the country, McBride’s play already was receiving notice on numerous levels, but she’s taken that effort up more than a notch this season.
McBride is averaging career highs in scoring (17.9 ppg.), rebounding (5.5 rpg.), assists (3.8 apg.), assist/turnover ratio (1.73) and three-point percentage (.387), ranking among the top 15 in the ACC in scoring (ninth), free throw percentage (2nd – .871; also 20th in nation), assist/turnover ratio (7th), assists (tied-8th) and three-point percentage (8th).
In addition, McBride is tied for the team lead with 10 20-point games, has a double-double to her credit (23 points/11 rebounds at No. 3 Duke on Feb. 2) and eight “5-5-5” games (at least “5” in three of the five statistical categories – points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals).
Yet, what puts McBride a cut above virtually every other player in the land in her uncanny ability to raise her game on the biggest stages. In Notre Dame’s eight games against Top 25 opponents this season, she is averaging 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game with a .496 field goal percentage (63-of-127). She’s even better against top-10 teams, averaging 21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game with a .513 field goal percentage (41-of-80) in those five outings.
In fact, dating back to last season, McBride is averaging 19.0 points per game in her last 22 games against ranked opponents, including nine 20-point games.
Coming Up Aces
Senior forward/tri-captain Natalie Achonwa (nicknamed “Ace”) is making her way up Notre Dame’s career charts in both rebounds and double-doubles. She currently ranks sixth on the rebounding list (908) and is tied for sixth on the double-doubles chart (26), moving up one spot on the latter rundown with her 21 points and 10 boards against Georgia Tech on Feb. 17.
Achonwa continues to remain among the top 10 in school history with a .555 career field goal percentage (sixth in program annals) and 137 games played (fourth all-time at Notre Dame; tied for third among active NCAA players).
Crown Jewell
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd has continued her development as one of the top young talents in the country this season, building on last year’s selection as the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year.
The Lincolnwood, Ill., product currently ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring (18.4 ppg.), eighth in free throw percentage (.816), 14th in steals (1.6 spg.) and 15th in field goal percentage (.520), while sporting career-high marks in scoring, rebounding (6.3 rpg.), assists (2.5 apg.), steals and field goal percentage. She also has a team high-tying 10 20-point games thus far (including a career-high 31 points at No. 8/6 Maryland on Jan. 27) after scoring 20 points twice during her rookie campaign.
What’s more, Loyd has two 30-point games to her credit this season, having also dropped in an even 30 against Central Michigan on Dec. 22 at Purcell Pavilion. Loyd is the first Fighting Irish player to have two 30-point games in the same season since 1999-2000, when Ruth Riley did so against Liberty (32) and Miami (36).
Perhaps giving a preview of things to come, Loyd stormed out of the gates this season, piling up 63 points in Notre Dame’s first three games, wins over UNC Wilmington (19 points), No. 19/18 Michigan State (22 points) and Valparaiso (22 points).
Loyd’s opening-week point production was the highest for a Fighting Irish player in the first three contests of a season since 1998-99, when Danielle Green had 66 combined points in wins against No. 6 UCLA at home (23 points), at Butler (23) and No. 6/4 Duke at home (20).
The Model Of Consistency
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd has scored in double figures in 33 consecutive games, dating back to March 11, 2013, when she had eight points in Notre Dame’s 83-59 BIG EAST Championship semifinal win over No. 16/15 Louisville at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
Loyd’s 33-game double-digit scoring streak is the second-longest in school history, surpassing Natalie Novosel’s 27-game run from March 8, 2011-Jan. 21, 2012. In fact, Loyd has scored in double figures in 51 of her 63 career games (and 10 of those 12 single-digit games saw her within one basket of double figures).
Katryna Gaither has staked an ironclad claim to the school record with a remarkable 76-game double-figure scoring streak from 1994-97.
Jewell Of Denial
Twice this year, Notre Dame has recorded key wins over top-10 opponents thanks to strong defense from a player better known for her offense.
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd, who in her spare time leads the Fighting Irish in scoring this season, was given the assignment of marking Penn State’s Maggie Lucas (Dec. 4) and Duke’s Tricia Liston (Feb. 23) and embraced both challenges with aplomb.
In Notre Dame’s 77-67 win at No. 10/11 Penn State, Loyd led a Fighting Irish defense that held Lucas (averaging 22.2 ppg. at tipoff) to just seven points (1-8 FG, 4-4 FT), and held the sharpshooting All-American and Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year scoreless until 5:18 remained in the game, when she converted a pair of 1+1 free throws in the bonus situation.
