Jan. 19, 2014
2013-14 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 17
#2/2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-0 / 4-0 ACC) vs. #12/10 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (14-3 / 3-2 SEC)
DATE: Jan. 20, 2014
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Knoxville, Tenn. – Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)
SERIES: UT leads 20-3
1ST MTG: UT 71-56 (11/25/83)
LAST MTG: ND 77-67 (1/28/13)
TV: ESPN2/WatchESPN (live) (Beth Mowins, p-b-p / Stephanie White, p-b-p)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) / WatchND (live) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS:
TWITTER: @ndwbbsid
Storylines
- Notre Dame will be playing its fourth ranked opponent of the season, having defeated its first three Top 25 foes in the opening month of the season.
- The Fighting Irish will be making the first of two consecutive appearances on ESPN2’s “Big Monday” package. In the past two seasons, Notre Dame is 6-0 in “Big Monday” games, including three wins on the road.
No. 2 Fighting Irish Head To No. 12/10 Tennessee For ESPN2 Big Monday Matchup
For the final time in the 2013-14 regular season, No. 2 Notre Dame steps out of conference play as the Fighting Irish travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on No. 12/10 Tennessee at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app, with the Notre Dame Radio Network broadcast available free of charge through the official Fighting Irish athletics multimedia platform, WatchND.
Notre Dame (16-0) continued the second-best start to a season in program history on Thursday with a comprehensive 109-66 win at Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish had five players score in double figures (led by 20 points each from senior guard/tri-captain Kayla McBride and sophomore guard Jewell Loyd) and shot 60.6 percent from the field en route to their highest point total ever in a conference road game.
Rankings
- Notre Dame was No. 2 in last week’s Associated Press poll and was No. 2 in last week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.
- Tennessee was No. 12 in last week’s Associated Press poll and was No. 10 in last week’s WBCA/USA Today poll.
Quick Hitters
- At 16-0, the Fighting Irish are off to the second-best start to a season in program history, as well as the program’s best start since 2000-01, when they started 23-0.
- Notre Dame stands at No. 2 in the AP and WBCA/USA Today polls, the third consecutive season that the Fighting Irish have earned the second position in both surveys.
- Notre Dame leads the nation in field goal percentage (.517), three-point percentage (.436) and assists (22.4 apg.), part of seven NCAA statistical categories that the Fighting Irish rank among the top six (not including won-loss percentage, for which they are one of two remaining teams in the nation without a loss).
- Notre Dame has won a school-record 39 consecutive regular season games and 20 consecutive home games, both dating back to Dec. 5, 2012 (a 73-61 loss to No. 3 Baylor).
- The Fighting Irish have won a school-record 28 consecutive regular season road games (and 35 of their last 40 overall) since a 94-81 loss at top-ranked Baylor on Nov. 20, 2011, in the Preseason WNIT championship game.
- Now in its inaugural season in the ACC, Notre Dame has won 24 consecutive regular season conference games, as well as 18 consecutive regular season league road games. The Fighting Irish last lost a regular season conference game on Feb. 12, 2012 (65-63 at home vs. West Virginia), and dropped a regular season league contest on the road on Feb. 28, 2011 (70-69 at No. 12/11 DePaul), both in BIG EAST play.
- Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Notre Dame is 30-5 (.857) against ranked opponents, including a 10-1 record at home.
- With a 106-72 victory over Central Michigan on Dec. 22, the Fighting Irish became the 27th NCAA Division I women’s basketball program to record 800 all-time wins.
- Notre Dame has appeared in the AP poll for 127 consecutive weeks (including the past 57 weeks in the AP Top 10), extending a program record that dates back to the 2007-08 preseason poll, and ranking sixth in the nation among active AP poll appearances. What’s more, every current Fighting Irish player has competed for a ranked Notre Dame squad during her career, with the vast majority of that time (77 of 88 weeks) spent in the AP Top 10.
