Notre Dame Begins Drive For Third Straight ACC Tourney Crown
No. 2-ranked Notre Dame can appreciate what the No. 1-ranked Connecticut women’s basketball dynasty experiences.
Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference three years ago, head coach Muffet McGraw’s Fighting Irish have finished 16-0, 15-1 and 16-0 in the ACC during the regular season, and 6-0 in the ACC Tournament. That, plus an NCAA Tournament Final Four victory versus then-league member Maryland, gives it a 54-1 ledger against the ACC foes in that span, and at times an aura of invincibility.
This year’s conference tourney in Greensboro, N.C., started on Wednesday, but with the double bye Notre Dame doesn’t have to play until Friday at 2 p.m. against 20-11 Duke, a 57-53 victor versus Virginia on Thursday.
The new kid on the block has taken over the entire neighborhood, which likely has not sat well with the old guard. As Wilt Chamberlain used to say during his days of dominance on the basketball court, “Nobody roots for Goliath.”
“The welcoming committee gets smaller and smaller every year we go down there,” McGraw said of the ACC Tournament earlier this week. “We will have a lot of people cheering against us. I think they [would] like to see some other teams win. It will be good for us to really get motivated to be ready.”
Duke used to have the same dominance in the league by winning four consecutive ACC crowns from 2010-13, but the Blue Devils have lost 10 straight to the Irish (dating back to 1998), most notably 68-61 Feb. 1 in Durham, N.C. Duke led 54-49 in the fourth quarter before Notre Dame, led by fifth-year senior Madison Cable (13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game), calmly rallied.
Duke has a strong front line led by Azura Stevens and Oderah Chidom, but star guard and three-point threat Rebecca Greenwell, who scored 16 against the Irish, might be sidelined for the tourney because of back problems.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame hopes to return 6-2 forward Kathryn Westbeld (8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game) to complement ACC Defensive Player of the Year Brianna Turner (14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, plus 72 blocked shots) up front. Westbeld missed the last two games with an ankle injury and was listed as “probable” by McGraw to play.
“We’re a little thin in the post,” McGraw said. “Without Kat lately, it’s seemed even worse. I like the four-guard look, but we play a couple of teams [including Duke] that have a lot of big guys, so it’s difficult to go four guards against some of them.”
Should the Irish defeat Duke, they likely will play No. 14 Florida State on Saturday and, with another win, No. 7 Louisville on Sunday. Notre Dame won 73-66 at FSU Feb. 22, and rallied from a 55-49 fourth-quarter deficit at Louisville Feb. 7 for a 66-61 conquest. It was the Cardinals’ lone defeat in ACC play. Vanquishing all three again would be a formidable task, because McGraw admits this is more of grinding Irish program than a dominant one that has gone to five straight Final Fours.
“This is not our best team in the last five years, so for us to be where we are right now, we’ve overachieved to get here,” McGraw said of her 28-1 Irish, with the sole loss to UConn. “… We’ve exceeded my expectations — which is hard to do. We have found different ways to win games.”
If there is an advantage the Irish possess, it’s a culture of winning on huge stages. Cable, Turner and junior point guard Lindsay Allen were named first-team All-ACC not only for their production, but also their poise and leadership.
“This is a really loose team on the road,” McGraw said. “They’re not bothered by the crowds, nothing fazes them.”
Senior guard/captain Michaela Mabrey (7.0 points per game) echoed her coach’s thoughts.
“We have been used to having that target on our backs,” Mabrey said. “We focus on having each other’s backs.”
Mabrey has especially concentrated on getting the two productive freshman guards — Arike Ogunbowale (12.2 points per game) and younger sister Marina Mabrey (10.9 points per game) — mentally primed for intense tourney action.
“Everyone has to realize it is possible for us to lose,” she said. “They might not thing think that can happen but it can, and setting the tone is important.”