No. 16 Notre Dame Women's Basketball Survive 60-55 Win At Fordham
The Notre Dame women’s basketball program recorded its 1,000th all-time win since debuting in 1977-78, and it took just about every second to get there with a 60-55 victory on Tuesday night at Fordham.
Freshman forward Sam Brunelle and sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert, medically red-shirted last season (shoulder surgery), paced the Irish in scoring with 14 points apiece, with Gilbert coming off the bench because of preseason injuries that held her back.
Freshman guard Anaya Peoples picked up two early fouls and sat the final 16:40 of the first half, but responded well in the second, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds. North Carolina graduate transfer Destinee Walker recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Fighting Irish went on 17-0 run to take a 29-14 lead when the Rams missed their first 15 field-goal attempts of the second quarter.
Fordham closed the deficit to 36-24 at halftime and then sliced it to 39-33 at the start of the third quarter before a Brunelle to Peoples backdoor basket-and-one provided the Irish a lift.
However, at 5:40 of the third quarter, junior forward Mikayla Vaughn went down with a right knee injury. She returned briefly for a possession before going back to the sidelines and sitting the remainder of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Fordham kept chipping away, coming within 47-43 before shooting an air-ball three, followed by baskets from Brunelle and two more by Gilbert inside to extend the cushion to 53-43.
Fordham’s Kendell Heremaia converted her fourth three in seven tries to pull within 56-53 with 26.8 seconds left, and a Kaitlyn Downey offensive rebound and put-back for the Rams made it 57-55. Notre Dame survived 4 of 8 free-throw shooting in the final 27 seconds with a couple of offensive rebounds by Peoples and Gilbert that forced the Rams to continue to foul.
“For a season opener, I thought that was awesome and that the freshmen stepped up,” head coach Muffet McGraw said. “The [offensive] rebound from Peoples [at 58-55] won the game for us. We learned a lot about ourselves. We didn’t quit. We didn’t put our heads down. We worked hard and we worked together.”
THREE-POINT PLAY
1.No Margin Of Error Already?
When Notre Dame was down to seven scholarship players en route to the 2018 national title, three of the ACL injuries occurred in the first two months. If Vaughn is sidelined again, combined with sophomore Abby Prohaska out at least a couple of months with blood clots in her lungs, then all bets are off for a 25th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
There is not nearly enough firepower and experience to compensate this season like there was in 2018. Returning to The Big Dance would be quite a successful feat in itself.
2. The Big Three
McGraw left no doubt that she expected the two freshmen to be among the top three scorers. Gilbert was projected to be the third once she bounced back from numerous leg ailments. Indeed, those three provide the most variety of scoring acumen, with Walker also capable.
Other than Brunelle, the three-point options are a concern, and defenses eventually could play to that. Notre Dame also was only 12 of 24 from the foul line in the second half, which can be evidence of fatigue on a younger squad.
The back-door cutting and the motion offense was crisp at times for this time of year, but many forced or mis-timed passes resulted in 21 turnovers. There was good timing on a few outlets for fast-break points, because the Irish don’t want to get stuck in just a half-court game with their lack of height.
3. Defensive Intensity
The team will have to hang its collective hat much more on defense this year, and there was at least signs of commitment there, especially with the activity along the perimeter. More than half of Fordham’s shots came beyond the arc, where it was only 8 of 38.
If Vaughn is sidelined, future opponents likely will not fire away so liberally from that far while patiently trying to work it in more against a zone that Notre Dame might have to lean on the vast majority of the year.
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