- Senior forwards Natalie Achonwa and Ariel Braker, and senior guard Kayla McBride have helped Notre Dame to a 117-14 (.893) record in their careers, putting them on pace to challenge last year’s senior class of Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner, who helped Notre Dame to 130 wins in their careers.
- Of the 14 losses suffered by the current Fighting Irish senior class, eight were decided by single digits (and three others by 10-13 points).
- Notre Dame aims to continue its remarkable success at Purcell Pavilion, with the Fighting Irish owning a 393-90 (.814) all-time record in 37 seasons at the facility, including a 70-5 (.933) record since the arena was renovated prior to the 2009-10 season.
- Notre Dame ranks third in this week’s NCAA attendance rankings (8,571 fans per game), and is one of just three schools (along with Kentucky and DePaul) in the country to fill its arena to better than 90 percent capacity, something the Fighting Irish have done each season since 2009-10.
- With 642 victories in her 27 seasons at Notre Dame, head coach Muffet McGraw ranks second on the Fighting Irish athletics all-time coaching wins list (across all sports), trailing only men’s/women’s fencing coach Michael DeCicco (774-80 from 1962-95).
- With 730 career wins, McGraw needs nine victories to move into the top 10 on the NCAA Division I career list. She currently stands 12th behind two former ACC coaches — Virginia’s Debbie Ryan (739) and the late North Carolina State coach Kay Yow (737).
The Notre Dame-Tennessee Series
Notre Dame and Tennessee will meet for the 24th time on Monday night, with the Lady Vols holding a 20-3 edge in the series, including an 8-1 edge in Knoxville. However, the Fighting Irish have won the past three games between the programs, as well as their most recent matchup in Knoxville last season.
Monday’s game begins a new four-year series between the schools, with Notre Dame and Tennessee to play the next two seasons at Purcell Pavilion before returning to Knoxville to complete the contract in 2016-17.
The Last Time Notre Dame And Tennessee Met
Skylar Diggins wouldn’t allow Notre Dame to lose.
On a night when Tennessee was honoring one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, Diggins delivered one of the best performances of her brilliant career. The senior guard scored a career-high 33 points as No. 2 Notre Dame beat the ninth-ranked Lady Vols 77-67 on Jan. 28, 2013, in Knoxville, Tenn.
Diggins’ big performance spoiled Tennessee’s celebration of former Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who had a banner raised in her honor at Thompson-Boling Arena before the game.
Diggins took over the game early in the first half to put the Fighting Irish ahead. She dominated on both ends of the floor again early in the second half as Notre Dame built a 19-point lead. After Tennessee cut the margin to five in the closing minutes, Diggins responded again.
Bashaara Graves had 19 points and 13 rebounds for UT, which had won its previous nine. Taber Spani added 12 points and Meighan Simmons had 11 points. Jewell Loyd had 10 points for Notre Dame, while Kayla McBride had nine points and season-high 10 rebounds.
Other Notre Dame-Tennessee Series Tidbits
- Notre Dame has won the past three series games against Tennessee, all by double digits. Prior to 2011, the Fighting Irish had not only never defeated the Lady Vols, but had come within single digits of them just three times (none since 1992).
- Last year’s 77-67 Notre Dame victory marked the first time the Fighting Irish had defeated Tennessee in nine visits to Knoxville. Notre Dame did have one prior win at Thompson-Boling Arena, that being a 58-44 victory over New Mexico in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Championship.
- Tennessee is one of only six teams to have earned at least 10 victories over Notre Dame (the others are Connecticut – 30, DePaul – 19, Rutgers – 16, Purdue – 14 and Villanova – 10).
- Notre Dame and Tennessee are part of an elite group of 14 schools who have won NCAA national championships since the NCAA began sponsoring the Division I women’s basketball tournament in 1982. The eight-time champion Lady Vols are one of three NCAA champions the Fighting Irish will face this season (along with 2006 champion Maryland and 1994 winner North Carolina). Notre Dame has gone 43-89 (.326) all-time against other former or current national champions. Among that group, the Fighting Irish have a series record of .500 or better against USC (8-2), North Carolina (2-1) and Texas (1-1).
