Dec. 27, 2015

by Chris Masters

Notre Dame Game Notes

2015-16 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 12

#3/3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1 / 0-0 ACC) vs. #11/9 Oregon State Beavers (9-1 / 0-0 Pac-12)

DATE: Dec. 28, 2015
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. – Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
SERIES: ND leads 1-0
STREAK: ND – won 1
LAST MTG: ND 70-58 (12/29/13)
TV: ESPN3/WatchESPN (live) (Mike Monaco – p-b-p / Ruth Riley, color)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1)/WatchND (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS:
TEXT ALERT: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDsidMasters / @ndwbb

Storylines

• Notre Dame faces its fourth ranked opponent of the season (2-1 record to date), all in the month of December.
• Notre Dame has won 12 consecutive games coming off the Christmas holiday break.

No. 3 Fighting Irish Host No. 11/9 Oregon State Monday
After the customary flurry of wrapping paper and tinsel, No. 3 Notre Dame returns from the Christmas break to put a bow on its pre-conference schedule when it plays host to No. 11/9 Oregon State at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday at Purcell Pavilion. The game will be televised live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, while radio coverage will be available on South Bend’s Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and worldwide online via the official Fighting Irish athletics multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv).

Between Christmas and its final exam break, Notre Dame (10-1) has played just once in the past 16 days, posting a 91-55 win at Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) on Dec. 21. The Fighting Irish shot 59 percent from the floor and outscored the Hawks, 52-21 in the second half to earn the win.

Freshman guard Marina Mabrey came off the bench to lead a balanced Notre Dame attack with 18 points, while junior guard/captain Lindsay Allen chipped in 16 points, a career high-tying nine assists and seven rebounds.

Rankings

• Notre Dame was No. 3 in last week’s Associated Press poll and was No. 3 in last week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.
• Oregon State was No. 11 in last week’s Associated Press poll and was No. 9 in last week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.

Quick Hitters

• Notre Dame is off to a 10-1 start for the fifth consecutive season and the eighth time in the past nine years (dating back to the 2007-08 season).
• The Fighting Irish are 2-1 against ranked opponents this season, and also registered a win over UCLA on Nov. 28 in the Bahamas, two days before the Bruins entered the Associated Press poll (19th last week).
• Despite losing two starters from the lineup that opened last April’s NCAA championship game in Tampa (and missing a third – sopphomore forward Brianna Turner – with an injury for six games), Notre Dame has scarcely missed a beat this season, led in large measure by two first-time starters in graduate student guard Madison Cable (scoring up from 6.2 to 15.8 ppg.) and sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld (6.7 to 10.9 ppg.), as well as the reliable production off the bench from freshman guards Marina Mabrey (13.5 ppg.) and Arike Ogunbowale (11.9 ppg.).
• The Fighting Irish feature a very balanced attack with six players currently posting double-figure scoring averages. Of those six, two are freshmen (Marina Mabrey and Ogunbowale), two are sophomores (Turner and Westbeld) and a third is a junior (Lindsay Allen).
• Notre Dame’s bench play has been sharp this season, with the Fighting Irish reserves averaging 34.9 points per game, compared to 15.3 ppg. for their opponent’s bench.
• Notre Dame ranks among the top 20 in six NCAA statistical categories (as of Dec. 26), including five top-10 rankings – three-point field-goal percentage (1st – .463), scoring offense (4th – 87.3 ppg.), field-goal percentage (5th – .515), assists (6th – 20.5 apg.) and assist/turnover ratio (9th – 1.42). The Fighting Irish also rank 17th in scoring margin (+21.2 ppg.), while tying for 18th in the non-statistical measure of win-loss percentage (.909).
• Including last week’s No. 3 ranking, Notre Dame has appeared in the Associated Press poll for 162 consecutive weeks (the past 92 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.
• Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll for 104 of 115 weeks this decade (since 2010-11), ranking second in the nation in that category behind only Connecticut (115).
• Every current Fighting Irish player has competed for a top-10 Notre Dame squad during her career, with the vast majority of that time (60 of 66 weeks) spent in the top five of the Associated Press poll.
• Notre Dame also was ranked No. 3 in last week’s Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/USA Today poll. It’s the eighth consecutive season and 14 of the past 18 years the Fighting Irish have appeared in the top 10 of the coaches’ poll.
• Notre Dame has a remarkable tradition of success at home inside Purcell Pavilion, with the Fighting Irish owning a 423-91 (.823) all-time record in 39 seasons at the facility, including a 100-6 (.943) record since the arena was renovated prior to the 2009-10 season.
• Including regular season and postseason play, the Fighting Irish have won 75 of their last 79 games against conference opponents (and 26 in a row at home), dating back to their membership in the BIG EAST.
• Since joining the ACC prior to the 2013-14 season, Notre Dame is 38-1 against conference foes (31-1 regular season, 7-0 postseason). The last ACC school to lose only once in regular-season conference play during a two-year span was Duke in 2003 and 2004.
• Guards Madison Cable, Hannah Huffman and Michaela Mabrey have helped Notre Dame to a 118-7 (.944) record in their careers, putting them on pace to challenge last year’s senior class of Whitney Holloway and Markisha Wright as the most successful in Fighting Irish history. Holloway and Wright helped Notre Dame to a 143-10 (.935) record in their four-year careers, with those 143 wins tying for the second-most victories by any four-year class in NCAA Division I history (the Connecticut class of 2011 amassed 150 wins, while the Louisiana Tech class of 1982 also had 143 victories).
• Since they first suited up at Notre Dame in 2012-13, Cable, Huffman and Mabrey have paced Notre Dame to two NCAA national championship games and three NCAA Women’s Final Fours (plus three conference regular season titles and three league tournament crowns), as well as a 41-6 (.872) record against ranked teams (23-6 against top-10 opponents).
• With 709 victories in her 29 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 797 career wins, McGraw ranks 10th in NCAA Division I coaching history (seventh among active coaches). She also is one of two ACC coaches in the top 10 all-time, along with current North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell (second all-time/first among active with 969 as of Dec. 26).

