Notre Dame Women's Basketball Notebook: ACC Tournament
A better-late-than-never approach has been the theme this week for Notre Dame women’s basketball as it prepares for ACC Tournament action that begins today (March 4) in Greensboro, N.C.
One of the two or three most dominant programs during the 2010-19 decade that featured seven trips to the Final Four, a national title in 2018 and a near miss last season, this year’s reconstruction project sees the Fighting Irish entering the ACC Tournament with a 13-17 mark overall, and 8-10 in the league.
First round action commences today with No. 10-seed Notre Dame facing No. 15- and final seed Pitt at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers are 4-25 overall and 1-17 in the ACC, losing both times to Notre Dame: 60-52 at home on Jan. 2 and 74-52 on Feb. 9 at Purcell Pavilion.
An Irish victory would advance them to play No. 7-seed Georgia Tech (19-10, 10-8), which has a first-round bye, tomorrow in round two. Notre Dame defeated the Ramblin’ Wreck in Atlanta on Feb. 2 (59-51), their lone meeting this year.
To finish with a winning record and make the NCAA Tournament, head coach Muffet McGraw’s squad faces the virtually impossible task of winning five games in five days. Should it advance to the third round, it would play Friday versus North Carolina State, which has a double bye and crushed the Irish 90-56 at Purcell on Jan. 12.
There is no consolation prize for not winning the tournament, as the NIT does not invite teams that finish under .500.
For now, McGraw is at least gratified that her Fighting Irish are playing their best basketball of the season. They enter the tourney with a season high three-game winning streak, producing their best game of the year on Senior Day (Feb. 27) with an 83-65 victory and then this Sunday upsetting No. 19 Florida State on the road, 70-67.
“This is what I thought we’d be,” said McGraw of the team finally beginning to jell. “I thought it would be earlier, but I’m just glad it came around.”
Since February the youth-laden Irish are 6-3 and have played freer without getting caught up in what once was and living up to those standards.
“There were times when it was all about ‘we’re going to lose’ and I think our mind-set was wrong,” McGraw said. “…We’re playing better individually and that makes you better as a team.”
Since joining the ACC in 2013, the Irish have won the league tourney five of the six times it has competed. It always earned the double bye and never had to play more than three straight games.
This year, a short bench might be even shorter for the tourney because top substitute Kaitlin Cole, a senior and former walk-on, twisted her ankle in Tuesday’s practice. Her status for today is uncertain.
Junior center Mikki Vaughn (10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game), who has been “playing on one leg,” per McGraw, also took a spill in practice but was able to walk off on her own power.
FOUR FIGHTING IRISH EARN HONORS
Freshmen Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples plus sophomore Katlyn Gilbert — who redshirted last season because of shoulder surgery — made the ACC All-Freshman team.
Graduate student Destinee Walker — who was approved this week by the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility next season and will return to the Irish — earned honorable mention All-ACC notice.
Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley won the ACC Freshman of The Year Award over Brunelle.
Brunelle averaged 14.1 points (second on the team) and 5.9 rebounds (third) while converting a team high 56 threes, a career high seven of them on 11 attempts in the upset of Florida State.
Gilbert averaged 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and was second on the team in assists with 79.
Peoples played only 17 games prior to undergoing shoulder surgery in January but made a huge impression during that time with a 12.6 scoring average and a team high 8.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest.
Walker finished as the team’s leading scorer with a 14.5 average and also pulled down 4.5 rebounds per game.
MCGRAW SPEAKS OUT ON TRANSFER RULE
The Irish head coach was taken aback that the NCAA is heading in the direction where non-graduate transfers would be allowed to play right away without having to sit out a season.
“It’s a really bad idea,” she said. “The coaches were unanimously opposed — I think in men’s and women’s basketball and in football. We’re disappointed that it passed and it’s going to make it really difficult.
“There are already a lot of transfers now. Then you start to overrecruit, so you bring in more kids than you usually do — which is going to make them want to leave more because they’re not playing.
“You can’t really win. If you have only 11 or 12 and a couple kids leave, then you’re down on numbers. I think people will be poaching from each other during the season … it’s going to really get ugly.”
Earlier in the year, McGraw said in the future she planned to use all 15 scholarships the NCAA makes available to women’s basketball. She has since reconsidered.
“Twelve or 13 is probably the limit we’ll go to,” she said.
Recent Notre Dame transfers playing elsewhere include Ali Patberg (Indiana), Erin Boley (Oregon), Danielle Patterson (sitting out this year at Indiana) and Jordan Nixon (sitting out this year at Texas A&M).
----
• 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_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.