| NCAA Bridgeport Regional: | #5 Seed Notre Dame |
|---|---|
| Where: | Bridgeport, CT | Total Mortgage Arena |
| Listen: | 99.9 WQLQ-FM | ND Radio Network |
| Notes: | ND Notes |
| Social: | @NDWBB |
| Sweet 16: | #1 seed NC State |
| When: | Saturday, March 26 | 11:30 am ET |
| Watch: | ESPN |
| Elite 8: | #2 seed UConn or #3 seed Indiana |
| When: | Monday, March 28 | TBD |
Notre Dame Notes | Wake Notes
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team (5-5, 3-3) has shown the ability to bounce back after a loss and the Irish will look to do the same with a tough matchup against Wake Forest (6-3, 3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 14. It’s an early tip inside Purcell Pavilion, with the game kicking off at 4 p.m. EST on ACC Network.
HISTORY WITH WAKE
Notre Dame will look to keep its unbeaten streak alive against Wake Forest, entering Thursday’s contest at 8-0 all-time. The series only dates back to 2010 and didn’t pick up until the Irish joined the ACC conference.
BOUNCE BACK ABILITY
So far this season, the Fighting Irish have shown resilience in bouncing back after a loss, avoiding back-to-back L’s. They are averaging 77.0 ppg in those instances, which is up from their 71.1 season average.
WHO’S HOT
Mikki Vaughn is starting to heat up a little bit, recording back-to-back games in double figures. The senior shot a combined 10-of-13 from the field to total 23 points. She also totaled 12 boards and 5 steals.
Vaughn will be going for a career best 3 straight games in double figures on Thursday.
Prior to the Boston College game, Dara Mabrey had quite the week, lifting the Irish to back-to-back wins over Miami and Georgia Tech. She totaled 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including a 6-of-9 mark from three. She also grabbed six total boards and dished out nine total assists.
SUPER SUBS
Not too often you have both a 2020 ACC Honorable Mention player and a Preseason All-ACC selection coming off your bench.
Destinee Walker has been pretty stellar off the bench over the last four games, scoring in double figures in three of them, and even leading the Irish in scoring in two.
During the four game span, Walker has averaged 13.8 ppg on a combined 18-of-46 (.391) shooting.
Walker called game against Georgia Tech (1/3), hitting the game-winner from the baseline with 20 seconds left to lift the Irish to a 69-67 victory. Walker scored seven of her 15 points in the fourth quarter. In addition, she nearly achieved a double-double at Miami (12/31), earning 17 points & eight boards.
Then there’s Sam Brunelle who is averaging 8.6 ppg, while still finding her footing this season. She played a huge factor in the wins over Virginia Tech and Miami, scoring 17 and 13 points, respectively.
TURN THE THREE AROUND
A season ago, the Irish ranked dead last in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage (.271). Fast forward to now and the Irish have recorded quite the renaissance from beyond the arc primarily thanks to the trio of Mabrey, Brunelle and Westbeld. In fact, the Irish are converting 37.8 percent from three, which ranks 2nd in the ACC and 23rd in the country. All three are shooting over 40 percent from deep.
Mabrey is knocking down 45.5 percent from three, which not only ranks 3rdin the ACC, but also 41st in the country. Meanwhile, her 2.0 three’s/game ranks 14th in the league.
Mabrey has been pretty lights out from deep since the start of ACC play, converting 11-of-19 aka 57.9 percent.
Brunelle is also shooting 45.5 percent from deep. For comparison’s sake, she shot 31.5 percent as a freshman. In addition, she has made a three-pointer in all eight games she’s played and if she wants to crack the program’s all-time top-five list, she’ll have to make that number reach 18.
Like Mabrey, Brunelle’s deep shooting is even better in ACC play, where she’s at 48.0 percent (12-of-25).
Then there’s Westbeld, who keeps you honest from three. She’s knocked down 40.7 percent with a 43.8 percent clip in conference play.
SMALL COMPANY
Peoples & Westbeld are 1-of-5 players in the ACC averaging at least 10 points, 6 rebounds & 1.5 steals.
Furthermore, on Peoples, she is 1-of-3 guards in the ACC with multiple double-doubles — currently with two.
GETTING HER REBOUND SWAG BACK
After an early December lull in rebounding, Peoples has bounced back with 5 straight games of five or more rebounds. Over this span, Peoples has raised her rebounding average from 5.8 to 6.5, which ranks 2nd on the team behind Westbeld. She does however lead the squad with two double-digit rebounding performances on the year.
Last season, Peoples led the Irish in rebounding with 8.1/game – which placed her third all-time on the freshmen list, ranking behind Shari Matvey (10.2) and Mary Beth Schueth (9.1).
— ND —