EVANSTON, Ill. — Fresh off of a 2-0 start to the 2022-23 women’s basketball season, which included a 90-79 Saturday win over California in the first ever Citi Shamrock Classic, Notre Dame will be back on the road on Wednesday to take on Northwestern (1-1) in Evanston.
Led by veteran head coach Joe McKeown, the Wildcats fell to No. 21 Oregon by a score of 100-57 in their season opener last week. A slow start against the Ducks doomed Northwestern and has the Wildcats sitting with a -17.5 scoring margin, which is last in the Big Ten. They are currently the only team in the conference with a negative mark.
After surrendering triple-digit points to Oregon, Northwestern held Penn to just 34.4 percent shooting from the field on Sunday in a 63-55 win. The Wildcats denied the Quakers second chance points, as they had 30 defensive rebounds and 46 total boards.
The star of this season’s show for McKeown and Co. has undoubtedly been forward Caileigh Walsh. The 6-3 sophomore out of New Jersey leads the team in scoring (12 ppg) and rebounding (8 rpg). The latter number is tied for seventh in the Big Ten through a week of play. Senior Kaylah Rainey is one to watch as well. She had career highs in points (11), assists (4) and minutes (28) against Penn.
The Wildcats have some height; McKeown has five players who are at least 6-2, including a 6-3 Walsh.
Turning to the Irish, sophomore guard Olivia Miles is pacing the team in three categories: rebounds (7.5), assists (8.0) and steals (4.0). Graduate student Dara Mabrey has the top mark in the points category (16.0), while junior Maddy Westbeld leads Notre Dame with 3.0 blocks per game. That mark is currently tied for second in the ACC.
Mabrey has made 274 three-pointers between two years at Virginia Tech and more than two with the Irish. Should she hit a shot from behind the arc on Wednesday, it will eclipse her sister Marina’s career mark of 274. Eldest sister and fourth-year Notre Dame assistant coach Michaela Mabrey made 228 career three-pointers during her time playing in South Bend, which ranks sixth all-time.
Wednesday’s game tips off at 9 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Notre Dame is 2-1 all-time against Northwestern, and the teams have not played each other since 1988.