- Notre Dame sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey and Tennessee sophomore forward/center Bashaara Graves were teammates on the 2012 USA Basketball Under-18 National Team that went 5-0 and won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Puerto Rico. Mabrey started four of five games, averaging 12.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game with a .500 three-point percentage, while Graves made an impact off the bench, averaging 7.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game with a .520 field goal percentage. One other tie-in with that team — the U18 squad’s athletic trainer in 2012 was current Notre Dame athletic trainer Anne Marquez.
- Mabrey and Graves also played alongside one another for the East Team at the 2012 McDonald’s High School All-America Game, while another Fighting Irish rookie guard, Jewell Loyd, suited up for the West Team in that same game. The East Team won the all-star contest, 79-78, on Graves’ free throw with less than one second remaining.
- Four players from last spring’s McDonald’s High School All-America Game will be in uniform, as Notre Dame’s Lindsay Allen and Taya Reimer (who played for the East Team) will once again square off with Tennessee’s Jordan Reynolds and Mercedes Russell (who played for the victorious West squad that afternoon in Chicago).
- Some of the top high school players to come out of the Chicagoland area in recent seasons will be on hand Monday night. Notre Dame has three natives of the Windy City and surrounding area — junior guard Whitney Holloway (Plainfield/Montini Catholic HS), sophomore guard Jewell Loyd (Lincolnwood/Niles West HS) and freshman center Diamond Thompson (Wheaton/Wheaton Warrenville South) — while Tennessee has a pair of graduates from Bolingbook (Ill.) High School in junior guard Ariel Massengale and sophomore center Nia Moore.
Notre Dame vs. The Southeastern Conference
Notre Dame is 16-33 (.327) all-time against the current Southeastern Conference membership, although it should be noted that 20 of those losses have come to one opponent (Tennessee). The Fighting Irish also are 12-8 in their last 20 meetings with SEC opponents, including wins in nine of their last 10 games against that conference (not including the 2011 NCAA national championship game matchup with Texas A&M, which came before the Aggies joined the SEC in the summer of 2012).
The Fighting Irish are 11-22 (.333) all-time against SEC teams away from home (at either road or neutral sites). Notre Dame most recently played an SEC school on its home court just last season, when it defeated Tennessee, 77-67, in Knoxville.
The Rare Air Up There
Starting with its 2011 NCAA Elite Eight win over Tennessee in Dayton, Ohio (late in the freshman year for the current Notre Dame seniors), the Fighting Irish have gone a combined 10-2 (.833) against Connecticut and Tennessee, with no other senior class at any school having compiled that many wins against those two traditional powers since 1988-89 (when Connecticut made its first NCAA postseason appearance).
Getting The Jump
At 16-0, Notre Dame is off to the second-best start in the program’s 37-year history. The only time the Fighting Irish opened with a better record than this season was in 2000-01, when they reeled off a school-record 23 consecutive wins en route to a 34-2 final record and the program’s first national championship.
Streak Stats
Notre Dame’s current 16-game winning streak is the fifth-longest success string in program history, and it’s the fourth time in the past five seasons the Fighting Irish have posted a winning streak of 16 games or longer.
Notre Dame also has strung together 14 double-digit winning streaks in the program’s 37-year history, with 12 of those coming during the tenure of Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-88 to present).
Dating back to the start of last season, the Fighting Irish are 51-2 (.962) and have won 39 consecutive regular season games. In that span, their lone losses have come against a pair of third-ranked teams — Baylor (73-61 on Dec. 5, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion) and Connecticut (83-65 on April 7, 2013, in the NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinals at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, La.).
