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Notre Dame Women Endure More Fourth Quarter Woes

BOX SCORE

Ground Hog Day is two days away (Feb. 2), but for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team the 1993 comedy movie "Ground Hog Day" about dealing with a constant recurrence has unfortunately become art imitating life.

For the fourth time this year and the third time this January, a fourth-quarter collapse cost the Fighting Irish, this time in a 81-69 loss Sunday afternoon at Syracuse.

The Orange outscored Notre Dame 23-4 in the fourth quarter, with head coach Niele Ivey’s squad converting only 2 of 14 field-goal attempts (14.3 percent) in those final 10 minutes, including 0 of 4 beyond the arc. Overall, it was a 33-8 finish for Syracuse in the final 13 minutes after the Irish had led 61-48.

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Syracuse fought back from 15 points down to defeat freshman Maddy Westbeld and the Irish, 81-69 on Sunday.
Syracuse fought back from 15 points down to defeat freshman Maddy Westbeld and the Irish, 81-69 on Sunday. (Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports)

Notre Dame built a 15-point lead in the first half (30-15), had a 44-34 advantage at halftime and entered the fourth quarter up 65-58 before enduring another meltdown.

Notre Dame dropped to 8-7 overall and 6-5 in the ACC, while Syracuse, which has been in the top 25 most of the year before falling out this week, is 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the league.


Highly touted early entrant Olivia Miles made her debut off the bench at point guard and played 14:44, but another more "veteran freshman", Syracuse’s 6-7 Kamilla Cardoso, took control of the action late. She finished with 18 points in a well-balanced attack with four players in double figures, grabbed seven rebounds, and above all blocked nine shots — four in the final quarter — while the Orange ratcheted up their defensive intensity. Notre Dame’s final six possession included three blocked shots and three turnovers.

Orange guard Tiana Mangakahia nearly posted a triple-double with 19 points, highlighted by 5 of 10 shooting beyond the arc, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Notre Dame was paced off the bench by sophomore Sam Brunelle with season highs in points (19), rebounds (8) and a career high five assists to go with no turnovers. Freshman Maddy Westbeld contributed 12 points, and sixth-year senior Destinee Walker also came off the bench to tally 11 points, converting 3 of 4 three-pointers. Senior Mikki Vaughn nearly had a double-double with 12 rebounds and nine points.

Syracuse opened with a 9-2 lead while burying 3 of 4 three-pointers. Notre Dame then gradually settled in and played brilliant, fast-paced basketball, taking its first lead at 16-15 on a basket-and-one by Vaughn that propelled a 17-0 run and the game’s biggest lead.

Brunelle converted her first four field-goal attempts and finished the first half with 13 points, while Westbeld was 5 of 5 for 10 points for the 44-34 advantage at the intermission. Notre Dame was 19 of 33 (57.1 percent) shooting in the first half while Syracuse went into the deep freeze, converting 13 of 39 (33.3 percent) and 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) beyond the arc.

The third quarter saw Syracuse out-score Notre Dame 24-21, but the fourth was domination from the Orange and another implosion by the Irish.

“That fourth quarter we basically came out really flat,” Ivey summarized. “After those blocks (by Cardoso), I thought momentum really shifted in their favor … We started shooting the ball right into Cardoso’s hands.

“With the press we couldn’t find a rhythm offensively in the fourth quarter. Honestly I think it’s a little bit of maturity as far as just growth, trying not to be tight when we’re up. Unfortunately, it showed up…Instead of being tentative and coming out aggressive, following the game plan, trying to attack, trying to run drag, trying to get into our early offense, we didn’t get a chance to do that.

“And then when we sat in the half court (on offense), we didn’t get the looks, we turned the ball over …It’s something that keeps showing up, but again it’s something we worked on last week and we just have to continue working on it, trying to find a way to finish games. But also today, I just felt like our offense was really stagnant. … They exploited it.”

Three-Point Play

1. Distressing Pattern

• In the opener at Ohio U., the Irish built a 77-70 lead with 6:03 left before losing 86-85.

• At Boston College on Jan. 7, the Eagles rallied to victory after trailing 60-48 with only 2:41 remaining in the contest. The Irish were up by as much as 14 (58-44).

• Last Sunday at North Carolina, Notre Dame built its largest lead at 70-63 with 4:36 left in the game, and then the Tar Heels finished with a 15-3 run to win 78-73 and snap a three-game losing streak.

Even a 21-point second-half lead at Virginia Tech this month almost was squandered at the end.

When a team repeatedly has this pattern of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it goes beyond just youth and not yet having a true, full-time point guard. It becomes a psychological hurdle that haunts and lingers.


2. The Debut

Miles was inserted for the first time with 7:42 left in the first half and ended up playing 14:44. She converted 2 of 6 from the floor (0 of 2 from 3), handed out a couple of quick assists, recorded three steals, had three turnovers and committed four fouls.

The moment did not appear too big for the future face of the program, and she demonstrated confidence in breaking the press and whipping sharp passes to open teammates. This was especially notable because she has not had a high school senior year and had only three college practices.

As the season progresses, look for her to be integrated more into the lineup as a prelude to 2021-22, if not a strong finish this season. She will need to be at the forefront when the worm begins to turn for the program as it aspires to return to at least top 25 conversation in the next year or two.


3. Needing An Upset

The next two slated games will be the fourth and fifth straight on the road, versus the teams that entered this week No. 1 (at Louisville, Feb. 7) and No. 2 (at NC State, Feb. 15), although the Wolfpack will drop after losing.

We felt the Irish needed to get through the current five-game road swing at least 2-3 to put themselves into NCAA Tournament conversation, but the two fourth-quarter collapses at North Carolina and Syracuse now are making the chances more remote. A stirring upset is needed somewhere.

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