Notre Dame Bench Shines In Exhibition Victory
Preseason Associated Press No. 1 Notre Dame took the court for the first time Thursday night in an exhibition matchup against reigning NCCAA champion Roberts Wesleyan and quickly demonstrated the talent disparity in the 129-50 victory.
The top competition for 30th-year head coach Muffet McGraw’s Fighting Irish for a good percentage of this season might be in the daily practices.
Nine players split 17 to 28 minutes of action, with freshmen and former national players of the year Erin Boley and Jackie Young providing instant scoring and energy off the bench.
The 6-2 Boley ended up with the most minutes (28) while tallying 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-6 beyond the arc) and grabbing six rebounds. Guard Young — who plays much taller than her listed six-foot height — stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, a game high 10 rebounds, five assists and strong pressure defense, especially in the press.
“Exceptional,” McGraw summarized of the rookies, who possess strong physical frames of major college upperclassmen.
The state of Indiana’s all-time leading scorer for either men or women, Young prides herself on blue-collar play and is already one of the top post feeders on the squad.
“For this team I’m just trying to play defense, get rebounds, do the dirty work that some of the players did last year,” Young said. “I’m just trying to fill that role. The scoring will come from the defensive effort. As long as I play defense, the rest will come.”
Yet the top story probably was the continued progress of 6-4 senior Kristina “Koko” Nelson, whose conditioning and confidence this year is night and day from previous ones. She tallied 24 points on 12-of-17 shooing while asserting herself in the post.
“I know coach trusts me and I’ve gotten a lot more confidence in myself,” Nelson said. “If I have confidence, then I can do everything.”
Sophomore point guard Ali Patberg, sidelined last year with a torn ACL, also is gradually working her way back, finishing with six assists, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 17 minutes. Yet another former national player of the year (MaxPreps), Patberg wore a huge brace on her right knee but blended well into the lineup.
Meanwhile, the starting lineup was paced by sophomore wing Marina Mabrey’s 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting (4-of-6 from three), six assists and four steals, while classmate Arike Ogunbowle and preseason AP first-team All-American/junior Brianna Turner each had 18 points. Senior point guard Lindsay Allen had 10 assists and forward Kathryn Westbeld contributed four apiece in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
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