No. 5 Notre Dame Romps Past Virginia Tech, 89-59
It was a night of notable individual performances during a strong overall team effort in No. 5 Notre Dame’s (26-2 overall, 14-1 in ACC) 89-59 victory versus Virginia Tech (17-11, 6-9) at Purcell Pavilion on Thursday night:
• Senior forward Kathryn Westbeld joined the 1,000-career-points club at Notre Dame, the third player to do so this season.
• Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale tallied a game high 26 points, raising her ACC high scoring average to 20.32, close to the single-season school record 20.4 average by Katryna Gaither during the 1996-97 Final Four season.
• Junior guard Marina Mabrey came close to recording her second career triple-double, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field (2-of-4 from three-point range), 11 rebounds and eight assists.
• Sophomore guard Jackie Young joined Mabrey with a double-double, tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds, six of them on offense.
Aiding the Irish performance was the absence of star Virginia Tech junior guard Taylor Emery, who did not make the trip because of concussion protocol.
The absence of Emery’s 18.0 scoring average did not seem a hindrance when Virginia Tech opened the first quarter with good ball movement that helped result in 4-of-6 shooting beyond the arc and a 17-13 lead at one point. Ogunbowale responded with her own 3-of-4 effort from three-point range and 13 first-quarter points to put Notre Dame ahead 26-24 at the conclusion of the first 10 minutes.
The Irish zone was much more active in the second quarter while limiting the Hokies to 2-of-11 shooting from the floor (18.2 percent) and outscoring them 19-8 in the second 10-minute stretch, highlighted by a 12-0 spurt to begin the quarter.
The third quarter likewise began with a 16-3 Irish run that essentially put the game away. Virginia Tech, which averaged 74.2 points per game entering the contest, was 3-of-16 from the field in the third quarter (18.8 percent) and managed merely 21 points in the second and third combined after recording 24 in the first. The Hokies ended the night shooting 31.7 percent (19-of-60) from the floor.
Notre Dame closes out the regular season Sunday by hosting North Carolina State. The NCAA Tournament-bound Wolfpack are 22-6 overall and third in the ACC (11-4).
Three-Point Play
1. Westbeld's World
With her eight points against the Hokies, Westbeld became the 39th player in Notre Dame annals to reach the 1,000-point career milestone, including Ogunbowale and Mabrey this season. In the shadows of others throughout her career, Westbeld has fought through several painful injuries the past two years to become a vital cog, while receiving little fanfare.
“She is one of the most mentally tough players that we’ve ever had,” said 31st-year Irish head coach Muffet McGraw. “She is the consummate team player, always willing to give up her body, her stats, for the team, will do exactly what you need her to do.
“She’s a smart player with a really high basketball IQ. She does the little things, she just glues us together. She’s the poise, she’s the calm in the storm, especially against the press. She has meant so much to our program over the past four years. She leaves a huge hole when she graduates that I’m not sure anybody can fill because she does so many things well and has such a great attitude … a joy to coach.”
2. Masked Marvel
Despite having to play with a custom-made mask for the past three months to protect a broken nose, Young continues to play with no tentativeness and high efficiency, averaging 14.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per outing, plus applying harassing defense. She has had 21 double-figure contests this season, nearly doubling her 11 as a freshman, and in the last five games she is 34-of-50 (68 percent) from the field.
“I think she’s the most improved player in the conference,” McGraw said of Young. “She has worked on driving the ball, she’s finishing with contact … so steady, great defensively, really consistent on the boards. She seems to come up with the big basket when we really need her to … just makes big play after big play.”
3. Shooting For Seven
A victory Sunday versus NC State would enable Notre Dame to claim at least a co-share of its fifth straight ACC regular season title and seventh consecutive overall when dating back to the final two years of the Big East. Seven straight regular season titles would be the third highest active streak in the country, behind Baylor (8) and Green Bay (20). Five straight ACC regular season titles would be one shy of the all-time mark set by Virginia from 1991-96.
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