Feb. 1, 2016
Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery 
2015-16 University of Notre Dame Women’s Basketball
Notre Dame 68, Duke 61
February 1, 2016
Cameron Indoor Stadium – Durham, North Carolina
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw:
Opening Statement:
“I thought we showed a lot of poise in the fourth quarter. We got down in the third quarter with Lindsay Allen on the bench. She is so important to our team; she keeps us together. I think having her on the bench, that was when Duke made their run. And I thought we did a really good job in the fourth quarter of getting better shots and moving the ball and then defensively we got some stops. I thought maybe the key to the game in the second half was when I put Brianna (Turner) on (Azurá) Stevens, Stevens was really hurting us in the first half. We didn’t want to put Brianna on her because of foul trouble, but we matched them up together in the second half and she held Stevens to four points. That was maybe the difference in the game. I thought Arike (Ogunbowale) was phenomenal off the bench; what a spark. Just gave us great energy and instant offense when we really needed it.”
On considering Madison Cable for ACC player of the year and All-America awards:
“Absolutely. She is a little bit of an unsung hero because she deflects the praise constantly. She is somebody that is having a phenomenal year. She was leading us in scoring most of the season. She hits big shot after big shot in the game. She is great defender. She comes up with big plays. She is so clutch. We want to get her the ball late game situations, want to get her to the free throw line. She definitely does not get the attention she deserves.”
On taking control of the game in the final seven minutes:
“Bri on Stevens, I thought, was key and then Madison was on (Rebecca) Greenwell. I thought that Greenwell played well. I think that we were trying to help off some of them and trying to give them some of the shots that they took. Really trying to key on Greenwell and Stevens and trying not to let them be the ones that beat us.”
On having only five turnovers:
“Yeah, that was amazing. We have had two games this season where we have had seven turnovers in a game and I thought that was phenomenal so tonight to look and see we only had five turnovers, that really is amazing. They played a lot of zone, they didn’t press much and we didn’t beat ourselves which was a good thing. So I thought we did a great job taking care of the ball.”
On what helped them the most offensively:
“We were trying to get to more ball screens when they went man to man, and we were trying to use the high post ACC area when they were in zone. I thought we got some really good shots. Stevens blocked a bunch of them, you know, we kept challenging her. I thought that shots that we normally make were blocked. So I thought that was a little bit of a problem. We got stagnant on offense a little bit, I think, in that stretch where they made their run. We didn’t have the right people shooting the ball. Just a lot of things. We were in the wrong offense, I felt, a lot of the time, and Lindsay was not in the game for most of that. We had trouble getting into stuff and trouble communicating. But other than that, yeah, it was great.”
On coming up against unranked Duke:
“Oh, they’re a great team. I think they are a great young team. They’ve got tremendous upside. They’ve got some really, really good talent. Stevens is having a spectacular season, I think Greenwell is a really good player. Their point guard (Kyra) Lambert does a really good job for them. They just have so much size. They really, really can beat you with their size. I think right now they just look young finishing the game. But I think they are going to be a team nobody wants to play.”
On how winning this tough road game will help them down the road:
“I think we did it little bit at Georgia Tech, we just weren’t shooting the ball well and we had to abandon the threes and move to a little different look on the offense. And tonight we really wanted to attack the basket more so I think its great confidence for our team to know that we can come in, not play particularly well against some great defense and pull out the win.”
Sophomore Forward Brianna Turner
On battling back at the end:
“I think that with our team we have a tight-knit group so we came together and knew we weren’t going to lose the game, so we really just came together.”
On guarding Azurá Stevens:
“Like coach says, she is such a great player, so I just tried to stay in front of her at all times and really tried to deny her when they started their offense, just not let her catch it at all.”
Freshman Guard Arike Ogunbowale
On offensive mindset:
“I was just taking what they were giving me. I am a driver, but I will shoot too. I just try to come in and give our team good minutes. I wanted to get to the basket and drive and make them have to come out and hold us so that our shooters can be more open when I am driving.”