Notre Dame knocks off undefeated Virginia Tech with fourth quarter surge
Gritty can work just as well as pretty.
Notre Dame’s No. 5-ranked women’s basketball team needed a lot of resolve Sunday afternoon in an offensively challenged Atlantic Coast Conference showdown in Blacksburg, Va.
With few shots falling and control of the ball a struggle in the first half, the Irish (9-1, 1-0 ACC) stayed in it against No. 6 Virginia Tech with the kind of smart, energetic man-to-man defense that takes teams a long way.
And when the offense finally caught up, the Irish dispatched the previously unbeaten Hokies, 63-52, in front of 4,206 in Cassell Coliseum.
“What I learned is that we do have a lot of resilience and we have a lot of toughness,” said Irish head coach Niele Ivey. “It's something that we're stressing, especially defensively, but to see it for 40 minutes, I'm so proud as a coach. You never know the moments until you're in it. So I feel like we really grew up today and we’re proud of the effort defensively, for sure.”
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It’s understandable.
The Hokies (10-1, 1-1) came in averaging 79.4 points a game and shooting 46.6% from the field. For the day, they finished at 29.4% from the field and just 23.1% from the 3-point line, where they had done some significant damage (35.7% and 8.4 makes a game) against a schedule that included no ranked teams but victories over Tennessee and Nebraska.
Virginia Tech, with a usual lineup featuring six players in double figures, was without Ashley Owusu, the defending Ann Meyers Drysdale Award winner, which recognizes the nation’s best shooting guard. The Maryland transfer was shooting at a 50% clip and averaging 10 points before breaking a pinkie finger on Dec. 1.
But they still had the reigning ACC Player of the Week, Elizabeth Kitley, who came in averaging 18.8 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. The 6-foot-6 center was a lot of trouble for the Irish in the first half with nine points, 13 rebounds and an annoying defensive presence in the paint.
But she never got going in the second half, adding just seven more points, though she did wind up with 20 rebounds.
It started at the point with guard Dara Mabrey. Known more for her 3-point shooting than defense, she hounded the ball out front.
“Credit Dara today, right from the beginning, she set the tone defensively for us,” Ivey said.
Mabrey had a little extra incentive, returning to the place where her college career began.
“Obviously, there's different nerves when you come back to a school you used to play for,” Mabrey said, “but I got a lot of love from some people today, and I got to see a lot of people that were really special to me when I was here. So I'm just grateful to be in this position. Grateful for a mental test and opportunity for me as a leader, and I'm proud of myself today.”
The Irish, who shot just 31% from the field in the first half, trailed by five late in the third quarter and by three at the start of the final period.
Then Olivia Miles started doing her thing.
Handcuffed on 1-for-8 shooting with a couple of turnovers in the first half, one of the country’s top guards took over in the final 10 minutes and came within a few assists of a triple-double (team-high 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists).
A 12-footer by Kitley at the 6:23 mark tied the score at 48, but from there the Irish took off.
A dynamic drive and score by Miles was followed by her nifty pass to Sonia Citron for a layup, and then a sweet feed to Mabrey breaking through the lane for a layup.
Over the first six minutes of the final period, Miles was 4-for-5 from the field with four assists and suddenly the Irish were completely in charge, 55-48. Defensively, the Irish never let up and Virginia Tech went stone cold. After that bucket by Kitley with 6:23 to go, Virginia Tech didn’t score again until a Georgia Amoore bucket ended the drought with 45 seconds left.
“We wanted to stay calm but stay aggressive, because that's when we're at our best,” Mabrey said. “... But even when we wanted to use some clock, we still executed late in the shot clock, which is huge down the stretch.”
The Irish were in some foul trouble with their bigs midway through the third period — Lauren Ebo, Maddy Westbeld and Kylee Watson each had three — and was getting few good looks from the perimeter. Miles made the only three in eight Irish attempts.
But 6-4 center Ebo canceled out Kitley’s work, going 7-for-10 around the basket and finished with 15 points, seven in a first half that finished tied at 22. She kept the Irish close when few other offensive options were producing.
“We had 42 points in the paint and credit to Ebo,” Ivey said. “I feel like she always comes in and gives us a spark. She's the most efficient post that I've coached. And I felt like we did a great job of getting her the ball.”
Citron finished with 11 points and Westbeld 10 on a day when the Irish finished well under their average of 88 points a game and struggled to get to the line.
They came in No. 1 in the country in free throws made at 20.7 per game and were 10-for-13 for the game. They also came in with a plus-16 rebounding margin (fourth in the country) — ballooned somewhat by the soft part of the schedule — and Tech had the game’s edge, 41-39.
The Irish, overall, protected the ball well with 11 turnovers — nine coming in the rough first half — five under their average.
Amoore got hot in the third period for Virginia Tech with three 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, eight over her average.
“Obviously we're gonna get everybody's best defensive game, given how much we can score in all five spots,” Mabrey said. “So we adjusted and then we just kind of found our flow. … We missed a couple of bunnies and didn't get a few calls but it didn't matter, we just found a way to pull through.”
Next up for the Irish is a Wednesday noon EST game at Purcell Pavilion against Western Michigan. Then the Irish will get a holiday break before ACC play kicks in again in a Dec. 29 contest at Miami.
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