Irish flex depth in outlasting Cal, 90-79, in St. Louis
Two games.
That’s all it took for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to have both its depth and mettle tested.
Emerging from the inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic in St. Louis’ Enterprise Center Saturday afternoon with a 90-79 victory over a building California (1-1) program provided some immediate gratification, but the potential long-term bonus may be of more significance.
When injuries, foul trouble and off nights come, there will be options for Niele Ivey, who needed to get creative when foul trouble struck in a tightly called contest.
There were 28 fouls called on the 2-0, No. 9 ranked Irish, and 31 on California, and the officiating may have caught both teams a little off guard. Lauren Ebo and Dara Mabrey each fouled out for ND, while four other Irish finished with four fouls each.
“Yeah, that was crazy,” ND’s star point guard Olivia Miles blurted out when asked about it after collecting four fouls herself. “There are no other words. Whistles were blowing left and right. It is very frustrating. But you know, games are going to be called like that. So you just have to get used to it.”
“I really don't know what to say,“ forward Kylee Watson said. “I mean, just kind of control what we can control. At that point (with all the calls), it wasn't worth wasting energy on stuff that had already been called, so just kind of move forward.“
Watson did just that, assisting nicely down low when first Maddy Westbeld, then Ebo, had trouble staying out of trouble.
The 6-4 junior had 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and a team high seven rebounds.
Mabrey led Notre Dame with 16 points, getting six of those on eight attempts from the free throw line.
That’s where Notre Dame did most of its damage, going 30-of-36 from the line to Cal’s 16-for-24. The game stayed close, but also tedious, with all the stops for fouls and foul shots.
Notre Dame led by as many as 14, but found itself in what looked like deep trouble when Cal’s talented 5-6 sophomore, Jada Curry, who finished with 24 points, hit one of her four 3s (in nine attempts) to get the Bears within three with a little more than seven minutes to go.
Ivey, who like Cal coach Charmin Smith was working in front of friends and relatives in the city where they began to make their basketball mark, didn’t fret.
“I was never nervous,” Ivey said. “I have a lot of confidence in this group. … I just wanted to make sure I led them properly.“
The Irish regrouped by getting a layup from Watson and a couple of free throws from Sonia Citron, who went 6-for-6 from the line and totaled 14 points. The Bears, picked to finish 11th in the Pac-12, hung tough and a 3-point play by Curry at the 3:40 mark got them to within six at 73-67.
From there, the Irish went on a mini-run with two free throws from Ebo, three free throws from Mabry and a layup by Miles for an 80-67 lead with a little more than two minutes to go. Eight of ND’s final 10 points came from the line.
It was a special couple of days for both coaches. Each took their team to their alma mater for a practice – Ivey to Cor Jesu Academy and Smith to Ladue Horton Watkins.
The game was the first-ever live broadcast on NBC of a college women’s basketball game.
“It’s a special moment for me being back in my hometown … I'm just so blessed to be a part of it,” Ivey said.
“I felt like we had great fans and it was an incredible game. It was great for women's basketball. So entertaining, and obviously I’m super excited that we found a way to win that game. A lot of adversity, but a lot of great things happened tonight.“
Westbeld, who had 12 points, got the Irish off to a strong start with seven early points, but was already on the bench by the 7:30 mark with her second foul on a defensive trap.
That started the theme of Ivey mixing and matching because of constant foul issues.
Nat Marshall, for the second straight game, delivered some solid production off the bench with nine points and six rebounds. Ebo added eight points and three rebounds in 15 minutes but was in and out of the lineup with foul trouble.
The Irish took a step backward from the opener Monday against Northern Illinois in a couple of areas.
Miles, who had seven assists in the first quarter and 10 for the game, also had five turnovers. Ebo and Citron each had five turnovers as Notre Dame piled up 23 for the game.
Cal went 9-for-22 from the 3-point line for 40.9%, a defensive area of focus for Ivey over the preseason that still needs some work.
Those issues kept Cal in it when Notre Dame could have romped otherwise behind a 51.9% shooting performance from the field, including 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from the 3-point line, and drawing even on the boards with 42 rebounds each.
But the trip was meant to be more than adding a win to the résumé.
“You know, I'm happy to continue this kind of classic to go around to different cities and keep inspiring women across the country,“ Miles said about the attention the game received from the community.
“It was really cool to be a part of something like this so early in the season to be playing in an arena (home of the St. Louis Blues hockey team) like this and getting ready for the season. “And then the fact that it was streamed on NBC and stuff like that, it just goes to show that basketball is growing and it kind of should become a new normal.“
The Irish next will travel to Evanston, Ill., Wednesday for a matchup against Northwestern.
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