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Game 15 Preview: @ Syracuse

Irish vs Cuse | Sunday at 11 am EST on ACC Network

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 | Syracuse Notes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team hits a critical juncture in its schedule. No. 1 Louisville and No. 2 N.C. State await, but those games are sandwiched by a home-and-home with Syracuse. The Fighting Irish (8-6, 6-4) and the Orange (8-3, 5-3) battle on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 11 a.m. EST, inside the Carrier Dome, on ACC Network.

ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR NOMINEE

First and foremost, Westbeld is the only player in the ACC to win two weekly league honors thus far, winning  ACC Rookie of the Week twice.

Now on to the stats:
• Her 15.6 ppg tops all ACC rookies and ranks 9th overall in the league
• Nationally, her scoring average ranks 8th among all Division I freshmen
• Maddy is the only freshman in the country averaging at least 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2.5 assist & 1.5 steals
• ACC Freshmen Rankings: 1st in Scoring, 2nd in Rebounding, 2nd in Steals, 4th in Blocks & 3rd in Assists. She is the only freshmen in the league to rank in the top-five in all above-mentioned categories.
Ranks 5th in the country among freshmen in the Points+Rebounds+Assists/Game category with 25.9. Tops ACC freshmen.
• Ranks in the top-15 in the ACC in 6 different statistical categories. 7th in scoring (15.6), 9th in rebounding (7.6), 14th in FG% (.447), 11th in Steals (1.5), 7th in D-Reb (5.6) and 13th in FT% (.769).

6TH WOMAN OF THE YEAR NOMINEE

When looking at subs through the parameters of played 10+ games, but has started in five games or less, Destinee is the highest scoring sixth player in the country.

Walker is averaging 12.5 ppg. The next best sixth player is Darrione Rogers from DePaul and her 11.5 ppg.

Over the last eight games in particular, Destinee has thrived, scoring in double figures in five of them, and even leading the Irish in scoring in three.

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 quartet of Mabrey, Brunelle, Westbeld and Walker. In fact, the Irish are converting 38.0 percent from three, which not only ranks 1st in the ACC, but also 18th in the country.

Dara Mabrey is the primary reason, leading in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 46.9 percent. That number also ranks 18th in the nation. In addition, she has been lights out from deep since the start of ACC play, converting 21-of-39, aka 53.8 percent, which also leads all players in the league.

Brunelle is shooting 42.9 from deep and has made a trey in all but two games this season. She’s also shooting 44.1 percent from three in ACC only games.

Then there’s Westbeld, who keeps you honest from three, knocking down 38.5 percent. Next, Walker follows at 35.1 percent. 

ELUSIVE DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Maddy finally captured that elusive first career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 12 rebounds at Virginia Tech on Jan. 21. Now, Maddy could easily have had five on the year because she missed a double-double by just one rebound on four occasions – North Carolina on Jan. 24 being the latest.

TIGHT GAMES AND 4TH QUARTER RIDES

The Irish are 6-4 in games decided by 10 points or less this season, and they have been on a wild ride as of late. They’ve played six straight games decided by 10 or less and have gone 4-2 in that span. Now, in both those losses, the Irish held a lead late in the fourth quarter.

At Boston College, Notre Dame was up 60-48 with 3:29 remaining, before dropping a 64-61 decision. At North Carolina, Notre Dame was up 70-63 with 4:36 left before losing 78-73.

The Irish did learn how to hold on to fourth-quarter leads during their three-game win streak.  ND was up 67-53 with 7:00 on the clock before Wake Forest trimmed it to one possession. ND went on for the 79-72 win.

At Virginia Tech, the Irish built a lead as large as 21, but the Hokies continued to chip away in the second half, cutting it to 61-58 with 19.5 seconds left. ND then surged ahead for the 65-60 victory.

WHO’S HOT

Look no further than Mabrey:
• Last three games -16 assists to just four turnovers. She’s also averaging 19.3 points during said span
• Two 20-point scoring games over the last three games. Dara has converted 9-of-17 from deep.
• Then when looking at the whole month of January, Dara is averaging 4.2 assists/game, which ranks 7th among ACC players. Points wise, she’s averaging 15.0 in January.

Defensively, Peoples has been a pest for other teams. The sophomore has recorded nine steals over the last three games. In fact, Anaya’s 1.8 spg now leads the team and ranks 4th in the ACC.

— ND —