Jan. 7, 2018
ATLANTA — The No. 2/2 University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team downed (RV/RV) Georgia Tech, 77-54, on Sunday afternoon inside McCamish Pavilion, behind its best shooting performance (.623) on the year.
The Irish (15-1, 4-0) started the game with dominant offensive play, led by Arike Ogunbowale‘s season-best 12 first-quarter points. Notre Dame shot 70.0 percent in the first half to bury the Yellow Jackets (12-5, 1-3) en route to its eighth straight win.
“The first half was about as well as we’ve played,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Women’s Basketball Head Coach Muffet McGraw said. “I thought we did a really good job. We came out strong and shot the ball well.”
How It Happened
Notre Dame opened the game with a 9-2 run, featuring four different scorers, lasting the first 2:15 of the contest. Just one minute later, the Irish strung together a separate 13-2 run, giving Notre Dame a 22-7 lead midway through the period. All five Irish starters recorded points in the first four minutes of play, and Notre Dame shot 76.9 (10-13) from the field in the first.
Notre Dame, led by Arike Ogunbowale‘s season-best 12 first-quarter points (5-5 from the field), took a 24-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Ogunbowale and the Irish continued their dominant performance throughout the second period as Ogunbowale added four points and Kristina Nelson entered the scoring column with six points of her own. Defensively, Notre Dame held Georgia Tech to one field goal in the second quarter, outscoring the Yellow Jackets, 24-7, and taking a 48-18 lead into halftime.
Entering the fourth quarter with a 62-34 lead, Notre Dame tacked on one additional run, outscoring Georgia Tech 9-2 over a 3:46 span midway through the final period, before cruising to the final of 77-54.
Player of the Game
Arike Ogunbowale led all Irish scorers with 25 points (10-19 FG), extending her double-digit scoring streak to 25 straight games, dating back to the end of last season. She owns 12 games of 20-plus points and 15 of double-digit points this season.
Ogunbowale went a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the opening period. In addition, the junior guard averages 14.8 points per game in five contests against the Yellow Jackets in her career.
Stat of the Game
Notre Dame shot 70.0 percent (21-30) from the field in the first half, marking the first time the Irish have accomplished the feat in any half of play since shooting 71.4 (30-42) versus Valparaiso on Dec. 4, 2016.
Notes
- Irish now lead the all-time series, 9-0, with a 5-0 mark in McCamish Pavilion
- Irish are 66-2 all-time in ACC play
- Over the past 100 conference games (spanning Big East), Notre Dame has gone an impressive 97-3.
- Notre Dame limited Georgia Tech to 18 points at the half, marking the second opponent they’ve kept under 20 points at the midway point.
- Ogunbowale tallied her ACC best 12th game of 20-plus points with 25 on Sunday. It also marked her third straight.
- With 12 points, Shepard recorded her 12th game this season with double-digit points.
- Nelson tallied 10 points for her second double-digit point game of the season.
- Young secured her 12th double-digit point game with 14 points.
Up Next
Notre Dame will face its third top-five team of the season on the road against No. 3/4 Louisville at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday. The game will be broadcast by ESPN.
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