No. 2 Notre Dame Gets 'Sheparded' To Victory
“And a Shepard shall lead them.”
Where would the No. 2-ranked and 10-1 Notre Dame women’s basketball program be today without junior forward Jessica Shepard?
Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw has pondered that several times this season, and never more than the hard fought 91-82 victory versus DePaul on Sunday afternoon at the Purcell Pavilion.
The transfer and two-time All-Big Ten selection from Nebraska tallied a career high 39 points — also a Purcell Pavilion record in a women’s game — on 17-of-22 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from the foul line. She added 11 rebounds (six on offense), three assists and three blocked shots in 33 minutes. Minus senior All-American Brianna Turner and 6-3 freshman Mikayla Vaughn, both sidelined for the year with ACL tears, Shepard has filled a massive void in the lineup.
“We count our blessings during the Christmas season, and Jessica Shepard is No. 1 on my list,” said McGraw minutes after the game of the waiver Shepard received this November from the NCAA to be eligible this season. “To dominate the game inside like she did, that’s what we had hoped she could do, what we knew she could do, and I think the team did a very good job of looking for her. Just a stellar day.”
With DePaul (7-4) generally using five guards while leading the nation in three-pointers made per contest, McGraw wanted to exploit Shepard’s 6-4 height and wing span in the post and did from the outset.
“The girls just did a great job of getting me the ball,” summarized the soft-spoken Shepard.
The score was tied at 19 after the first quarter, with Shepard’s 6-of-6 performance from the floor for 12 points keeping the Irish in the contest. The rest of the squad was 2-of-14.
The pattern continued in the second quarter when Notre Dame was still unable to gain separation and took a 41-40 lead at halftime. Shepard was 13-of-17 from the field for 26 points, while the rest of the Irish were 5-of-25 (20 percent).
Meanwhile, after going only 2-of-12 in the first quarter from three-point range, the Blue Demons heated up beyond the arc in the second 10 minutes with a 5-of-9 effort. The Irish never led by more than six in the first half, and DePaul’s largest advantage was at 25-21.
It remained a see-saw affair through the third quarter, with the Irish moving ahead by as many as six before ending with a 60-58 edge through 30 minutes.
Notre Dame then began the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run — and 14-2 to gain some separation with a 74-60 lead, the largest of the game.
Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale provided the needed complement to Shepard in the second half. After shooting 1-of-9 from the field in the first half, Ogunbowale heated up with a 7-of-8 effort in the second, highlighted by 3-of-4 beyond the arc for 21 points, right at her 20.7 average per contest.
Junior guard Marina Mabrey (13 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two blocks) iced the game with six free throws in the final 54 seconds.
The Irish will host Marquette on Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 20) before heading home for Christmas break.
Three-Point Play
1. Defensive Disappointment
Although the Fighting Irish recorded 13 blocked shots, McGraw lit into her squad’s performance on that side of the floor. DePaul came into the nation No. 1 in three pointers made per game (13.4), and converted 13-of-36 (36.1 percent against the Irish). What ranked McGraw more was the overall effort.
“If we could play both ends of the floor, we would be a great team,” McGraw said of her No. 2-ranked Irish. “I know we can score, we have a lot of weapons on offense — we just don’t have the commitment to defense right now that we need.
“We’re not a great defensive team. We get a lead and we immediately relax on defense because we want to rest … We just completely fell asleep so many times — really, really disappointed.”
2. Behind The Mask
After breaking her nose in Friday’s practice, sophomore guard Jackie Young donned a cumbersome mask that affected her shooting vision and confidence (1-of-6 from the floor, 0-of-2 from three and 2-of-4 from the foul line). She displayed much fortitude overall, though, with seven rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in 36 minutes.
The mask for the DePaul was a makeshift one put together in the training room, but she will have one custom made for the next six weeks — which is how long she will have to wear one, per McGraw.
3. Shortened Bench
Five Irish players saw at least 32 minutes against DePaul, and senior Kathryn Westbeld provided 19 quality minutes with 10 points (4-of-5 shooting from the floor) and three rebounds. With DePaul’s guard-oriented lineup, this was not a game in 6-4 graduate student Kristina Nelson’s wheelhouse, so she played only four minutes. Freshman Danielle Patterson, who sooner or later might be needed more, saw five minutes but did not record any numbers other than a missed shot.
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