The Notre Dame-Oregon State Series
Notre Dame and Oregon State will be playing for the second time when they step on the hardwood Monday night. The Fighting Irish won the only prior series meeting two seasons ago.

The Last Time Notre Dame and Oregon State Met
Kayla McBride scored 20 points, Natalie Achonwa added 16 points and nine rebounds, and second-ranked Notre Dame remained perfect with a 70-58 victory over Oregon State on Dec. 29, 2013, at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

Notre Dame scored the final five points of the first half to pull to 33-31 at halftime for its first deficit at the break during the 2013-14 season. The Fighting Irish then got the first six points of the second half to take the lead for good.

Jamie Weisner scored 18 points to lead the Beavers, and Ruth Hamblin added 12 points, eight rebounds and a school record-tying nine blocks.

Oregon State didn’t lead until Ali Gibson’s three-pointer with 13:06 left in the first half. Hamblin’s putback stretched the Beavers’ lead to 33-26 with 55.1 seconds left in the opening half. The Fighting Irish then responded with their 11-0 spurt to take the lead for good.

Oregon State didn’t go quietly, getting within 58-56 on a three-pointer by Sydney Wiese with 5:19 remaining. However, Notre Dame closed the game on a 12-2 run, holding the Beavers without a field goal the rest of the way while forcing four OSU turnovers in the stretch (two on steals by Ariel Braker).