The Comforts Of Home
Notre Dame has won 20 consecutive home games since a 73-61 loss to third-ranked Baylor on Dec. 5, 2012, at Purcell Pavilion. Entering the weekend, the Fighting Irish were tied with Dayton for the nation’s third-longest active home winning streak, with this run also tied for the third-longest in school history (longest since another 20-game stretch from Jan. 12, 2011-Feb. 5, 2012, a run that ended a week later with a 65-63 loss to West Virginia).
What’s more, Notre Dame has won its last 12 conference home games since that loss to WVU in 2012, when both the Fighting Irish and Mountaineers were members of the BIG EAST Conference.
Road Warriors
Notre Dame has won a school-record 28 consecutive regular season road games (and 35 of its last 40 overall), including the Jan. 16 victory at Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish last tasted defeat on the road in the regular season on Nov. 20, 2011, a 94-81 setback at No. 1 Baylor in the Preseason WNIT championship game.
The highlight of this current run came on Jan. 5, 2013, when Notre Dame edged No. 1 Connecticut, 73-72, in Storrs, Conn., earning its fourth all-time win over a top-ranked opponent and first-ever victory on the road.
The Fighting Irish also have won a school-record 18 consecutive conference regular season road games, with their last loss coming as part of the BIG EAST Conference on Feb. 28, 2011 (a last-second 70-69 loss at No. 12/11 DePaul).
A Helping Hand
The Fighting Irish entered the weekend leading the nation in assists at 22.4 per game. Notre Dame has dished out at least 21 helpers in 12 games thus far (including a season-high 31 dimes against UCLA on Dec. 7), with the Fighting Irish piling up assists on 65.2 percent of their made field goals this year (358 of 549).
Notre Dame also ranks fourth in the nation (and tops in the ACC) in assist/turnover ratio (1.55).
That’s Some Sharp Shooting
Notre Dame currently is setting the pace nationally with a .517 field goal percentage, highlighted by nine games this season in which the Fighting Irish have shot better than 50 percent, including five games where they topped 60 percent from the field.
In addition, Notre Dame had a remarkable three-game stretch from Dec. 7-22 when it connected at better than a 55-percent clip in each contest. It was the first time the Fighting Irish had three consecutive 55-percent outings since Nov. 20-29, 1997, when they did so in victories over North Carolina State (.565), Bowling Green (.558) and Ohio University (.567).
Notre Dame’s sharpshooting brigade has been led by senior forward/tri-captain Natalie Achonwa, who ranks fifth in the ACC with a .576 field goal percentage, including a .600 mark in conference play (tied for fourth in the ACC).
Freshman forward Kristina Nelson (.647) and junior forward Markisha Wright (.600) actually have higher field goal percentages than Achonwa, and two others aren’t far behind (freshman guard Lindsay Allen at .568 and junior guard Madison Cable at .556), but none has made the minimum number of shots (three per game) to qualify for ACC ranking.
Dialing Long Distance
Although not usually a primary part of the Notre Dame arsenal, the Fighting Irish have found the three-point shot much to their liking this season. Notre Dame leads the nation with a .436 three-point percentage, with four different players connecting at 40 percent or better from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Kayla McBride leads the way for the Fighting Irish with a .471 three-point percentage that ranks third in the ACC, while sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey also stands among the top five in the conference, ranking fourth at a .443 three-point rate.
In addition, Mabrey is 11th in the ACC with 1.9 three-pointers per game, a mark she bolstered on Jan. 9 against Boston College with a career-high five triples (on six attempts). It was one of four times this season Mabrey has canned at least four treys in a game, and the second time a Notre Dame player has made five three-pointers in a contest (junior guard Madison Cable posted an identical 5-for-6 effort against UCLA on Dec. 7).
In fact, Cable (.464) would be fourth in the ACC in three-point percentage (right between McBride and Mabrey), but she is three made triples shy of the minimum 1.0 3FG/game to qualify for ranking. Freshman guard Lindsay Allen (.500) also doesn’t meet the minimum standard despite her efficiency from distance.
