March 5, 2016

Recap | Box Score | USATSI Gallery

By Chris Masters

Inside The Game: #2/3 Notre Dame 78, #21 Miami 67
March 5, 2016 – Greensboro, North Carolina (Greensboro Coliseum)

It Was Over When: Graduate student guard Madison Cable knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing with 5:14 remaining to give Notre Dame a 72-57 lead. The shot capped a 13-4 Fighting Irish run early in the fourth quarter and featured seven points from Cable, and Miami would only briefly get within single digits the rest of the game.

Game Ball Goes To: Junior guard/captain Lindsay Allen, who did a bit of everything on Saturday with 14 points, a game-high eight assists and six rebounds. Allen also scored six consecutive points in a 1:48 span late in the third quarter when Notre Dame took the lead for good.

Unsung Hero: In her second game back after an ankle injury, sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a clutch foul-line jumper as the shot clock expired with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Westbeld’s basket was part of an game-changing 8-1 Fighting Irish run to end the period, tilting the outcome in Notre Dame’s favor.

Unofficial Play of the Game: Notre Dame had held the lead for much of the first half and early third quarter until Miami’s Erykah Davenport converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 6:23 left to give the Hurricanes a 47-44 lead. Yet on the ensuing possession just 27 seconds later, Fighting Irish sophomore guard Mychal Johnson stepped up and made a huge three-pointer from the right corner to tie the game back up and Notre Dame never trailed again.

Stat Of The Game: Notre Dame has posted its sixth consecutive 30-win season and the eighth in program history.

Additional Notes: Notre Dame is 9-1 against ranked opponents this season and 63-9 (.875) against Top 25 teams in the past five years (2011-12 to present) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is off to a 30-1 start for the third time in program history, all within the past four years (also 2012-13 and 2013-14) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have advanced to the conference tournament championship game in all three seasons of their ACC membership, as well as 15 times in the past 28 seasons, covering four leagues (North Star, Midwestern Collegiate/Horizon League, BIG EAST and ACC) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 56-1 all-time against ACC opponents (47-1 regular season, 9-0 postseason) and has won its last 34 games against ACC teams (29 in regular season, five in postseason) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 23 consecutive games overall, tying for the third-longest winning streak in program history (also in 2000-01) – the only longer runs came in 2012-13 (30 games) and 2013-14 (37 games) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 44-19 (.698) all-time in conference tournament games, including an 8-0 record in the ACC Tournament ââ’¬¦ since joining the BIG EAST in 1995-96, the Fighting Irish are 26-7 (.788) as the higher seed in conference tournament games ââ’¬¦ since 2008-09, Notre Dame is 60-11 (.845) when playing on one day’s rest or less, including a 5-0 record this year ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish had four double-digit scorers for the 20th time this season, improving to 19-1 in those games and 137-6 (.958) in such games since the start of the 2009-10 season (with wins in 107 of their last 109 outings) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 18-4 all-time against Miami, including a 3-0 record in postseason play (2-0 in the ACC Tournament) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have scored at least 70 points against Miami 15 times in series history, all within the past 20 series matchups ââ’¬¦ conversely, the Hurricanes have scored 70 points against Notre Dame only five times in the 22-game series history, including twice in the past 13 meetings ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 37-6 (.860) all-time against Florida schools, including a 23-3 (.885) record away from home (road/neutral sites combined) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 17 of their last 18 games against teams from the Sunshine State.

Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame will face No. 17 (and third-seeded) Syracuse in the ACC Tournament championship game at 12:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday at the Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be televised live on ESPN and WatchESPN, while radio coverage will be available in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and free of charge around the world through the official Notre Dame athletics online multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv).

– 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).