Other Notre Dame-Oregon State Series Tidbits

• Notre Dame athletic trainer Anne Marquez and Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck served on the USA Basketball staff (Rueck as an assistant coach) this past summer at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, helping the American side earn a silver medal. Fighting Irish junior forward Taya Reimer (who is sitting out the balance of this season for personal reasons) also was a starter on the 2015 USA Pan Am Games Team.
• Notre Dame had never before faced a school from the state of Oregon in the sport of women’s basketball prior to its 2013 meeting with OSU.
• Oregon State will be the first women’s basketball program from the Pacific Northwest to visit Purcell Pavilion since Dec. 11, 2004, when the Fighting Irish defeated Washington, 72-58 behind Crystal Erwin’s career-high 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting (tied for the best individual field-goal percentage in arena history, and matching the second-best mark in school history).
• Notre Dame has never had a Oregon native on its roster, one of only 13 states in the Union that have yet to produce a Fighting Irish women’s basketball player since the program achieved varsity status in 1977-78. The others on this short list are: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont.
• The Fighting Irish have played Oregon State twice in men’s basketball through the years, defeating the Beavers on both occasions (79-70 in the first round of the 1985 NCAA Championship at Purcell Pavilion; 72-69 in 1994 in the Far West Classic at Portland Memorial Coliseum).
• Notre Dame has played Oregon State in a variety of other sports through the years, most notably in a pair of football bowl games played in the Phoenix area, both won by the Beavers (41-9 at the 2001 Fiesta Bowl; 38-21 at the 2004 Insight Bowl).

Notre Dame vs. The Pac-12 Conference

• Including this year’s win against UCLA, the Fighting Irish are 30-20 (.600) all-time against current Pac-12 Conference teams, with an 11-4 (.733) record at Purcell Pavilion.
• Notre Dame has won 27 of its last 34 games against Pac-12 schools since a 93-72 loss at UCLA in the first round of the 1992 NCAA Championship (in what was the first-ever NCAA tournament game for the Fighting Irish).
• Notre Dame has won its last nine games against Pac-12 opponents since an 86-83 double-overtime loss to No. 15 UCLA on Nov. 18, 2010, at Purcell Pavilion. Coincidentally, UCLA was the last Pac-12 opponent to visit Purcell Pavilion, with the Fighting Irish earning a 90-48 win on Dec. 7, 2013.
• This will mark the fourth time in five seasons Notre Dame plays two Pac-12 teams in the same year (it defeated UCLA, 92-84 in overtime on Nov. 28 at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas).

Another Present Under The Tree

• Notre Dame is 27-11 (.711) all-time in in its first game after the Christmas holiday, with a 14-6 (.700) record at home and a 21-7 (.750) record in the Muffet McGraw era (1987-88 to present).
• The Fighting Irish have won their last 12 games coming off the Christmas break, including last season’s 82-67 win over another Pac-12 Conference opponent, UCLA (Dec. 28, 2014, at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles).
• Notre Dame will be playing its first post-Christmas game at home since Dec. 29, 2012, when the Fighting Irish defeated No. 11 Purdue, 74-47 at Purcell Pavilion.

Spreading The Wealth

• Notre Dame has had at least four players score in double figures in eight games this year, going 7-1 in those contests.
• Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Fighting Irish are 125-6 (.954) when they have four or more players reach double digits in the scoring column, including wins in 95 of their last 97 such outings.
• In the past seven seasons, Notre Dame’s only losses when it has fielded at least four double-figure scorers both came against Connecticut – 83-65 in the 2013 NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinal at New Orleans Arena (now known as the Smoothie King Center), and 91-81 earlier this season on Dec. 5 in the Jimmy V Classic at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut.
• For the season, Notre Dame currently has six players registering double-figure scoring averages, three of whom are ranked among the top 30 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (as of Dec. 26) – graduate student guard Madison Cable (5th – 15.8 ppg.), freshman guard Marina Mabrey (18th – 13.5 ppg.; second among ACC rookies) and freshman guard Arike Ogunbowale (27th – 11.9 ppg.; sixth among ACC rookies).

