Ogunbowale

Game 12 Preview: Marquette

Game 12: #2/2 Notre Dame (10-1) at #19/17 Marquette (9-2)
 When:  Saturday, Dec. 22 | 1:30 pm ET
 Where:  Milwaukee, Wis. | Al McGuire Center (3,700)
 Watch:  FS1
 Listen:  Pulse FM 96.9/92.1/103.1 | Bob Nagle (PxP) | Listen Online
 Live Scoring:  Sidearm
 Notes:  Notre Dame | Marquette
 Social:  @NDWBB
 Tickets:  Sold Out
 Reminder:  Irish have a clear bag policy for the 2018-19 season and moving forward

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It’s a top-25 holiday battle in Milwaukee when the No. 2 University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team invades the Al McGuire Center to take on No. 19 Marquette on Saturday, Dec. 22. The game will air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

Last year, the Irish and Golden Eagles battled into overtime, where Notre Dame emerged with the 91-85 victory. Notre Dame leads the overall series, 33-6, including a 12-5 mark in Milwaukee.

JUST A KID FROM MILWAUKEE
A graduate from Divine Savior Holy Angles High School, Milwaukee’s own Arike Ogunbowale returns home on Saturday when the Irish visit No. 19 Marquette. Ogunbowale Scored 2,240 points in her high school career, good for sixth on Wisconsin’s all-time scoring list.

GOING FOR THE RECORD
Dating back to her final shot at Toledo, Jessica Shepard has now made 15 consecutive field goals. The record is 17, which was set by Carey Poor in March of 1994.

Against Binghamton, Shepard went 8-for-8 from the field. It marked the first time in four seasons an Irish player shot 8-for-8 from the field (or better). Shepard then followed that for a 6-for-6 night against WKU. 

BEST SHOOTING PERFORMANCE IN NEARLY 3 DECADES
The Irish shot 80.8 percent in the first half vs. Western Kentucky, which tied for the third best shooting performance in a half all-time. It marked the best since the Irish shot 8.08 percent in the second half at Xavier, way back on Jan. 25, 1990. 

Notre Dame finished the game with a .698 field goal percentage, which also ranked third all time. It marked the best shooting performance in a game since the Irish shot 70.2 percent (all-time mark) at Mercer on Dec. 30, 2011.

MABREY HEATING UP
With 20 points against WKU, Mabrey secured back-to-back games with 20 or more points for the fourth time of her career. Her best stretch was three straight, set last season. Mabrey also notched a season high five steals and went a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range.

In the previous game vs. Binghamton, Mabrey tallied a 21-point, 10-assist double-double. The 10 assists tied her career high and was the first 10-assist performance since Lindsay Allen vs Ohio State on 3/24/17. The 21 points marked a season best. 

BLOCK PARTY
The Irish defense collected a season high 12 blocks against Western Kentucky on Dec. 19. A major player in that equation is Brianna Turner. The graduate student is averaging 1.9 blocks per game, which ranks fourth in the ACC. She has recorded four blocks three times this season, including the Western Kentucky game. Turner also ranks second all-time with 284 career blocks, sitting only behind Ruth Riley’s 370 mark.

THE 1,000 POINT CLUB AWAITS ITS 4OTH MEMBER
Entering Wednesday’s game, Young boasts 978 career points. She would become the 40th member of the program’s 1,000 point club. Once Young reaches the milestone, Marquette and Notre Dame will be the only two schools in the country with five starters over 1,000 career points.