As a team, the Fighting Irish connected on 10-of-17 three-pointers in their victory over UCLA, their highest production outside the arc in nearly four years, dating back to a similar 10-triple performance on Jan. 30, 2010, at Syracuse.
The .750 three-point mark (9-of-12) on Jan. 16 at Pittsburgh was Notre Dame’s best performance from long range (with a minimum of five attempts) in more than five years, stretching back to Nov. 23, 2008, against Boston College at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., when the Fighting Irish made 7-of-8 three-pointers (.875) in a 102-54 win.
A Class By Themselves
For the third consecutive season, a Notre Dame senior class is threatening to re-set the bar in terms of career wins by one group. The current class of tri-captains Natalie Achonwa, Ariel Braker and Kayla McBride is tied for second all-time with 117 wins, behind only the seniors from 2012-13.
Last year, led by its two-player senior class of Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner, Notre Dame posted the best four-year record (130-20, .867) in school history, topping the win total (117) compiled by the previous year’s seniors (Brittany Mallory, Fraderica Miller, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters).
Prior to the 2011-12 season, the highest four-year win total by a senior class was 109, set by the Class of 2001 that included (among others) consensus national player of the year and 13-year WNBA veteran Ruth Riley and current Fighting Irish assistant coach Niele Ivey.
Spreading The Wealth
Notre Dame has had at least four players score in double figures in 12 games this year, going 12-0 in those contests. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, the Fighting Irish are 87-5 (.946) when they have four or more players reach double digits in the scoring column, including wins in 57 of their last 58 such outings (the lone loss coming in last year’s NCAA Women’s Final Four national semifinal against Connecticut).
Notre Dame Trio Named To Wooden Award Midseason List
Senior forward/tri-captain Natalie Achonwa, sophomore guard Jewell Loyd and senior guard/tri-captain Kayla McBride are among 21 student-athletes who were named to the 2013-14 John R. Wooden Award Women’s Midseason List, it was announced Jan. 17 by the award’s presenter, the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
The Fighting Irish were one of two programs in the nation (along with Connecticut) to feature three candidates on the Wooden Award rundown. Only one other school (Duke) had multiple players chosen for the list, although one of the Blue Devils’ two selections (Chelsea Gray) will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.
Led by Notre Dame and Duke, the Atlantic Coast Conference had more players (seven) selected to the Wooden Award Midseason List than any other conference. The American Athletic Conference was second with five, followed by the Big Ten (three), the Pac-12 (two) and the Big 12 (two).
The Wooden Award Midseason List is made up of players who are considered the front-runners for one of college basketball’s elite national player of the year awards. The list is determined by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board and is based upon individual performance and team records.
This marks the second consecutive year that McBride has made the Wooden Award Midseason List, while both Achonwa and Loyd are appearing on the rundown for the first time in their respective careers. Achonwa and McBride were on the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List, while Loyd was added to this week’s Wooden Award Midseason List based upon her performance through the first half of the 2013-14 season.
Achonwa, who also is a top contributor on the Canadian Senior National Team that has qualified for this summer’s FIBA World Championships in Turkey, ranks fifth in the ACC in field goal percentage (.576), as well as eighth in both rebounding (8.6 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg.), 11th in free throw percentage (.795) and 21st in scoring (13.5 ppg.). In addition, she has a team-high five double-doubles this season, including a career-high 26 points and a season-best 16 rebounds in her team’s Jan. 12 win at Virginia.
Loyd ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring at a team-best 17.3 points per game, while also standing seventh in free throw percentage (.800). She has scored in double figures in every game this season, extending her active string to 22 consecutive games in double figures, tying for the fourth-longest run in school history.
