SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was a tale of two halves for the No. 14 Notre Dame women’s basketball squad (21-7, 13-5) versus the visiting No. 4 Louisville Cardinals (25-3, 16-2). The Fighting Irish were plagued from a 1-for-18 shooting start from the field, while down on the other end Louisville started 7-for-7 from three, all in the first quarter, to jump out to a 31-3 advantage. The Irish outscored the Cardinals 49-32 in the second half, but ultimately fell 86-64. It marked Notre Dame’s first loss at home this season, dropping to 13-1 inside Purcell Pavilion.
Regardless of today’s outcome, Notre Dame has secured the double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament, but will have to await the result of tonight’s Virginia Tech/NC State matchup to determine whether it’s the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Notre Dame’s first game will be on Friday, March 4 inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
How It Happened
Louisville just couldn’t miss in the first half, going 7-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first quarter alone to build a 31-3 lead. At one point in the first half the Cardinals were 19-of-24 from the field before finishing the half 23-of-34.
On the flipside, the Irish couldn’t find their rhythm, starting 1-of-18 from the field, and 6-of-27 by half. Add in the fact that the Cardinals owned a 26-8 rebounding advantage, the Irish found themselves in a 54-15 hole at the midway point.
The Irish got clicking on offense in the third quarter, where they outscored the Cardinals 19-17. Olivia Miles was the spark, shooting 4-for-4 in the quarter tallying eight points. As a whole, Notre Dame was 8-of-14 from the field.
The Irish finally got the three-ball going in the fourth, hitting four treys (Mabrey, Peoples, Brunelle x 2) before the media timeout. Mabrey and Peoples each had seven points in the quarter in which the Irish outscored the Cards 30-15.
All-in-all, Notre Dame shot 62 percent in the second half compared to 22 percent in the first. Four Irish finished in double figures: Dodson (12 pts), Mabrey (12 pts), Miles (13 pts) and Citron (10 pts). Citron led the team in boards with eight.
— ND —