Three For The Money

• Notre Dame has heated up from the three-point line in a big way, canning 75 treys this season (6.8 per game), including 60 in its last seven games alone.
• At their current pace, the Fighting Irish would easily top the single-season program record for three-pointers per game (5.74 in 1998-99). In fact, only once in the past 13 seasons has Notre Dame averaged five treys per game (2013-14, when it made exactly five per contest and a school-record 190 total).
• The Fighting Irish tied a school record with 13 three-pointers on Dec. 5 at top-ranked Connecticut. The 13 triples (which Notre Dame last registered on Jan. 2, 2002, at Miami) also matched two UConn opponent records for three-pointers in a single game (overall and Gampel Pavilion).
• Notre Dame’s season-high .650 three-point percentage (13-of-20) in that Dec. 5 game at UConn was the highest against the Huskies since March 26, 2007, when LSU made 7-of-10 three-pointers (.700) against UConn in the NCAA Fresno Regional final (Elite Eight) in Fresno, California.
• The Fighting Irish lead the nation in three-point percentage (as of Dec. 26), connecting at a .463 clip from beyond the arc.

The Second Platoon

• Another reason for Notre Dame’s success this season has been the performance of its reserves, who are averaging nearly 35 points per game and have outscored the opponent’s bench by more than a 2-to-1 margin (34.9 ppg. to 15.3 ppg.).
• The Fighting Irish second unit has outscored its opposite number in all 11 games this season, including a season-high 64 points on Nov. 23 at Valparaiso, outscoring the entire Crusader roster by 10 points (not to mention the Notre Dame starters by 18).
• In addition to the Valparaiso game, the Fighting Irish bench came close to outscoring the entire opposing team on two other occasions – Nov. 18 vs. Toledo (UT 39, ND reserves 32) and Nov. 27 vs. Denver at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas (DU 52, ND reserves 48).
• A pair of freshman guards – Marina Mabrey (13.5 ppg.) and Arike Ogunbowale (11.9 ppg.) head up the strong Fighting Irish bench contingent, which has seen at least one reserve score in double figures in nine games this season (total of 14 double-figure outings).

Streak Stats

• Dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season, Notre Dame has posted a 118-7 (.944) record.
• In that four-year span, six of the seven Fighting Irish losses have come against top-three teams, including the past five against Connecticut – No. 3 Baylor (73-61 on Dec. 5, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion), No. 3 Connecticut (83-65 on April 7, 2013, in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinals at New Orleans Arena – now known as the Smoothie King Center – in New Orleans, Louisiana), No. 1 Connecticut (79-58 on April 8, 2014, in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national championship game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee), No. 3 Connecticut (76-58 on Dec. 6, 2014, in the Jimmy V Classic at Purcell Pavilion), No. 1 Connecticut (63-53 on April 7, 2015, in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national championship game at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida) and No. 1 Connecticut (91-81 on Dec. 5, 2015, in the Jimmy V Classic in Storrs, Connecticut).
• The other loss came on Jan. 8, 2015, with a 78-63 setback at Miami. That defeat ended Notre Dame’s 61-game winning streak against unranked opponents in the Associated Press poll, the second-longest active run in the nation (research for this note provided by STATS via the AP).

Poise Under Pressure

• Notre Dame has won its last 22 games decided by single digits and/or in overtime, including three times this season – a 92-84 overtime win over UCLA on Nov. 28 in the Junkanoo Jam Freeport Division championship game in Freeport, Bahamas; a 75-72 victory over No. 10/12 Ohio State on Dec. 2 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Purcell Pavilion, and a 95-90 win over No. 18/17 DePaul on Dec. 9 at Purcell Pavilion.
• The Fighting Irish last dropped a single-digit decision on March 6, 2012, falling 63-54 at No. 4 Connecticut in the BIG EAST Conference Tournament championship game at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
• Notre Dame has been sharp when pushed to overtime, having won six in a row and eight of its last 11 games when going to an extra session.

Visiting Century City

• Notre Dame’s 110-51 victory at Valparaiso on Nov. 23 was its 13th 100-point game since the start of the 2011-12 season (and 10 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.

