SOUTH BEND, Ind. — If Notre Dame makes the strides it needs to defensively to become a Final Four-caliber club that it believes it can be, the Irish can send a thank you note to Maryland star Diamond Miller.
In front of a Purcell Pavilion crowd of 3,131 Thursday night, she taught the No. 7-ranked Irish how far they have to go to contain a dynamic player.
They couldn’t do it in the first half when the 6-foot-3 guard, averaging 17 points a game coming in, had 12 points. They certainly couldn’t do it in the second when she added 19. And it didn’t happen in the final 15.8 seconds either, when Miller’s 12-footer from the side of the lane delivered a 74-72 upset victory for No. 20 Maryland (7-2).
Her motor was better than anyone Notre Dame had on the floor and it was still humming in her 36th minute of the game when she took the inbounds pass near midcourt, raced to the top of the key for a screen and got to the side of the lane.
“Even if you know Diamond is going to get the ball (for the last shot), you probably have like less than 5% chance of stopping her,” said her teammate, Shyanne Sellers, who had 17 points, the only other Terrapin in double figures.
It was Miller’s show from the start. She got to the bucket over and over, or induced a foul – eight from the Irish in all – on the way there. She also had a team high 12 rebounds to lead the Terrapins to a 41-37 edge.
“I felt like she got to her spots in transition,” said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey. “She was just so active and so aggressive offensively. She would miss shots and go get her own rebound. It was one of those nights we just needed to find someone that can lock down a player when they're having a night like that.
“Defensively, we just have to show a better effort for 40 minutes, and I felt like Maryland was tougher than us. That's something that we have to grow from, take this lesson and move on. because we face an incredible opponent Sunday in UConn (3 p.m. EST in South Bend).”
All of Miller’s damage came inside the 3-point line. The Irish couldn’t keep up with her first step and were chasing her to the basket most of the evening.
“It was a game of runs, just great players back and forth making great plays for each other and you know, we needed every single moment from our All-American, Diamond. I thought she was spectacular,“ said Maryland head coach Brenda Frese, in her 21st year at Maryland.
There were 15 lead changes and 10 ties with Notre Dame’s biggest lead at seven and Maryland’s at eight.
It was Notre Dame’s first game against a ranked team and the Maryland defense — a mix of zone and man-to-man — was two or three steps up from what the Irish had seen to date.
No. 4 in the country coming in at 90 points a game, the Irish offense never got in rhythm, and foul trouble to their standout point guard, Olivia Miles, didn’t help.
“It was a big X-factor for us, getting her in foul trouble,” Frese said.
Miles was limited to 25 minutes, but still had 14 points, a couple below her average, on 6-for-9 shooting, and seven assists.
The numbers overall offensively for the Irish were adequate – 45% from the field, 35% from the 3-point line (6-17), and 67% (10-15) from the line, but it was hard to overcome the blunders with the ball that led to 18 turnovers, seven in the first quarter.
Credit Maryland’s feisty zone right out of the gate for creating some of the issues.
“I felt like it really stifled us early,” said Ivey of the Terrapins’ defense. “It's the first time we've seen a matchup (zone) this year. I thought we (eventually) did well, but it definitely slowed us down in the first quarter, toward the five-minute mark in the second quarter.”
The Irish forged a 55-51 lead heading into the final quarter, but it was precarious and the fourth quarter started with a couple of turnovers and a couple missed free throws.
“When you turn the ball over, it's a momentum killer, and momentum booster for them,” Ivey said, “especially with Maryland capitalizing on our mistakes.”
The Irish edge was 63-62 with just under five minutes to play following a layup from Sonia Citron (24 points, 8-for-14 shooting, including four 3-pointers). Then three different players missed 3-pointers on the next three possessions and Maryland took advantage.
It was 69-65 Maryland at the 1:36 mark before Miles got aggressive, driving to the basket twice sandwiched around a slick inbounds drive to the bucket by Citron.
It produced a short-lived one-point edge before Miller got to the basket with 34 seconds left. After ND’s Lauren Ebo couldn’t corral a rebound on a Miles miss, Miller connected on a free throw for a 72-70 lead.
Coming out of a timeout, Miles fired a long pass from out of bounds, halfway between the too of the key and midcourt, to Citron who had sealed off a defender underneath. She hit the layup to tie it with 15.8 to go.
It was too much time for Miller to do her thing.
Maryland, whose losses came to No. 1 South Carolina (81-56) and DePaul (76-67), shot 40% from the field and 25% (4-16) from the 3-point line, but was 14-17 from the line behind Miller’s 9-for-11.
“It's something we can learn from — the way they played us,’ Ivey said. “I always talk about every loss being a lesson, just growing from that and taking this experience and utilizing it down the road this season.”
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