Nov. 30, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Inside The Game: #2/1 Notre Dame 89, Kansas 47
November 30, 2014 – Uncasville, Connecticut (Mohegan Sun Arena)
It Was Over When: Notre Dame went on a 15-0 run to close the first half, holding Kansas scoreless over the final 6:21 of the period. The two Fighting Irish preseason all-Atlantic Coast Conference picks — junior All-America guard Jewell Loyd and sophomore guard Lindsay Allen — each scored five points during the decisive run.
Game Ball Goes To: Junior guard/tri-captain Michaela Mabrey, who canned five of seven three-point attempts and scored 17 points while also sharing team-high honors with four assists. It was the ninth time in Mabrey’s career (and second consecutive game) she made at least four three-pointers in a game, with Sunday’s five treys tying a team season high (freshman guard Mychal Johnson made five three-pointers in an 88-53 win over Chattanooga on Nov. 21 at Purcell Pavilion).
Unsung Hero: Freshman forward Kathryn Westbeld provided 19 strong minutes off the bench, collecting six points, a game-high seven rebounds and a career-best four assists.
Unofficial Play of the Game: Only one of Westbeld’s seven rebounds came on the offensive end, but it was a big one. With 5:22 left in the first half, Allen drove hard to the basket but her shot rattled out. Westbeld went up against two Kansas defenders, tipped the ball twice before grabbing it on the third try. She then alertly shoveled a pass to Mabrey at the top of the key and Mabrey promptly buried a three-pointer to boost Notre Dame’s lead into double digits (32-21) where it would remain the rest of the afternoon.
Stat Of The Game: Notre Dame saw all 12 players in uniform score for the fourth consecutive game, assuring that feat when sophomore center Diamond Thompson converted a layup off a pass from junior guard Hannah Huffman with 30 seconds to play.
Additional Notes: Notre Dame is off to a 7-0 start for the second consecutive season and fourth time in the past seven years (2008-09 to present) … the Fighting Irish have won 38 of their last 42 regular-season tournament games (multi-game events only), including their last nine in a row … Notre Dame finished the month of November undefeated for the third consecutive season and have won 25 of their last 26 November games, as well as improving to 88-14 (.863) in the month since 1995-96 … the Fighting Irish are 32-12 (.727) all-time against current Big 12 Conference members including an 18-10 (.643) record away from home (road/neutral sites combined), and have won their last five games against Big 12 opponents (third in 11 games dating back to last season) … Notre Dame extends its regular-season winning streak to 59 consecutive games and its winning streak against unranked opponents (in the Associated Press poll) to 57 in a row … the Fighting Irish shot better than 55 percent from the field in consecutive games for the first time since March 2, 2014, at No. 13/17 North Carolina State (.561) and March 7, 2014, against Florida State (.604) in the ACC Championship quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina … Notre Dame shot better than 90 percent from the free-throw line (minimum of 10 attempts) for the first time since March 31, 2014, when it went 30 of 33 (.909) against No. 5/6 Baylor in the NCAA Notre Dame Regional final at Purcell Pavilion … Loyd posted her fifth 20-point game in seven outings this season and scored in double figures for the 50th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in school history … the Fighting Irish tied their season high with eight three-pointers, while their .615 three-point percentage was a season best and highest since Jan. 16, 2014, when they made nine of 12 three-pointers (.750) in a 109-66 win at Pittsburgh … in addition to Westbeld’s career-high four assists, Huffman also snared a career-high four steals (Huffman has 15 thefts this year after 21 steals in her first two seasons combined).
Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame will make it second consecutive appearance in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night when the Fighting Irish play host to No. 10/8 Maryland at 7 p.m. (ET) at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The first off-site home game in the 38-year history of the Notre Dame women’s basketball program, Wednesday’s contest with the Terrapins will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with radio coverage in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and worldwide free of charge on the official Fighting Irish athletics multimedia platform, WatchND.
— Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director