In the second of two meetings with No. 7 Duke (an 81-70 Fighting Irish win), Loyd was again equal to the task of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. This time, she shadowed Liston across virtually every inch of the Purcell Pavilion court, helping to hold the Blue Devil guard (who came in averaging 18.4 ppg., and scored 23 in the teams’ first matchup three weeks earlier) to just nine points (3-8 FG), with five of those points coming in the final 90 seconds after the outcome was well in hand.
Youthful Leader
Freshman Lindsay Allen got the call from head coach Muffet McGraw to start at point guard in Notre Dame’s season opener against UNC Wilmington on Nov. 9 at Purcell Pavilion. Allen finished with 11 points in her debut game, including the team’s first five points of the season.
It was the first time a Fighting Irish rookie point guard started the season opener since Nov. 26, 1994, when Mollie Peirick cracked the lineup and played 38 minutes (two points, five rebounds, three assists) in a 65-60 overtime loss at No. 25 Seton Hall.
One of two freshmen among 22 candidates for the 2014 Nancy Lieberman Award (given to the nation’s top point guard), Allen has not disappointed in her debut campaign, averaging 7.0 points and 3.8 assists per game (the latter tying for eighth in the ACC). She also is third in the ACC with a 1.95 assist/turnover ratio, and is third on the team with 1.29 steals per game.
Allen (107 assists) also is only the fifth Notre Dame freshman to dish out 100 assists in her rookie season, and just the second in the past 20 years (Skylar Diggins had 112 assists in 2009-10). Mary Gavin holds the Fighting Irish freshman assist record with 116 in 1984-85.
What’s more, Allen’s 3.82 apg. average is the best for a Notre Dame freshman since 1994-95 (Peirick – 3.93 apg.) and makes Allen a candidate to be just the second Notre Dame freshman ever to average 4.0 apg. as a rookie (Gavin logged 4.5 apg. in that 1984-85 season).
Leading a winning lineup is not an unfamiliar feeling for Allen, who is a combined 55-1 in her last 56 games as a starting point guard. Last year as a senior at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., she guided her squad to a 27-1 record and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) title — the highest level of play in the District of Columbia, which does not have a state tournament.
The Second Platoon
Another reason for Notre Dame’s success this season has been the performance of its reserves, who are averaging more than 26 points per game and have outscored the opponent’s bench by close to a 2-to-1 margin (26.3 ppg. to 15.5 ppg.).
The Fighting Irish second unit has outscored its opposite number in 20 games this season, including a season-high 55 points on Jan. 9 against Boston College, outscoring the entire BC roster by two points (not to mention the Notre Dame starters by 15).
Sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey (9.2 ppg.), freshman forward Taya Reimer (8.1 ppg.) and junior guard Madison Cable (5.3 ppg.) head up the strong Fighting Irish bench contingent, which has seen at least one reserve score in double figures in 20 games this season (total of 23 double-figure outings).
Call Her Mabrey
Certainly a leading candidate as one of the nation’s most improved players would have to be Notre Dame sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey. The Belmar, N.J., resident has emerged as a key reserve for the Fighting Irish, averaging 9.2 points and 2.5 assists per game along with a very solid 1.67 assist/turnover ratio, after logging 3.0 ppg. and 1.3 apg. with a 1.06 A/TO mark last year.
Mabrey also has proven to be a dynamic three-point threat for Notre Dame, ranking fifth in the ACC with a .404 three-point percentage (fourth in the league with a .429 mark in ACC play) and 10th in the conference with 2.0 three-pointers made per game (ninth at 2.2 per game in league play), thanks in part to making at least three triples in seven games this year, including a career-high 6-of-14 vs. Syracuse on Feb. 9.
What’s more, Mabrey already has scored in double figures 13 times this year (including a career-high 19 points in the season opener against UNC Wilmington) after doing so three times in 30 games last season.
Next Game: ACC Quarterfinals
Notre Dame will make its inaugural appearance in the ACC Championship beginning at 2 p.m. (ET) Friday when it plays a quarterfinal game at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The quarterfinal, which will pit the top-seeded Fighting Irish against the winner of Thursday’s second-round game between the No. 8 seed (currently Miami) and No. 9 seeds (currently a tie between Florida State and Virginia, who play Sunday in Charlottesville, Va.), will be televised live on the ACC-Regional Sports Networks (check local listings or theacc.com for presenting affiliates), as well as streamed online by ESPN3 and the WatchESPN mobile app.
The official 2014 ACC Championship bracket will be released by the conference office on Sunday evening once the final day of regular season ACC action is complete.
— Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director