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Notre Dame-Miami: 3-Point Play

Junior point guard Lindsay Allen helped the Irish trounce No. 19 Miami, 90-69.
Junior point guard Lindsay Allen helped the Irish trounce No. 19 Miami, 90-69.

Hurricanes were no match for a buzz saw on Sunday afternoon at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion.

No. 3 Notre Dame romped to a 90-69 victory versus the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes in a game not nearly as close as the final score indicated. The Irish (24-1 overall, 12-0 in the ACC) led 44-25 at halftime despite starting point guard Lindsay Allen playing only four minutes while saddled with two early fouls. The margin was extended to as much as 76-40 early in the fourth quarter before Miami (22-4 overall, 9-4 in ACC) scored 29 window-dressing points.

“They turned it over 23 times, and it they hadn’t, they would have had 115 points on us,” said an amazed Miami head coach Katie Meier. “There was beautiful ball movement … they didn’t blink.”

Freshman Arike Ogunbowale led another balanced attack with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line. Classmate Marina Mabrey also came off the bench to provide 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover in 24 minutes. Sophomore Brianna Turner tallied 15 points to go with six rebounds three assists and a season high six blocked shots. Allen was the fourth player to reach double figures with 12 points, while grad student Madison Cable played her typical all-around productive game with nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and no turnovers.

Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said back in October the Irish probably wouldn’t begin to jell until the middle part of February while trying to find a chemistry and rotation, and she did share that the team is beginning to look like one that is beginning to near its peak.

“We’re getting there,” replied McGraw on whether a sixth straight Final Four might be possible. “”We’re really close right now with the way we’re playing. Being able to score 90 points makes me feel good because I know now what we’re capable of.”

Three-Point Play

1. Beyond Stats — Miami head coach Katie Meier was effusive in her praise of Notre Dame, and especially McGraw, who she believes doesn’t receive enough credit for her work. She especially emphasized the mental toughness and leadership exhibited by the program after the “unplanned” losses of former top-5 players Jewell Loyd and Taya Reimer. She singled out sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld as an example of the extraordinary collective basketball IQ the Irish possess. Westbeld finished with six points, eight rebounds and one assist, but Meier pointed out how Westbeld “blistered” the usual tougher Hurricanes defense by always reacting two steps ahead of the defense.

“They have those players that are secondary-assist type players [like in hockey] that make you look stupid on the backside of the defense,” Meier said. “ Westbeld was thinking two passes ahead all the way and just reversed the ball ... It looks easy, but it’s a ton of credit to Notre Dame — the IQ of their team … They deflate you with their ball movement.”

2. A Consensus No. 2 Again? — In a poll on a Connecticut website, the question was asked “Which team has the best chance to beat UConn this year?” Among the 126 respondents, 90 selected Notre Dame, a 70.9 percent rate. A distant second was Baylor with 21 votes (16.5 percent) and Maryland was third with seven (5.5 percent). South Carolina, unbeaten and No. 2 until losing at home to the Huskies this past week received only four votes. It at least shows a healthy respect for the Fighting Irish once the UConn Invitational (sometimes known as the NCAA Tournament too) commences.

3. Moving On — Notre Dame is now 50-1 in league play since joining the ACC, 43-1 in the regular season and 7-0 in postseason action. The lone loss was at Miami last year, right after sophomore forward Reimer temporarily left the team. It was confirmed a few days before this year’ game with Miami that Reimer, who left the program in December, will not return after finishing the spring semester. When asked about Reimer’s departure, McGraw succinctly replied, “I think it’s a good decision for her” before leaving it at that.

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