McBride, who recently was named to the 2014-16 USA Basketball National Team player pool, ranks 13th in the ACC in scoring (16.3 ppg.), as well as third in three-point percentage (.471), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.56) and 15th in assists (3.5 apg.). She and Loyd also share the team lead with five 20-point games this season.
This year’s Notre Dame trio will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of three-time Wooden Award finalist Skylar Diggins (’13), who went on to earn a spot on the Wooden Award All-America Team in both 2012 and 2013.
Players that are not part of the 21-member Wooden Award Midseason List still are eligible for the award’s National Ballot, which consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities they are making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative grade-point average (GPA).
The 15 Wooden Award finalists named to the National Ballot will be announced in mid-March. The Wooden Award All-America Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be unveiled during the week of the NCAA Women’s Final Four (April 6-8 in Nashville, Tenn.), and the quintet then will be honored at the 38th annual Wooden Award Gala the weekend of April 11-13 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Crown Jewell
Sophomore guard Jewell Loyd has continued her development as one of the top young talents in the country this season, building on last year’s selection as the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year.
The Lincolnwood, Ill., product currently ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring (17.3 ppg.), while sporting career-high marks in scoring, rebounding (6.3 rpg.), assists (2.6 apg.), steals (1.6 spg.) and field goal percentage (.509). She also has five 20-point games thus far (including a career-high 30 points against Central Michigan on Dec. 22) after scoring 20 points twice during her rookie campaign.
Loyd stormed out of the gates this season, piling up 63 points in Notre Dame’s first three games, wins over UNC Wilmington (19 points), No. 19/18 Michigan State (22 points) and Valparaiso (22 points).
Loyd’s point production was the highest for a Fighting Irish player in the opening three contests of a season since 1998-99, when Danielle Green had 66 combined points in wins against No. 6 UCLA at home (23 points), at Butler (23) and No. 6/4 Duke at home (20).
Notre Dame’s 1,000-Point Scorers
Senior tri-captains Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa will spend their final season at Notre Dame steadily climbing the program’s all-time scoring list, after both entered the Fighting Irish 1,000-Point Club last year.
McBride currently ranks 12th in program history with 1,468 career points, having passed Sandy Botham (1,460 from 1984-88) on Jan. 16 with her game-high 20 points at Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, Achonwa stands 22nd in Notre Dame history with 1,230 points, rising another rung on the ladder in her last outing at Pittsburgh with 14 points to pass Letitia Bowen (1,219 from 1991-95). Achonwa also is poised to overtake Mary Beth Schueth (1,233 from 1981-85) in the coming days.
Coming Up Aces
Senior forward/tri-captain Natalie Achonwa (nicknamed “Ace”) also is making her way up Notre Dame’s career charts in both rebounds and double-doubles. She currently ranks eighth on the rebounding list (827) and is tied for seventh on the double-doubles chart (25), moving up one spot on the rebounding rundown with her seven boards at Pittsburgh on Jan. 16.
Achonwa continues to remain among the top 10 in school history with a .546 career field goal percentage, presently ranking ninth in program annals.
Youthful Leader
Freshman Lindsay Allen got the call from head coach Muffet McGraw to start at point guard in Notre Dame’s season opener against UNC Wilmington on Nov. 9 at Purcell Pavilion. Allen finished with 11 points in her debut game, including the team’s first five points of the season.
It was the first time a Fighting Irish rookie point guard started the season opener since Nov. 26, 1994, when Mollie Peirick cracked the lineup and played 38 minutes (two points, five rebounds, three assists) in a 65-60 overtime loss at No. 25 Seton Hall.
Allen has not disappointed in her debut campaign, averaging 7.6 points and 3.6 assists per game (the latter ranking 12th in the ACC). She also is sixth in the ACC with a 2.15 assist/turnover ratio, and is just outside the top 15 in the conference with 1.44 steals per game.
