Kathryn Westbeld’s Return Sparks Notre Dame To Second-Round Win
It wasn’t nearly as dramatic as New York Knicks center Willis Reed making his electrifying and legendary return from an injury to spark a game seven victory in the 1970 NBA Finals, but Notre Dame senior forward Kathryn Westbeld’s insertion into the lineup at the start of the second half had its own inspiring effect during Notre Dame’s 98-72 second-round victory versus Villanova on Sunday night.
Listed as a “game-day decision” after rolling her ankle early in the first-round win versus Cal State Northridge, Westbeld sat out the first half versus Villanova and saw the Irish struggle mightily on defense before entering the halftime locker room tied 45-45. Villanova shot a blistering 66.7 percent (10 of 15) from three-point through the first 20 minutes, forcing the Irish to settle on going man-to-man the final three quarters.
When Westbeld entered the court at the start of the second half with the starting lineup, Purcell Pavilion exploded, and the Fighting Irish immediately followed suit.
Notre Dame outscored Villanova 28-8 during the decisive third quarter with Westbeld playing all 10 minutes. When she finally was taken out with 4:02 remaining in the contest, Westbeld was saluted with a standing ovation in Purcell Pavilion and a huge hug from head coach Muffet McGraw as the Irish had extended their lead to 94-62.
The box score showed Westbeld with only two points (Reed had four himself in the aforementioned game), six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. In the intangibles department, though, the long recognized glue of the 2017-18 team was the MVP.
In the second half, Villanova was only 8 of 24 from the field — and 0 of 5 from three-point range.
“Her presence on the court kind of poises and calms everybody else,” said Irish junior guard Marina Mabrey, who finished with 15 points, three assists and three steals. “She came into the game and reminded us that this isn’t how we play — with or without me. She reminded us that we are going to play defense.”
“The trainer told me before the game that she thought [Westbeld] might be able to play the second half, that they would be working on it and see how she looked at halftime,” McGraw said. “We were very excited she was able to go back into the game and change the course of the game. We’re just a very different team [with her].”
According to Westbeld, she received about 10 treatments over the past two days to help get her ready for an “in case of emergency, break glass” situation.
“The sprain definitely wasn’t as bad as last year’s, thank God” Westbeld said of an ankle injury last season that limited her mobility and didn’t even allow her to practice before games. “I was hardly on my feet since it happened. It was a second-half decision on whether the coaches felt I needed to play or not.
“I honestly didn’t know if I was going to play at all in this game, so I just really tried to get into it as much as I can. I was on the edge of my seat the whole first half. I was really back and forth with whether it would be good that I play or good if I wouldn’t play. I was just really happy that I got to get back on the court for my last time [at home].”
Notre Dame’s defensive maladies forced McGraw to change from man-to-man to zone to man again while Villanova opened with an 18-13 lead in the first quarter. The Irish ended with a 6-0 run to take a 19-18 lead after the first 10 minutes, with junior forward Jessica Shepard tallying 10 of the points.
The second quarter became a shooting clinic for both teams, with Villanova converting 6 of 8 shots beyond the arc and shooting 10 of 15 overall while outscoring Notre Dame in 27-26 in that 10-minute segment.
Both teams were 17 of 30 (56.7 percent) overall from the field in the first half, but whereas Villanova outscored Notre Dame 30-6 with the threes, the Irish held a 26-12 advantage with points in the paint, led by Shepard’s 14 points.
The No. 1 seed Irish will play next Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the Spokane Regional against No. 4 seed Texas A&M, which rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat DePaul 80-79.
The Aggies vanquished Notre Dame in the 2011 national title contest.
Three-Point Play
1. Defensive Strategy
Although she is 6-2, Westbeld’s presence allowed Notre Dame to play more with a four-guard look, especially on defense, which had numerous first-half breakdowns in communication. Her presence helped allay that, and so did guarding the three-point line more aggressively.
“We decided not to help and not to rotate when they had dribble penetration so we could just stay out on the three-point line,” McGraw said of the second half defensive plan. “We didn’t think they could make enough twos to beat us, so we were just going to guard the three-point line and let them drive and get layups. … We don’t play anybody like [Villanova], so it’s tough to prepare for them.”
When the drives weren’t falling either in the second half for the Wildcats, the rout was on. The Irish outscored Villanova 56-24 in the paint.
2. Three For 20 … Again
In the NCAA Tournament opener against Cal State Northridge, junior guard Arike Ogunbowale finished with 30 points, followed by 24 from Shepard and 23 from Mabrey. It was the first time three different Irish players tallied at least 20 points in the same game since Jan. 7, 1999.
It took 19 years to replicate it — and then two days to repeat the feat. Against Villanova, Shepard was unstoppable in the blocks with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, while Ogunbowale and sophomore guard Jackie Young added 24 points apiece. Shepard also had her second straight double-double, and 13th of the season, with 10 rebounds, while Young barely missed with nine rebounds to go with a team high four assists.
3. Moment In The Sun
Walk-on guard Kaitlin Cole played 12 minutes in the first half to help the four-guard look, and her put-back basket off a rebound right before halftime tied the game at 45 at the break.
It’s unlikely Cole could have figured about eight months ago she would be in such a position in a tight NCAA Tournament game.
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