Hard work down low from Lauren Ebo lifts Notre Dame to Sweet 16
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame found out earlier this season what life was like without Lauren Ebo.
It wasn’t pleasant.
Mississippi State found out what life was like with her in the lane.
It wasn’t pleasant.
On a Sunday afternoon in which the 6-foot-4 center established a Notre Dame NCAA Tournament rebounding record (18), two blocked shots will live on most in the memories of anyone watching as Ebo helped secure a 53-48 victory and trip to the Sweet 16 in one of two Greenville, S.C., regionals.
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Notre Dame will meet No. 2 seed Maryland (27-6), one of five teams to beat the third-seeded Irish in their 27-5 season (74-72 on Dec. 1), on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. EDT (ESPN).
In front of a loud Purcell Pavilion crowd of 4,565 that watched defenses rule the day, Ebo, the graduate transfer from Texas, rejected Mississippi State’s 6-5 redshirt-senior and leading scorer Jessika Carter with 24 seconds left and again with 20 seconds remaining.
“I think what I loved about her is she was really ready today and she knew that Mississippi State's offense went through Carter, and that was something we were focused on,” Irish coach Niele Ivey said of Ebo’s performance that included 10 points and five blocks in all.
“I talked that we had to get the stops, protect the paint with her, and we had to establish our inside game and that was like one of my biggest keys going into the game. She stepped up with her experience and her size. I thought she did a phenomenal job. Obviously 18 rebounds, tournament record, but the presence she gave us on both sides of the ball — she had five offensive rebounds and it was just solid.
“I was really fortunate that I could play her even 30 minutes because the last couple weeks, I haven't had that opportunity to keep her in the game. I think she was locked and focused and realized she needed to step up against a really great post player.”
Ebo missed five games late in the season and Notre Dame struggled without her, losing twice while she was out with a lower leg injury.
She has been building up minutes of playing time since then and the 30:38 she played Sunday was the most since a pre-injury Jan. 19 game against Clemson.
Her rebounding total is also a Purcell Pavilion record.
“I really wanted to win, so I think that was it,” said Ebo, who passed Katryna Gaither on the record list (16 rebounds, 1997 tourney). “Keeping them off the board was important for us and somewhere that we had struggled in the past month, so I just wanted to go out there and help us make the Sweet 16.”
Maddy Westbeld, a 6-3 junior, had 15 rebounds as the Irish held a 49-32 edge — a critical stat that kept the Bulldogs’ fastbreak in check.
“In a game where we struggled to score points — we are phenomenal when we can get out in the open court and run. But if you can't rebound, they just were able to slow the tempo,” said first-year Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell, a former assistant at Louisville who is the fourth coach in four seasons in Starkville.
“We've had games like this before where we get stagnant and (teams) are just able to load the box. Notre Dame has got something special. They have got a lot of size, even at the point, one through five.
“We knew it would be an absolute war so that's why we tried to get after it full-court and wear them out for as strong as they were. …
“You've just got to credit them. They were able to mix defenses. They played relentless and they played power basketball. I thought it was a great game for women's basketball and two teams that absolutely left it out on the floor.”
Both teams were playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.
“We went from ‘Are they getting in?’ to ‘Why were they seeded so low?’“ said Purcell after his club beat Illinois in a play-in game and then six-seed Creighton.
At one time, the Irish were thought to have Final Four potential. That changed with the loss of two starting guards — grad student Dara Mabrey and sophomore star Olivia Miles — to knee injuries.
“This group, the resilience of this team, the toughness of this team is unbelievable,” Ivey said. “Not a lot of people thought we would be up here headed to the Sweet 16 and we have a belief, a lot of love, a lot of trust in our locker room.”
Notre Dame certainly missed both Mabrey and Miles against the frenetic in-your-face pressure a quicker Mississippi State team applied from the start.
It was no surprise, considering Purcell’s connection to Louisville and the Cardinals’ success with that gameplan in the ACC Tournament semifinal (64-38 Irish loss).
Sonia Citron, taking on the Miles role for much of Sunday’s game, never got untracked. Besides committing a team-high five of ND’s 19 turnovers, the club’s leading scorer (14.7 points) and 49% shooter was just 2-for-12 (0-for-3 on threes). Searching for some offense in the second half, Ivey put the ball in the hands of KK Bransford at the point to give Citron a chance to move back into her No. 2 guard role.
Citron, a 77.7% free throw shooter for the year, was 10-for-14 (71%) for the day, but that was after sinking five in six attempts over the final 1:15. She ended up leading the Irish with 14 points.
“I knew that they were going to pressure us a lot,” Ivey said. “We worked on it all week, and I think sometimes you just have to learn in the moment ...
“I think you learn by being in it, and unfortunately you're still creating turnovers but you're in it. It's a lot of film to kind of see areas that we can get better. I might utilize Maddy more to try to help us out, but I thought KK, even with her turnovers (two), I thought she did a really good job of going to get the ball and getting us the offense when I needed her to. Sonia was getting a lot of pressure and she was kind of wearing down so I thought KK stepped up.“
Ivey can be happy her defense delivered.
The Bulldogs, who came in 27th in the country at 45.1% from the field and 24th from the 3-point line at 36.1%, shot just 29.5% and 15% (3-for-20) on threes. The Irish weren’t much better at 34.7% for the game (0-for-7 on threes).
Bursting out of the second-half break behind Bransford’s six points in five minutes, the Irish went from a 26-23 halftime lead to an 11-point edge a couple of times, the last with 4:38 to go in the third quarter.
A wave of turnovers — four over the last three minutes — ruined the progress as the Bulldogs closed the gap to 41-33 at the break before the fourth quarter.
A pair of 3-pointers from Mississippi State’s Kourtney Weber, who came in averaging three points a game and finished with 14, erased the deficit quickly. Her three with 6:50 to play tied the game at 41.
Neither offense could get much going from there.
The Irish nudged ahead 45-43 on two Bransford free throws with 3:49 to play and Mississippi State never caught up. Citron had seven of the last eight Irish points.
Ahlana Smith’s 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left got the Bulldogs to within 51-48, but Citron sealed it with two free throws. It was the seventh time the Irish held an opponent under 50 points. Carter came in averaging 15 and finished with eight, going 3-for-8 from the field.
Westbeld and Bransford had nine each and the Irish got a nice lift from freshman Cass Prosper with seven points on 3-for-5 shooting.
“We know that anything is possible and I'm just so grateful to be able to say that I can lead this group,” Ivey said. “To be back dancing in the Sweet 16 is a dream come true, especially with everything that we're going through.”
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