SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Eleven players. Seven double-figures. One triple-double.
That’s a rather simple — perhaps even unfair — way to describe No. 5 Notre Dame’s 108-44 domination of Merrimack on Saturday, one during which every player available to play found the bucket at least once.
Balance isn’t a new concept for the fifth-ranked Irish this year, who entered Saturday with seven players averaging at least 8 points per game.
But this was different. At the end of the third quarter, Notre Dame had 81 points. Just one player was in double-figures (Lauren Ebo – 10). It was the type of box score that made you check twice. And then maybe a third time.
When the clock hit zero, seven members of the team had at least 10 points. Nat Marshall had a career-high 13 after playing nearly 24 minutes, nine minutes more than her previous season-high of 15. In the postgame press conference, Marshall said this is the most confident she has felt on the court since high school.
Super star guard and most recent ACC Player of the Week Olivia Miles’ point total (13) didn’t jump off the page. But a closer glance shows 13 rebounds and 14 assists, making it her third triple-double of her short career. In the storied history of Notre Dame women’s basketball, no other play has hit that 10-10-10 mark three times.
As a team, it was Notre Dame’s highest offensive output since a 108-64 thrashing of Oklahoma in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Irish lead the ACC with 88.2 points per game, and 108 points is the third-most by an ACC team in a single game this season.
On the defensive end of the floor, Notre Dame put together its most dominant performance to date and posted the 10th-largest margin of victory in school history (64 points). Maddy Westbeld had three blocks in her second-straight game, and Sonia Citron added three more. The Irish also recorded seven steals and did not surrender more than 12 points in any quarter.
If Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey wants to take her team back to the Final Four, defensive performances similar to what her team posted on Saturday will be necessary. Prior to Merrimack, Notre Dame was surrendering 63.6 points per game, which ranked 163rd nationally. The competition will undoubtedly be stiffer — the ACC currently has four AP top-10 teams — but a dominant victory over Merrimack is not a bad way to head into conference play.
The Irish open their ACC slate with one of those aforementioned top-10 teams, as they head to Blacksburg on Sunday to play No. 7 Virginia Tech (9-0). The Hokies boast Preseason ACC Player of the Year, center Elizabeth Kitley.
Notre Dame-Virginia Tech tips off Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.