As quantity dwindles, quality propels Notre Dame WBB to a rout of Lafayette
SOUTH BEND, IND. – Her roster keeps shrinking, she keeps adjusting and the end product doesn’t change.
So far.
Down to eight able-bodied players, coach Niele Ivey’s 14th-ranked 7-1 Notre Dame women’s basketball team turned up the tempo to produce a 58-point second half on its way to a 96-42 romp over Lafayette on Wednesday night.
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Despite the issues on the horizon, it was a fun night for the 4,745 on Teddy Bear Toss Night in Purcell Pavilion, a crowd that also got to see quarterback Sam Hartman on the video screen during a timeout, win a game of “Incoherent,” – his prize was a bag of Notre Dame products – and crowd favorite and former walk-on Sarah Cernugel drill a late-game 3-point shot.
But the low-stress nights are ending soon for the Irish.
Lafayette plays in the Patriot League, not the level of a Big Ten/Purdue or an ACC opponent like Syracuse coming up soon on the Irish schedule.
The school from Easton, Pa. with an enrollment of 2,533 and an average attendance through two home games of 247, never figured to give the Irish much of a tussle. But it did have a dozen healthy players and a 4-4 mark coming in that included a 34-point loss to Syracuse and 21-point loss to Rutgers.
Recently added to Notre Dame’s list of the wounded is freshman Emma Risch, who was averaging a dozen minutes over seven games, and is now out with a hip issue.
“Hopefully, we'll figure out what's going on with her, but right now, she's just going through some hip soreness,” Ivey said.
If there’s any kind of timetable for a return for any of the sidelined players – Olivia Miles (knee), Sonia Citron (knee), Cass Prosper (lower leg) and Jenna Brown (knee) – either Ivey isn’t saying or she truly doesn’t know.
She has a lot to worry about, though nothing was added to her plate from Wednesday’s performance.
“The energy and the dominance for 40 minutes was awesome,” she said afterward.
And now it’s back to managing a decimated roster.
“I adjust everything,” she said. “Unfortunately, I have experience from last year. We have to keep practice light. We do a lot of low-impact cardio just to keep their conditioning up.
“We just have to be smart. We are really big on recovery, so sometimes I have to give them off two days in a row. Everything is purposeful and intentional right now with the way we are with the low numbers.”
Players recognize it.
“Just being aware of not gambling so much that I give the refs a reason to call a foul on me, because I know we’re low on numbers,” said freshman Hannah Hidalgo, who played all but three minutes against the Leopards.
“And I like to do a lot of gambling – that’s how I get my steals (No. 1 in the country with six a game). Also not just looking at that, because if I start to play lax – because my defense is my game – and if I start to play back, I’m not playing my game.”
She couldn’t have walked the fine line any better Wednesday. She got her six steals, but only three fouls, and she led the club with 26 points, three over her average. Add six rebounds, four assists and only three of the team’s 14 turnovers.
“Hannah just being Hannah,” Ivey said of her star point guard.
The two guards were particularly effective defensively. Hidalgo’s running mate, grad student Anna DeWolfe, had three steals to fuel her 10-point night.
“It’s scary,” Hidalgo said of the pairing. “We’re doing a better job of playing with each other and playing off each other. Anna’s a great leader, too. She does a great job of talking to me and demanding my attention.’’
The game turned into a rout with a 28-8 third-quarter assault led by 6-4 Kylee Watson, who got behind the defense for eight of her 14 points (5-for-6 from the field), to add to the Irish total of 52 points in the paint.
That was 40 more than the Leopards, who hung around early with some decent 3-point shooting. But that fizzled after halftime, and they shot just 32% from the field, 28% from the 3-point line.
They shot just two free throws, making one, to Notre Dame’s 22 attempts, making 16.
Maybe the most pleasant surprise of the evening for Ivey was the performance she got from grad student Becky Obinma, who had been limited to just two games this season because of an illness, then conditioning, and possibly some coach’s decisions.
In 16 minutes, the 6-2 Pepperdine transfer scored eight (4-for-6 shooting), had seven rebounds, an impressive three blocks and a steal.
“She's somebody that's going to bring a lot of energy defensively,” Ivey said. “She does a great job of setting screens and running the floor, and being a presence down there. So I was really happy for her with the way that she contributed to the team today.”
Some of the other offensive highlights included Maddy Westbeld’s 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting to help the Irish to a 57% shooting night, and 6-5 senior forward Nat Marshall’s dozen points, eight rebounds plus a career-high six assists.
The Irish wound up with a 48-23 edge on the glass, with an 18-0 command on second-chance points, a 24-0 count on fastbreak points and 27-1 advantage off turnovers.
The Irish are off 11 days for finals and will host Purdue on Dec. 17. Prior to the game, a statue of Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw will be unveiled outside of Purcell Pavilion.
There’s a Dec. 21 game at home against Western Michigan before a road trip to Syracuse on Dec. 31 starts the ACC season.
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