Louisville lays another beatdown on Notre Dame women's basketball
The final margin Sunday for Notre Dame women's basketball wasn't quite as bad as its loss at Louisville two weeks prior.
But the beatdown No. 4 Louisville handed No. 14 Notre Dame in Purcell Pavilion was so much worse. The Cardinals led 31-3 after the first quarter on their way to an 86-64 statement victory.
Louisville, who beat the Irish 73-47 on Feb. 13, not so kindly reminded Notre Dame (21-7, 13-5 ACC) how much more it has to develop to become one of the nation's top teams and win the ACC. The conference-rival Cardinals (25-3, 16-2) have beaten the Irish in their last six matchups across the past three seasons.
"When we compete against teams like Louisville, top five in the country, it's a next level," said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey. "You have to raise your game to a higher level. That's awareness. Unfortunately, you have to go through it sometimes.
"Having that bad taste in our mouth today, I hope it fuels us for the remainder as we play the rest of this season. It has to fuel us."
Louisville led by as many as 42 in the second quarter with a 48-6 advantage with 3:32 left before halftime. The Cardinals eventually started to look slightly less unstoppable in the second quarter after an incredible first quarter which consisted of 12-of-15 shooting from field (80%) and 7-of-7 shooting from 3.
Notre Dame could never recover from its own dreadful start. When a Maya Dodson layup cut Louisville's lead to 45-6 with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter, it was just the second made field goal of the game for Notre Dame. The Irish started 1-of-18 from the field with Dodson also making the first shot.
"Louisville shot the ball lights out," Ivey said. "They were ready. They came out amazing. We really didn't come out until about the end of the third quarter. It got away from us really early."
It took a physical altercation for Notre Dame to start showing some signs of life. Irish freshman guard Olivia Miles made a layup through contact from Louisville's Mykasa Robinson. A foul wasn't called on Robinson for the play, but Miles took a route in Robinson's path following the basket.
Robinson shoved Miles out of the way and Miles returned the contact before the two were separated. Louisville's Hailey Van Lith and Notre Dame's Dara Mabrey also briefly confronted each other. All four players were tagged with intentional fouls upon a lengthy review.
Notre Dame still trailed 48-10 with 2:49 left in the second quarter.
"This is the part of the game you don't want to see," Ivey said. "You want to keep the game clean. I thought it was just a frustration. We were kind of frustrated in that moment. Hopefully it's a teaching point. I brought the team over to talk to them about playing the right way."
The Louisville domination wasn't limited to shot making. The Cardinals moved the ball better, defended with more intensity and refused the let the Irish get more rebounds. Louisville grabbed 18 more rebounds (40-22) than Notre Dame.
Four Louisville players scored at least 13 points: Van Lith (20), Kianna Smith (20), Emily Engstler (17) and Chelsie Hall (13). Engstler added 10 rebounds and six assists.
Miles finished with a team-high 13 points for Notre Dame. Mabrey and Dodson added 12 points apiece.
Notre Dame had already earned a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament. When No. 3 NC State beat No. 23 Virginia Tech on Sunday night, the Irish were given the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.
That means the Irish will play in Friday's quarterfinals in Greensboro, N.C., at 8 p.m. EST against the winner of the second round matchup that will include 6-seed Georgia Tech and 11-seed Wake Forest or 14-seed Virginia.
A quarterfinals victory would put Notre Dame in line to play against Louisville on Saturday. The Irish have plenty to accomplish between now and then if they want to fare any better in their third matchup.
"We have a to learn from this game defensively and offensively," Ivey said. "We have to get better this week and get back to work."
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