Road Warriors

• Notre Dame has enjoyed remarkable success on the road in recent seasons, having won 49 of its last 51 (and 56 of its last 63) regular season road games.
• The only blemishes for the Fighting Irish in this current run (which dates back to the early portion of the 2011-12 campaign) are a 78-63 loss at Miami on Jan. 8, 2015, and a 91-81 defeat at top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 5, 2015, in the Jimmy V Classic.
• The loss in Miami snapped Notre Dame’s NCAA Division I record-tying 30-game road winning streak. It was an amazing string of results in hostile territory, a streak that lasted exactly three years (Jan. 4, 2012-Jan. 4, 2015) and left Notre Dame tied with Connecticut for the NCAA Division I all-time mark in that category.
• One of the more notable highlights of Notre Dame’s sensational recent road run came on Jan. 5, 2013, when Notre Dame edged No. 1 Connecticut, 73-72, at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, earning its fourth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent and first-ever victory on the road.

Irish Enjoy Quality Cable

• Graduate student guard Madison Cable has taken her game to new heights this season, averaging a team-high 15.8 points per game (fifth in the ACC). Entering this year, Cable was averaging 5.3 ppg. in her career, including a personal-best 6.2 ppg. last season.
• Cable also is making an early run at the shooter’s Holy Grail – the 50-40-90 club (referring to one’s shooting percentages from the field, three-point line and free-throw line). Cable ranks second in the nation and the ACC in three-point percentage (.536) while ranking fifth in the ACC in three-pointers per game (2.7 – 41st in nation) and sixth in field-goal percentage (.569 – 36th in nation).
• Cable was shooting .909 (20-of-22) from the free-throw line this season prior to going 0-of-4 at the stripe on Dec. 9 against No. 18/17 DePaul, with all four foul shot attempts coming after Cable suffered a sprained ankle and jammed knee in the third quarter, both injuries the gritty veteran played through.
• Prior to this season, Cable had started nine games in her first three years combined, registering 18 double-digit scoring games, two 20-point outings and one double-double.
• In 11 games this season, Cable has started each time out, scoring in double figures in 10 times (the first time she posted a string of more than three consecutive double-digit games) and has four 20-point games, including a career-high 25 points on Dec. 2 against No. 10/12 Ohio State at Purcell Pavilion in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
• That game against Ohio State also yielded Cable’s second career double-double when she grabbed a team-high (and season-best) 11 rebounds.
• “She’s as good a shooter as there is in college basketball, and she played great tonight.” – Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff after Cable had 25 points, 11 rebounds and made two clutch plays (three-pointer with 56.2 seconds left; two foul shots with 7.5 seconds left) in Notre Dame’s 75-72 win over the No. 10/12 Buckeyes on Dec. 2 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
• Cable added her third career double-double on Dec. 9 with game highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds in a win over No. 18/17 DePaul.
• Cable was chosen the Junkanoo Jam Freeport Division MVP, after she averaged 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game with a .688 fieldââ’¬goal percentage, .667 threeââ’¬point percentage and .875 freeââ’¬throw percentage during Notre Dame’s two games in the Bahamas.
• Cable earned her first ACC Player of the Week honor on Dec. 14 after averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with a .600 field-goal percentage and .500 three-point percentage against DePaul and TCU.
• Cable continues her penchant for sacrificing her body for team success, having drawn six charges this season to raise her career count to 43 drawn charges. That includes Cable’s alert play in overtime of the win over UCLA, when she took a charge from Bruins’ all-Pac-12 guard (and Canadian National Team member) Nirra Fields with 30.1 seconds left, resulting in the fifth foul on Fields and giving Notre Dame possession with a six-point lead (in essence, clinching the win).

