The #2 Irish women’s basketball team started their ACC season with wins over Syracuse and Wake Forest this week. They are now 64-2 in the ACC since joining the conference.

Game 1: #2 ND vs. Syracuse

On Thursday, the Irish hosted Syracuse to open the ACC season. Syracuse is just two years removed from a national championship game appearance, so this game couldn’t be discounted. Irish standout Jessica Shepard continued to make her presence felt, scoring the first five points of the game. The Irish got off to a strong start, hitting their first five field goal attempts and jumping out to a 15-6 lead. However, the Orange responded with a run of their own, cutting the ND lead to 15-13 and forcing a Notre Dame timeout at 3:30 remaining in the first quarter. Syracuse then tied the game at 15, before a 5-0 Notre Dame run gave the Irish a 20-15 lead to end the first quarter. The second quarter was nearly even, with the teams appearing evenly matched and trading baskets throughout. Shepard and Westbeld provided solid performances, and Notre Dame held a 42-38 lead at halftime.

Syracuse wasn’t going to just go away in the second half. Like the second quarter, the third quarter was nearly even from the two teams. Notre Dame outscored the Orange by just two points in the third. Despite a technical foul on Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter, the Syracuse team didn’t slow down. They were led by guard Tiana Mangakahia, who the Irish couldn’t seem to find an answer for. Mangakahia was on triple-double watch for much of the second half, finishing the game with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. It was a 3-point shot from Mengakahia that tied the game at 48. Syracuse took their first lead of the game at 50-49, but the Irish took advantage of a string of Syracuse turnovers to go on an 11-0 run late in the third quarter. The quarter ended with the Irish leading 64-58. They kept the momentum going with an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter, and from that point on Syracuse was never able to get within striking distance again. One Notre Dame highlight occurred when Marina Mabrey and Kathryn Westbeld scored back-to-back threes on assists from each other to give the Irish a 17 point lead. Notre Dame beat Syracuse by a final score of 87-72.

This was a great, balanced game for the Irish, with several players giving good performances. The game marked Jessica Shepard’s third straight double-double, as she finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Kathryn Westbeld once again provided a comforting presence for the Irish with her solid play. She also seems to have become more comfortable shooting from beyond the arc this year, connecting on all three of her three-point attempts in this game. Jackie Young also played her best game since she broke her nose and had to start wearing the face mask, looking much more comfortable and matching her career high of 23 points. Lili Thompson continued to provide great minutes coming off the bench. Her performance on defense has been particularly notable, and she collected four more steals in this game.

Game 2: #2 ND at Wake Forest

On New Year’s Eve, the Irish took on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem to close out the calendar year. The Irish cruised to an early lead and never looked back. The first quarter featured 10 point performances from both Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale, with the Irish going 12 of 15 from the floor. They led by 28-12 at the end of the quarter. They continued to grow the lead in the second quarter, despite attempts by Wake Forest to make some runs. By halftime, the lead grew to 50-31.

The Irish seemed to come out a little flat to start the third quarter, struggling a little to knock down shots. This didn’t last long at all, however, before they found their rhythm again. The Demon Deacons were able to cut ND’s lead to 14 a couple of times, but just couldn’t get any closer. However, if Irish fans were hoping for a drama-free win to enjoy, that came to a crashing halt with 1:58 reamining in the third quarter. While driving to the basket, Lili Thompson went down with an apparent knee injury. She had to be helped off the court and was not bearing any weight on the leg. This was an all too familiar sight for fans of this Irish team that had already lost three players to knee injuries in 2017. Thompson was scheduled to undergo an MRI on the knee on Tuesday, and as of the time I am writing this the results have not been made available. Hopefully the news will be good, but it’s hard not to fear the worst with the way this team’s luck has been going.

The Irish led Wake Forest 70-53 after the third quarter. They were able to grow this lead over 20 during a relatively uneventful fourth quarter. Late in the game, both walk-ons were able to get a few minutes of playing time, and Notre Dame took the win at 96-73. Though the second and third quarters featured fairly even scoring between the two teams, Notre Dame’s big first quarter had given them a comfortable lead to work with and they increased the gap in the fourth quarter. Mabrey and Ogunbowale both played very well throughout the game. Ogunbowale led the team with 25 points and Mabrey was close behind with 22. There were times last year when Mabrey seemed to struggle under adversity. She seemed to get upset when calls went against her or she made a mistake on a play, and had trouble moving on to the next play and making good decisions. However, she seems noticeably improved in this area this year. Things don’t faze her the way they used to, and she seems to stepping into a leadership role on the team. I was also impressed with Kristina Nelson’s performance in this game. She had one of the better games she has seen in an Irish uniform, playing 22 minutes and scoring a career-high 13 points to go along with seven rebounds. With the depleted roster they will need contributions from her this season, and it is good to see her stepping up into the role.

Burger Basket Leaderboard (Season 2)

At Notre Dame home games where the Irish score 88 points or more, the fans in attendance receive coupons for a free burger. I’m tracking which player is responsible for feeding the fans the most often over the course of the season.

There are no changes this week. The Irish finished the week’s home game against Syracuse just one point short of the necessary total.

Marina Mabrey – 1

Kristina Nelson – 1

Arike Ogunbowale – 1

Lili Thompson – 1

Coming Up

The Irish will welcome Miami on Thursday and travel to Georgia Tech on Sunday. Miami has an 11-3 record and is one of only two teams to have beaten Notre Dame in ACC play since they joined the conference. Georgia Tech has a 12-3 record, including a close loss to #3 Louisville on Thursday.