Nov. 24, 2015

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

By Chris Masters

Inside The Game: #3 Notre Dame 110, Valparaiso 54
Nov. 23, 2015 – Valparaiso, Indiana (Athletics-Recreation Center)

It Was Over When: Sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld sank a turnaround jumper in the lane with 6:15 left in the first quarter, giving Notre Dame a 14-4 lead and forcing Valparaiso to call timeout. The basket was part of a 16-0 Fighting Irish run in the opening seven minutes that put the game on ice.

Game Ball Goes To: Freshman guard Marina Mabrey, who registered the fifth triple-double in school history with 18 points (on 6-of-7 shooting, her lone miss from three-point range), 10 assists and a school-record 12 steals (plus six rebounds). Mabrey had six steals in the second quarter alone, including thefts on three consecutive Valparaiso possessions in a 36-second span midway through the period, picking the pocket of Valparaiso guard Lexi Miller on back-to-back possessions before doing likewise on Crusader guard Hannah Schaub. Mabrey’s triple-double was the first since Feb. 24, 2013, when Skylar Diggins had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win at DePaul — coincidentally, Diggins was in attendance to watch Mabrey’s performance Monday night.

Unsung Hero: Sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld was the engine that fired Notre Dame off the starting line on Monday, making her first five shots and scoring nine of the first 14 Fighting Irish points in the opening 3:45 of the game. Westbeld finished 7-of-8 from the floor en route to 16 points (one off her career high) in 16 minutes.

Unofficial Play of the Game: Coming out of a timeout with 1:34 left in the third quarter, freshman guard Marina Mabrey came up with her school record-setting 11th steal of the game, stepping in front of a Jasmyn Walker pass and driving in for a layup that gave Notre Dame a 77-37 lead.

Stat Of The Game: Marina Mabrey not only is the first Notre Dame freshman ever to post a triple-double, but she’s also just the second Fighting Irish player to do so using steals as one of the three components. The other Notre Dame player with a points-assists-steals triple-double was Mary Gavin, who had 17 points, 14 assists and 10 steals (the previous school record for steals before Mabrey’s effort on Monday) on Jan. 31, 1987, in a 95-60 win over Marquette at Purcell Pavilion.

Additional Notes: Marina Mabrey’s triple-double tied for the second-quickest to start a career in NCAA Division I history, with the Belmar, New Jersey, resident doing so in her fourth career game — only Schaquilla Nunn of Winthrop (third career game on Nov. 20, 2012, vs. Mississippi State at the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) did so faster, while Monica Echeverria of South Florida (Dec. 3, 1999, vs. Cal Poly) also had a triple-double in her fourth career game … Mabrey’s triple-double was the 25th in Atlantic Coast Conference history, and the first since Florida State’s Leticia Romero (19 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists at Boston College on Feb. 22, 2015) … Mabrey’s triple-double was the first in ACC history to feature steals and one of only three ACC triple-doubles that were not the conventional points-rebounds-assists model … Mabrey is the second ACC freshman ever to record a triple-double, joining Duke’s Elizabeth Williams in that elite company (Williams had 18 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocks at Wake Forest on Jan. 6, 2012 — the most recent non-assists triple-double, with the other coming from Clemson’s Peggy Caple against Kansas State on Jan. 5, 1983, with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks) … Mabrey’s 12 steals also are second on the ACC single-game steals list, and the most since Georgia Tech’s Jill Ingram had 14 thefts (tying the NCAA Division I record) against Virginia Tech on Feb. 29, 2008 … Mabrey’s 12 steals tied for the second-most by a player in completing a triple-double, exceeded only by Old Dominion’s Ticha Penicheiro vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the NCAA Championship on March 13, 1998 … Mabrey is the first Fighting Irish player with double-digit assists in a game since Feb. 24, 2013, when Skylar Diggins had 10 assists at DePaul as part of her second career triple-double … Notre Dame’s 110 points rank seventh on the program’s single-game scoring list (most since a 112-52 win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 25, 2014, at Purcell Pavilion), and are the second-most points the Fighting Irish have ever scored on the road, trailing only a 128-42 win at Mercer on Dec. 30, 2011 … Notre Dame’s 43 field goals tied for the sixth-most made field goals in one game in program history and most since Dec. 31, 2012, when the Fighting Irish converted 47 baskets in a 128-55 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) at Purcell Pavilion — the 43 field goals also are the most ever recorded by a Notre Dame squad in a true road game and the second-most ever logged away from home (the Fighting Irish had 44 field goals in a 113-35 win over Liberty on Nov. 24, 1989, at the UCF Rotary Classic in Orlando, Florida) … Notre Dame shot 61.4 percent from the floor, its highest field-goal percentage since March 20, 2015, when the Fighting Irish shot 62.3 percent in a win over Montana in the first round of the NCAA Championship at Purcell Pavilion … the Fighting Irish shot 70.6 percent from the floor in the second half, their highest single-half shooting performance in almost exactly a year (.760 in the first half against Chattanooga on Nov. 21, 2014, at Purcell Pavilion) … Notre Dame attempted 42 free throws, tying the eighth-highest mark in program history … the Fighting Irish shot below 50 percent from the foul line (with a minimum of 10 attempts) for the first time since Jan. 31, 2009, when they made 33.3 percent of their free throws (4-of-12) against Cincinnati at Purcell Pavilion … Notre Dame’s 19 steals were its highest mark since Dec. 31, 2012, when the Fighting Irish had 20 steals in the aforementioned win at home over Saint Francis (Pa.) … