Notre Dame Advances To The Final Four
They refuse to go away.
Battered with four season-ending ACL injuries before the calendar flipped to 2018, trailing or tied at halftime in each of the last three NCAA Tournament games, and using only six players in the Spokane Regional final, Notre Dame advanced to its eighth Final Four — and sixth in the last eight years — under head coach Muffet McGraw with an 84-74 triumph versus Pac-12 champion Oregon on Monday night.
The 33-3 Fighting Irish will face Connecticut (36-0) this Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET in Columbus, Ohio. Notre Dame led the Huskies by 11 points in the fourth quarter Dec. 3 before losing 80-71.
On Monday night, though, savoring a remarkable moment was on the agenda.
“It’s so rewarding,” an elated McGraw told ESPN afterwards. “For this team to get back there, they’ve been working so hard all year, so resilient, just persevered through so much adversity.”
They held true to form against the Ducks after trailing 46-40 at halftime while allowing Oregon to convert 58.8 percent of its field goal attempts (20 of 34).
The pregame storyline centered on which team could bear down and make enough stops on defense. Notre Dame resoundingly answered that over the final 20 minutes, particularly during the third quarter when it outscored Oregon 21-9 while sticking with a man-to-man look after playing most of the season in a zone set.
• The explosive Ducks managed only 28 second-half points while shooting 8 of 31 from the field (25.8 percent) and 1 of 11 from three-point range. Oregon came into the game leading the country in three-point shooting percentage (40.4).
• Dynamic first-team All-American sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu controlled the action in the first half with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. In the second half, she shot just 1 of 9, with Irish sophomore Jackie Young applying the most pressure while getting some excellent switching help and double teams on drives.
• Notre Dame crushed the Ducks with a 51-29 rebounding advantage, and especially asserted its determination with a 19-6 disparity in offensive boards.
• The dominance on the boards showed most with Notre Dame outscoring Oregon 26-9 in second-chance points.
Oregon closed the first half with a 20-9 run and led by as much as nine (46-37) before a basket-and-one by Fighting Irish junior forward Jessica Shepard reduced the margin to 46-40 at the intermission.
The Ducks’ plan centered on containing Notre Dame’s lethal backcourt combination of Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey while conceding some inside baskets to Shepard and senior Kathryn Westbeld. Ogunbowale was limited to seven first-half points (none in the second quarter), while Shepard and Westbeld combined for 24 first-half points.
In the second half, the Irish offense became much more assertive . A Mabrey drive knotted the game at 48 and her three-pointer — she has converted a remarkable 17 of 27 (63.0 percent) beyond the arc in the four NCAA Tournament games so far — gave Notre Dame the lead for good at 51-50. Ogunbowale tallied the next four points to up the margin to 55-50, giving the Irish a 15-4 start to the second half.
The Ducks made a final push early in the fourth quarter by pulling within 65-63, but two free throws by Westbeld, a Shepard bucket down low on an excellent feed from Mabrey and a Westbeld basket on a pass from Shepard provided a 71-63 separation, and Oregon never seriously threatened thereafter.
Notre Dame clinched the game at the foul line with an 11-of-12 effort in the fourth quarter (and 15 of 16 in the second half).
Westbeld led the typically balanced attack with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, while Ogubowale and Shepard had 19 and 18, respectively. Mabrey put forth her typical versatile output with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, complemented by disruptive defense.
Young pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with six assists and eight points.
Three-Point Play
1. Cultural Difference
ESPN commentators noted how coming out in the second half Oregon was mostly giddy while Notre Dame was more stern and business-like. That’s the difference between a program that is beginning to ascend versus one that has established itself as one of the two or three best in the country this decade.
Notre Dame has been in so many of these marquee matchups while playing consistently top-of-the line schedules that seldom does it flinch, panic or get complacent in these type of environments. Notre Dame was “steeled” to execute in the second half, while Oregon was hoping to just “steal” a victory.
2. Marina Mabrey And Jessica Shepard Unjustly Snubbed
Among the Final Four teams, all but Notre Dame had multiple members on the Associated Press’ first three All-America teams. Ogubowale was the lone Irish representative on the second team. That’s okay and understandable.
Less palatable was neither Mabrey nor Shepard were listed among the 23 honorable mention picks, while a couple of other schools had multiple picks. At least one of the two — and more deservedly both — could have been added as 24th or 25th members on honorable mention given the extraordinary circumstances the Irish went through with a short bench.
There was especially a major adjustment for Mabrey to point guard for the good of the program, yet she continued to thrive on both ends of the floor. They were consistent forces throughout the season that made the run to the Final Four possible, and they had merited such recognition.
3. Quietly Efficient Minutes
While Ogunbowale, Shepard and Young played all 40 minutes as the Irish guards , fifth-year senior Kristina Nelson quietly provided 11 quality minutes off the bench up front, most notably during the decisive third quarter. She contributed four points, three rebounds and a block, but most importantly strong pick-and-roll defense when the Irish seized momentum. That also helped give Westbeld and Shepard just enough rest to finish strong in the fourth quarter.
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