Mabrey is Jersey Tough

• Freshman guard Marina Mabrey is quickly emerging as one of the top young players in the Atlantic Coast Conference, if not all of Division I basketball.
• The Belmar, New Jersey, native is averaging 13.5 points per game, which ranks 18th in the ACC and second among conference freshmen. She also has scored in double figures seven times this season, including a career-high 23 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) on Dec. 5 at top-ranked Connecticut.
• In that UConn game, Mabrey scored 21 points in the first half on 9-of-10 shooting, including a stretch of 12 consecutive points to highlight a 14-4 second-quarter run that helped give Notre Dame a trio of one-point leads.
• Mabrey’s shooting eye has been outstanding this season, as she ranks third in the ACC in both field-goal percentage (.605) and three-point percentage (.500), along with a solid .762 free-throw percentage, including an .839 foul-shooting ratio (26-of-31) after beginning the year 6-of-11 at the stripe.
• Mabrey also has proven to be a strong defender, ranking fifth in the ACC at 2.6 steals per game. That mark was highlighted by a school-record 12 steals as part of a triple-double performance on Nov. 23 at Valparaiso (see following note).
• Mabrey was named to the Junkanoo Jam Freeport Division All-Tournament Team on Nov. 28 after averaging 18.5 points, 5.0 steals, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists with a .600 field-goal percentage, .750 three-point percentage and .833 free-throw percentage during wins over Denver and UCLA in the two-day event in Freeport, Bahamas.
• That effort, plus her triple-double earlier in the week, propelled Mabrey to earn ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 30.

Mabrey’s Historic Triple-Double

• Freshman guard Marina Mabrey posted the fifth triple-double in school history (first by a freshman) with 18 points, a school-record 12 steals and a career-high 10 assists on Nov. 23 at Valparaiso.
• Mabrey became just the second Fighting Irish player to record a triple-double using steals. Mary Gavin (17 points, 14 assists and 10 steals – the previous school record for steals before Mabrey’s effort) was the only other player to do so on Jan. 31, 1987, against Marquette.
• Mabrey’s triple-double in her fourth career game tied for the second-quickest to start a career in NCAA Division I history – only Schaquilla Nunn of Winthrop did so faster (third career game on Nov. 20, 2012, vs. Mississippi State at the Hardwood for Hope Tournament in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico).
• Mabrey’s triple-double was the 25th in ACC history, and the the first in ACC history to feature steals.
• Mabrey was the second ACC freshman ever to record a triple-double, joining Duke’s Elizabeth Williams (18 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocks at Wake Forest on Jan. 6, 2012) in that elite company.
• Mabrey’s 12 steals also are second on the ACC single-game steals list, and the most since Georgia Tech’s Jill Ingram had 14 thefts (tying the NCAA Division I record) against Virginia Tech on Feb. 29, 2008.
• Mabrey’s 12 steals tied for the second-most by a player in completing a triple-double, exceeded only by Old Dominion’s Ticha Penicheiro (22 points, 15 assists, 14 steals) vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA Championship on March 13, 1998.
• Mabrey was the first Fighting Irish player with double-digit assists in a game since Feb. 24, 2013, when Skylar Diggins had 10 assists at DePaul as part of her second career triple-double (the most recent one by a Notre Dame player before Mabrey).

McGraw Nearing Milestone Moment

• Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw enters Monday’s game against Oregon State needing three wins to become the 10th NCAA Division I coach to register 800 career victories. McGraw currently has a 34-year record of 797-263 (.752), including a 709-222 (.762) record in 29 seasons with the Fighting Irish.
• McGraw is poised to become the sixth-fastest Division I coach to reach the 800-win milestone, hitting the mark quicker than several other notable coaches including Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer (1,064 games), recently-retired Georgia head coach Andy Landers (1,068 games) and North Carolina’s Sylvia Hatchell (1,074 games), and nearly in lockstep with legendary former Texas head coach Jody Conradt (1,062 games).
• Four of the five Division I coaches who have reached 800 wins faster than McGraw is on pace to do are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma (928 games), Tennessee’s Pat Summitt (958 games), Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer (997 games) and Conradt. The lone exception is Montana’s Robin Selvig (1,055 games).
• Coincidentally, McGraw is among 14 women’s basketball nominees on the ballot for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016, which was announced Dec. 21. The four women’s basketball finalists for this year’s class will be revealed Feb. 12 during NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, with the Hall of Fame Class of 2016 unveiled April 4 during the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Houston. McGraw previously was enshrined in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

— ND —

Chris Masters, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2001 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s basketball and women’s golf programs. A native of San Francisco, California, Masters is a 1996 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, earned his master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).