Dec. 2, 2017
| Game 8: #3/2 Notre Dame (7-0) at #1/1 UConn (6-0) | |
| When: | Sunday, Dec. 3 | 4:00 pm ET |
| Where: | Hartford, Conn. | XL Center (16,294) |
| Watch: | ESPN | Eric Frede (PxP) and Rebecca Lobo (Analyst) |
| Listen: | PULSE FM 96.9 / 92.1 | Bob Nagle (PxP) |
| Live Scoring: |
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| Notes: | Notre Dame | UConn |
| Social: | @NDWBB |
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 3/2 Notre Dame women’s basketball team (7-0) makes one final stop on Sunday as part of its seven-game road tour, rolling into Hartford, Connecticut for a showdown with the top-ranked UConn Huskies (6-0). Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. ET inside the XL Center, broadcasting nationally on ESPN as part of the Women’s Jimmy V Classic. Less than 100 tickets remain for the anticipated showdown.
Sunday’s matchup marks the 47th meeting between the two programs as the Irish look to end UConn’s six-game win streak against them.
ANOTHER TOP-25
When Notre Dame invades the XL Center in Hartford it will mark their fourth straight top-25 opponent, and fifth overall, all of which on the road. Only Notre Dame and UConn have squared off against four straight ranked foes this season.
Furthermore, both Notre Dame and UConn are the only two schools to currently boast four top-25 ranked victories. Fellow ACC school, Louisville, sits in third with three.
ROAD WARRIORS
With the win at No. 22/20 Michigan, the Irish procured its sixth win away from home this season. This ties USC for top-mark in the nation for most wins away from its home court thus far.
WHO’S HOT
Over the last three games, no Irish is hotter than Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young. Ogunbowale is averaging 25.3 points per game on 56.6 percent shooting, including a 7-of-13 mark (.538) from three-point range, during that stretch. The junior is fresh off of tying her career-high tying of 32 points at Michigan on Nov. 29, scoring 20 of those points in the first half. Ogunbowale also set a new career best 13 made field goals. The Milwaukee native is just 1-of-5 players in the ACC right now with a 30+ point performance.
Meanwhile, Young is averaging a double-double with 21.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, connecting on 51.2 percent of her shots over the three-game stretch. Young has since raised her scoring average from 15.5 to 17.9 and her rebounding average from 7.3 to 8.6. Young is fresh off of earning her second-straight double-double with 18 points and a career high 14 rebounds at Michigan.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE WINS IN NOVEMBER
The Irish just capped off a perfect 7-0 record in the month of November, which has become a standard for the program. In fact, Notre Dame has won 39 straight games in the month of November and is 42-1 over the past seven seasons.
FOUR IRISH LAND ON NAISMITH TROPHY WATCH LIST
On Nov. 29, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced 50 women’s basketball players to its Citizen Naismith Trophy Watch List with Arike Ogunbowale, Jackie Young, Jessica Shepard and Marina Mabrey all selected. The Irish’s four candidates marked the second most of any school, while the ACC made the top mark of all conferences with 10. The Naismith Trophy annually recognizes the top men’s and women’s collegiate basketball players of the year. A list of the midseason top-30 team will be released on Feb. 12, 2018, and players who do not make the Watch List are still eligible to be selected for the midseason 30 list.
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Josh Bates joined Fighting Irish Media as associate athletics communications director in July of 2017, serving as the women’s basketball and men’s golf contact. Bates earned both his bachelor’s (2011) and master’s (2014) degree in sports management from the University of Illinois. He also worked as a grad assistant at Illinois from 2012-14 and worked full-time at Tulane University from 2014-17.