Leading a winning lineup is not an unfamiliar feeling for Allen, who is a combined 43-1 in her last 44 games as a starting point guard. Last year as a senior at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., she guided her squad to a 27-1 record and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) title — the highest level of play in the District of Columbia, which does not have a state tournament.
The Second Platoon
Another reason for Notre Dame’s success this season has been the performance of its reserves, who are averaging nearly 30 points per game and have outscored the opponent’s bench by close to a 2-to-1 margin (29.8 ppg. to 15.3 ppg.).
The Fighting Irish second unit has outscored its opposite number in 12 games this season, including a season-high 55 points on Jan. 9 against Boston College, outscoring the entire BC roster by two points (not to mention the Notre Dame starters by 15).
Sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey (9.5 ppg.) and freshman forward Taya Reimer (9.1 ppg.) head up the strong Fighting Irish bench contingent, which has seen players score in double figures 14 different times, including eight by Mabrey.
Call Her Mabrey
While the regular season is just half over, certainly an early favorite as one of the nation’s most improved players would have to be Notre Dame sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey. The Belmar, N.J., resident has emerged as a key reserve for the Fighting Irish, averaging 9.5 points and 3.1 assists per game, while ranking third in the ACC (and 26th in the nation) with a 2.50 assist/turnover ratio, after logging 3.0 ppg. and 1.3 apg. with a 1.06 A/TO mark last year.
Mabrey also has proven to be a dynamic three-point threat for Notre Dame, ranking fourth in the ACC with a .443 three-point percentage and 11th in the conference with 1.9 three-pointers made per game.
What’s more, Mabrey already has scored in double figures eight times this year (including a career-high 19 points in the season opener against UNC Wilmington) after doing so three times in 30 games last season.
What We’re Put On This Earth To Do
According to veteran women’s basketball broadcaster Debbie Antonelli, we were put on this Earth to score, and Notre Dame has certainly done that this season, averaging 88.8 points per game (well above the program record of 81.2 set last year).
Of course, it should come as absolutely no surprise that the Fighting Irish have the nation’s fifth-highest scoring offense heading into this weekend’s action — they’ve got a high-octane coaching staff to show them the ropes.
According to research initially compiled by the Purdue Sports Information Office, the Notre Dame coaches (head coach Muffet McGraw, associate head coach Carol Owens, associate coach Beth (Morgan) Cunningham and assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Niele Ivey) have the highest combined point total from their playing careers of any staff in the country, scoring an aggregate 6,415 points while in uniform. The next closest coaching quartet that could challenge the Fighting Irish staff would be Delaware’s foursome (led by head coach Tina Martin) that chalked up 6,119 points.
And, you could make a case that McGraw herself would have added more to that total had she played in a different era other than her days at Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) from 1973-77. While on Hawk Hill, McGraw was a true “pass-first” point guard who not only played before the introduction of the three-point line, but also at a time when colleges often played only 20-25 games per season instead of the current 30-40 game slates.
In addition, Notre Dame’s coaching staff point total doesn’t even include the output of its associate director of operations & technology Angie Potthoff, who blistered the nets for 1,725 points as a three-time All-America forward at Penn State from 1993-97.
The Benefits Of Leadership
Notre Dame is in the unique position of essentially having three head coaches on its bench, with current Fighting Irish skipper Muffet McGraw enjoying the expertise of two former head coaches on her staff — associate head coach Carol Owens (who guided her alma mater Northern Illinois from 2005-10) and associate coach Beth Cunningham (who piloted VCU from 2003-12).
Collectively, the Notre Dame staff has 46 seasons of head coaching experience, which ranks third among Division I schools behind only Villanova (51) and Rutgers (47).
Next Game: Miami
Notre Dame returns to the familiar confines of Purcell Pavilion at 8:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday when it gets back into ACC play with a conference clash against Miami. The game will be televised regionally on the ACC/Regional Sports Networks (RSN) — fans are asked to check their local listings or visit the ACC web site for more information on which affiliates will carry the broadcast.
— Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director