Notre Dame Women Prepare For ACC Play

Notre Dame women's basketball begins its 20-game Atlantic Coast Conference season Sunday afternoon by hosting Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-0) at 2 p.m. ET (ACCNX).

The Fighting Irish also might have their most complete roster since beginning the year with seven scholarship players after five members of the team were sidelined with various health ailments.

During the 2-2 non-conference start, Notre Dame had four players average double-figure scoring, paced by 6-3 freshman Maddy Westbeld’s 17.5 points per contest. She also leads the team in rebounding with a 6.8 figure despite being limited to 26.6 minutes per game primarily because of foul problems.

Also in double figures are guards Anaya Peoples (14.3), Destinee Walker (13.8) and Dara Mabrey (12.0), with Peoples second in rebounds per game (6.5) and Mabrey tops in assists (13), just ahead of the 12 by Walker and Westbeld.

Now consider this:

• Two of the top three scorers from last season, sophomore Sam Brunelle (8.5 points per game this year) and Katlyn Gilbert (5.5) — both on the Freshman All-ACC Team last year with Peoples — are assimilating back into the lineup after health setbacks sidelined them the first two games. Brunelle had to overcome a lingering knee problem and then a foot injury that put her in a walking boot for a week. She is gradually attempting to increase her minutes from the current 19.5 per contest.

“The biggest challenge is trying to get back into good shape,” Brunelle said. “When you miss a lot of practice and stuff, you’re not necessarily in the best shape … There’s a lot I had to do just to make sure I got back healthy. I did a lot of rehab for a long time.”

• Freshman Alasia Hayes is the most natural point guard on the squad and was used more in crunch time in the comeback win over IUPUI last week to help Mabrey play off the ball.

• Junior Abby Prohaska, sidelined last year for health reasons, won’t wow anyone with stats but is a glue figure in the attack, averaging 22.6 minutes per game.

• Freshmen Alli Campbell in the backcourt and Amirah Abdur-Rahim in the frontcourt have both averaged double-digit minutes, but with more veterans coming back into the lineup, playing time might be harder to come by.

• Last and perhaps foremost is the team’s prime X-factor, 6-3 senior center Mikki Vaughn, who has been rehabbing from spring knee surgery and was cleared by the medical staff for “full go” this past week. She could make her 2020-21 debut tomorrow, although head coach Niele Ivey remains guarded when talking about her in “day to day” terms.

“She’s still limited, but she’s getting in and out (mainly 4-on-4 drills, and a bit in 5-on-5),” Ivey said. “It’s been like that for the past couple of weeks. I’m hoping that in the next couple of games I can have her back.”

Ivey admits that finding the right rotations and combinations have been like a chess match that will be on-going and one she is “playing by ear.”

“I do have my top eight that I’m kind of rotating around,” Ivey said. “This game is about a game of adjustments, so I’ve learned in the past four games I can’t dictate what it’s going to look like. I’m going with certain people that I feel are ready, or sometimes it’s a matchup situation, and I’m trying to learn on the fly, to be honest.

“I’ve tried a lot of different combinations in the past several months, and eventually I’m going to continue to go forward with what I think is the best five at the time and try to work my way around it.”

While No. 2 Louisville and No. 4 North Carolina State — which toppled top-ranked South Carolina — are the top powers in the ACC this year, the balance from 3 through 9 in the league is more open in what will be a 20-game league schedule.

No. 20 Syracuse currently is the third best with a veteran starting lineup, and then after that North Carolina (28), Notre Dame (30), Wake Forest (32), Boston College (33) and Virginia Tech (36) in the “also receiving votes” category of the AP poll.

But that was Monday. Georgia Tech (3-1) opened its ACC schedule this week with an 86-68 victory against the No. 33 Eagles.

The Yellow Jackets have been ranked as high as No. 5 and as low as No. 9 in the preseason ACC polls, while Notre Dame was 4 through 6. Tech’s effort against Boston College would seem to indicate they could be more in the top 5 category in the league, which presents the Irish an immediate challenge.

Senior 6-4 Italian import Lorela Cobaj leads the frontcourt, and opened the season with 18 points and 16 rebounds in a victory versus Tulane. Against BC, it was guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen who exploded for 27 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the field, notably 5 of 8 from three-point range, to go with eight steals, seven rebounds and five assists.

Cobaj is averaging a double-double with 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, while Lahtinen is at 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds.

Notre Dame won at Georgia Tech last February, 59-51, with Vaughn pacing the Irish with 20 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the field and adding seven rebounds.

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