| GAME 28 | GEORGIA TECH AT NO. 10 NOTRE DAME |
|---|---|
| WHEN: | THURSDAY, FEB. 23 | 6 PM ET |
| WHERE: | SOUTH BEND, IN | PURCELL PAVILION |
| WATCH: | RSN/ACCNX |
| LISTEN: | NOTRE DAME RADIO NETWORK | CLICK HERE |
| NOTES: | ND NOTES |
| SOCIAL: | @NDWBB | #GOIRISH |
| TICKETS: | BUY TICKETS |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The regular season home game slate will come to an end on Thursday, as No. 10 Notre Dame (22-4, 13-3) hosts Georgia Tech (13-14, 4-12). The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a loss to No. 24 Florida State, 80-66.
Led by fourth year head coach Nell Fortner, Georgia Tech has had an up and down season. They have a win over NC State and close losses to multiple schools, including Louisville and Miami. They have not won a conference road game this year.
Cameron Swartz, who began her college career at Colorado and played the last three years at Boston College, leads the Yellow Jackets with 12.8 points per game. While the record may not reflect it, the team has the ability to score quickly and en masse. Georgia Tech shot 73.3 percent in the first quarter against the Seminoles and 70 percent in the fourth quarter against Wake Forest earlier this year.
All in all, Georgia Tech is a defensive-minded team. They rank seventh in the conference in scoring defense at 61.9 points per game. For reference, Notre Dame is third at 58.5.
The Irish are currently tied for the lead in the ACC with Duke, but the Blue Devils hold the ACC Tournament tiebreaker after topping Notre Dame a few weeks back. Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh on Sunday by a score of 83-43. Seven Irish players had at least 9 points, and they held Pittsburgh to its lowest offensive output of the year.
Olivia Miles continues to pace the Irish in points (14.8), rebounds (7.4), assists (7.2) and steals (2.1). She is one week removed from her buzzer beater against Louisville, her first of college.
In addition to tonight’s game, Notre Dame will recognize two of its own players for Senior Night. Dara Mabrey and Lauren Ebo, both of whom are graduate students, will make the walk to center court with family prior to tip off.
Mabrey has been and remains the heart and soul of the program. The third Mabrey sister to play in South Bend, Dara transferred to Notre Dame after playing for two seasons at Virginia Tech. Up until an injury prematurely ended her collegiate career, she started every game in which she was on a college roster. That is 135 in total.
The 3-point specialist finished her collegiate career with 301 deep buckets (146 at Notre Dame). She topped both of her sisters in that category, as Michaela made 228 and Marina made 274. Both of them started and finished their careers at Notre Dame, and Marina holds the program record for career treys in an Irish uniform. All-in-all, the Mabreys totaled a whopping 803 splash-downs.
Ebo, who transferred to Notre Dame this year after a pair of seasons at both Penn State and Texas, has brought a dominant post presence to the roster. The Washington D.C. native has stolen the show recently despite coming off the bench for the first 19 games and in the two most recent games. In addition to a .521 success rate from the floor, Ebo is posting 9.5 points and 6.8 rebounds every time she takes the floor.
Despite missing the five games recently with a lower body injury and returning for just 5 minutes against Louisville and 13 minutes against Pitt, her name peppers the individual rankings among ACC bench players. Excluding the stats from her start against the Seminoles, Ebo leads the conference in total made field goals (69), points (188) and is second in rebounds (132). Ebo and Bransford are tied for the league lead with 50 free throws made off the bench. It’s difficult to find a more important sixth player in the ACC.
Notre Dame-Georgia Tech tips off at 6 p.m. ET on Bally Sports and ACCNX. The Irish are 16-1 all time against the Yellow Jackets.