It wasn’t always pretty, but the Irish added wins over DePaul and Marquette to their resume this week. Both games were a little too close for comfort, but now everyone gets a break for the holidays before the ACC schedule begins at the end of the month.

This Week’s Games

The #2 Irish welcomed the DePaul Blue Demons to Purcell Pavilion on Sunday. As usual, DePaul played well and made the Irish work hard to earn the victory. The Blue Demons came out firing, looking eager to beat the Irish with three-pointers. DePaul attempted a wild 21 threes in the first half alone. They ended up attempting 36 threes in the game, succeeding on 13. In contrast, the Irish only attempted ten threes the entire game, connecting on four.

Notre Dame couldn’t manage to pull away from DePaul for most of the game. Arike Ogunbowale struggled with her shot again in the first half, and the whole team seemed thrown off by the Blue Demons’ full court press. The offense just couldn’t get clicking, with one major exception. Jessica Shepard made it clear from the beginning that she was ready to have a big day. The teams were tied at 19 after the first quarter, with 12 of the Irish’s 19 points coming from Shepard. The other seven were scored by Marina Mabrey, while nobody else on the team seemed able to connect. Finally, with 7:53 remaining in the second quarter Ogunbowale made a layup to end her scoreless streak. Kathryn Westbeld followed this up with back-to-back made baskets. The game continued to be a back and forth contest, with Notre Dame holding the 41-40 edge at halftime.

The third quarter opened with a little bit of sloppy play by both teams. Players looked tired and committed turnovers. DePaul changed their tactic in the second half, shooting fewer threes (though still a high number) and opting to try to get the ball into the paint more often. Meanwhile, Ogunbowale hit her stride in this half, and Shepard continued to shine. The game remained close through the third quarter, with ND leading by two heading into the fourth. With 7:35 remaining in the game, Shepard made two free throws to stretch the lead to 66-58 and pass her former career high of 35 points. She would end the game with 39, a Purcell Pavilion women’s basketball record. While the lead grew in the fourth quarter to as many as 14 points, DePaul was able to stay in the game until very near the end. However, the Irish proved to be too much for them to handle, with a final score of 91-82.

Muffet McGraw continued to use a starting lineup that doesn’t include a true point guard, bringing Lili Thompson in off the bench to supplement the starting five of Shepard, Westbeld, Ogunbowale, Mabrey, and Young. Jackie Young broke her nose in practice during the week, so played wearing a mask. She seemed to have some trouble getting used to it and only attempted six shots this game. Lili Thompson played strong defense during the 32 minutes she was in the game, securing four steals. Ogunbowale came roaring back from her slow start to score 21 points.

On Wednesday, the Irish hosted the Marquette Golden Eagles. Let’s all just hope this game was a fluke. This was not a pretty performance from beginning to end, but they did come away with the win. If that’s the off-game, I guess I’ll take it. Marquette jumped out to an early 11-4 lead over the Irish. Notre Dame got some open looks and had some layup opportunities but just could not get shots to fall. The Irish trailed 23-15 after the first quarter. They did manage to go on an 8-0 run to tie the game up in the second quarter, and the rest of the quarter stayed close. The Irish still struggled to score, particularly from outside the arc. Despite their success from three last season, they have not done well in that area so far this year. In this edition, they made only two of 16 shots from deep in the first half. Notre Dame clung to a 38-37 lead at halftime.

The Irish looked to be getting out to a quick start in the third quarter, but it didn’t last long. Marquette tied the game back up at 44. Once again, the team just couldn’t pull away. There were a few occasions where they stretched the lead and seemed poised to put the game out of reach, but they always let Marquette back in it. For example, they did manage to grow the lead to 63-56 by the end of the quarter, but it didn’t take long for Marquette to close it to 67-66. The offense lacked crispness and the team continued to miss layups and commit turnovers. Marquette retook the lead with a three-pointer to make it 69-67, then stretched that lead to 71-67 with a pair of free throws. Meanwhile, the Irish were struggling with free throws, finishing the game shooting just 60.7% from the line.

Sometimes, Muffet is all of us.

As the game neared its end, with the Irish trailing by three, Kathryn Westbeld was fouled and went to the line. She made the first free throw and missed the second, but collected her own rebound and scored to tie the game at 73. Marquette couldn’t make the shot on the ensuing possession, Shepard corraled the rebound, and Jackie Young missed at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

The Irish started overtime with a 6-0 run, finally getting the offense clicking a bit. Westbeld continued her solid performance and Ogunbowale once again found her shot. Marquette was able to cut the lead to 87-85 with less than 12 seconds remaining and was forced to start fouling the Irish. Fortunately, the poor free throw shooting did not carry over to overtime. Ogunbowale and Westbeld each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds, making the final score 91-85. The passing was particularly inconsistent in this game, with some beautiful passes and some real head scratchers. The team committed 17 turnovers, and I already mentioned their shooting woes. It’s nice when you can have such a rough performance all around and still come out with the win. Somehow, three players actually finished with double-doubles: Shepard, Westbeld, and Young. Mabrey added 19 points, and Thompson added 10.

Jessica Shepard was named the ACC Player of the Week following her outstanding 39 point/11 rebound effort against DePaul. It seems clear at this point that Shepard’s transfer waiver has made all the difference for this team. It’s hard to imagine where they would be now without her. However, they still have no wiggle room for injuries, illness, or any other surprises. DePaul’s bench outscored Notre Dame’s 32-4. This team is incredibly reliant on its starting five plus Thompson, and you have to wonder (especially after seeing the Marquette game) how they will hold up during the long season.

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’ll track which player is responsible for feeding the fans the most often over the course of the season.

Marina Mabrey joins the list this week, with her free throw against DePaul putting the team over the 88-point mark. Arike Ogunbowale also hit the mark with free throws against Marquette. We’re up to four players on the board (not bad after just four home games).

Marina Mabrey – 1

Kristina Nelson – 1

Arike Ogunbowale – 1

Lili Thompson – 1

Coming Up

No weekly recap next week because there are no games over the coming week. In January, we’ll start with a recap of the first two games of this year’s ACC slate. The Irish will host Syracuse on December 28th, and will visit Wake Forest on New Year’s Eve. In the meantime, wishing everyone a joyful holiday season!