Notre Dame Wins Preseason WNIT

No. 1 Notre Dame used a powerful first quarter to take command and win the 2016 Preseason WNIT title over No. 17 Washington, 71-60, Sunday afternoon at the Purcell Pavilion. The Huskies advanced to the Final Four last season and have one of the nation’s premier outside-inside tandems in guard Kelsey Plum and forward Chantel Osahor.

The Irish asserted immediate control while jumping to a 12-0 lead in the opening four minutes and held a 25-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Seven different players scored for Notre Dame during those opening 10 minutes, led by Tournament MVP Arike Ogunbowale’s nine. The sophomore guard from Milwaukee finished with a team high 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists in 33 minutes of action.

Huskies head coach Mike Neighbors, whose team averaged 93 points during a 3-0 start, referred to that first quarter as a “punch in the mouth,” while Irish boss Muffet McGraw said it was a vast improvement defensively from Thursday’s 71-67 win versus Green Bay.

“We got off to a great start and that was the key to the game,” McGraw said. “Arike was on and she made some really good shots. We did a lot of good things. We controlled the tempo late in the game. Lindsay (Allen) got the ball in her hands and it was a great way to run our offense.”

Senior point guard Allen, who played the full 40 minutes a second straight game, joined Ogunbowale on the all-tournament team and controlled the pace in the second half, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.

A case also could have been made for junior forward Kathryn Westbeld making the all-tourney unit. With classmate Brianna Turner (10 points, 12 rebounds) plagued by foul trouble, Westbeld asserted control in the third quarter, including draining both of her three-point attempts. She finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, and she has corralled 27 rebounds the past three games.

The second quarter saw Notre Dame convert only 6-of-18 from the floor and the Huskies played them to a 14-14 deadlock despite finishing the half an anemic 7-of-31 from the floor (22.6 percent). When Turner picked up her third foul with 8:59 still left in the third quarter, she sat the remainder of that period and the Irish were out-scored 21-18, yet still held a 57-43 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

After Notre Dame built the lead to as much as 31-11 in the second half, the closest the Huskies came thereafter was nine points near the end (69-60).

Three-Point Play

1. Complete Repertoire — Ogunbowale already has as complete a game on offense as we seen in the program. At 5-8, she can still post low and make power moves that draw fouls. She can drive with aggression and control and finish on either side, and she can pull up for mid-range jumpers. She opened the Washington game with a three (started the year 8-of-10 beyond the arc), and defenses can no longer sag off her. A very difficult individual defensive matchup for anyone.

2. Transition Proposition — The Notre Dame transition game might be the team’s top strength, which is understandable in the guard-heavy lineup and considering that 6-3 forward Turner runs the floor probably better than any post player in the country. Consequently, the offense has gone into a little less motion while attempting more quick-hitting plays to take advantage of mismatches. It’s not quite in sync right now, especially with the half-court sets, but few teams are in November.

3. Health Report — Sophomore point guard Ali Patberg is battling a viral infection, which is why she did not dress for the Washington game. According to McGraw, Patberg likely won’t make the trip for Tuesday’s game in Houston (a homecoming game for Turner) versus Louisiana-Lafayette. Freshman Jackie Young no longer had her right thumb thickly bandaged after suffering a sprained ligament there two weeks ago. In 21 minutes against the Huskies she scored eight point, grabbed two rebounds and played well on the defensive side, an underrated strength of hers because of her scoring prowess.

----

• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,

@BGI_MattJones, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.

• Like us on Facebook