SOUTH BEND, Ind. – There were more than a couple stretches in which the offense was nothing special, out of rhythm, almost chaotic.
The stars rarely flashed their five-star sparkle.
Yet, at the end of it all Wednesday evening, the No. 6-ranked Notre Dame women’s basketball team (3-0) had locked up a 92-46 victory over a James Madison team that came in 3-0 and was allowing just 53.7 points a game.
“I think we're still just a work in motion as far as everybody understanding their spots and working on our spacing and screens,” Irish head coach Niele Ivey said about her offense. “So, we're still working with that, working on reads and learning each other. I think it's a process, and every team defends us differently, so I think we're still growing in that area.”
So how do you wind up with 92 points?
“It’s a credit to all of our talent,’’ she said.
That it is.
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And Ivey and the Irish fan base are hoping they don’t have to go without another key piece for any length of time.
Pittsburgh transfer Liatu King, a 6-0 grad senior who averaged 21 points through the first two wins, got tangled up in traffic under the Irish basket and came down hard on her back with a little less than nine minutes to play.
She appeared to hit her head, and, after a few minutes, was helped off the floor and did not return.
Ivey said the club will know more from the medical team on Thursday.
“You usually don't know right away,” she said. “So, tomorrow, we’ll find out how she is, but she was a little bit dizzy. She (eventually) felt a little bit better … So more to come with that.”
Any kind of player loss is severe at this time with an already thin roster.
If King, who left with 11 points, needs to rest, the Irish would be down to seven healthy players when it meets Lafayette (1-2) in Easton, Pa., on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. No. 3-ranked Southern Cal looms on Nov. 23.
But one thing Ivey is learning early is that she can lean on her 6-5 freshman center, Kate Koval.
She had a couple of inches on James Madison’s biggest players and took advantage, dominating inside with 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks in 30 minutes on the floor. She left the court to an ovation from a big part of the 6,716 fans on hand.
It was her first double-double, and the 16 rebounds is the most by a player from the Atlantic Coast Conference to date. She helped lead ND’s 44-20 edge on points in the lane.
“Our whole plan was trying to protect the paint,” said Dukes coach Sean O’Regan whose team finished 23-12 overall a year ago, including 13-5 in the Sun Belt Conference.
“We really had no answer for her. She just has a calm about her out there. And she’s more versatile than you think. She’s going to have a good career.”
Through three games Koval is averaging 11 rebounds and 13.3 points, with 15 blocks. She can score with either hand and gets most of her points within a few feet of the basket.
“I try to stay calm,’’ Koval said. “I don’t think I get mad or angry easily. I just try to stay locked in on the game and not get too crazy.”
Koval, along with Cass Prosper were singled out by Ivey as her players of the game.
The 6-3 Prosper had 11 points, seven rebounds and a block in almost 32 minutes on the floor.
“I thought her energy defensively, playing above her size (were key),” Ivey said of the junior. “(On) Help rotations, she's just all over. I thought it was one of her best games offensively, taking great shots and just being so active on both sides of the ball.
“ … She does so many things well, and she's the ultimate competitor and teammate.
“And then Kate played big minutes. … Just super efficient. I think the physicality of the game – she's getting more comfortable with it.”
The outcome was never in doubt, only how the Irish got there. They led 21-11 after the first quarter and 47-23 at the half.
O’Regan acknowledged a win against the Irish on their floor would have bordered on the “miraculous” and the Irish defense was outstanding, limiting his team to 21.7% shooting (15-of-69) from the floor and 21.1% from the 3-point line. Only 6-3 Kseniia Kozlova reached double figures with 14, but it came on 5-for-18 shooting.
Still, the Dukes did test the Irish in stretches.
The Irish offense hit a serious lull to start the second half, going 2-for-11 from the floor.
A 3-pointer by Emma Risch and a three-point play by Prosper got things back on track, and ND finished the quarter on a 9-0 run.
Hannah Hidalgo, averaging 23.5 points coming in, struggled with her shot for a big part of the contest, but came on late and wound up with 24 on 8-for-19 shooting, including 2-for-6 on 3s.
Senior Sonia Citron, in her second game back from an ankle injury, never found her touch and finished 3-for-12 from the field and 1-for-4 on 3s. Olivia Miles was steady and finished with 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
The Irish came in shooting at a 55% clip and finished the game at 45.7, but were a solid 9-for-22 on 3s (40.9%) with a relatively low 12 turnovers. They came in averaging 15.
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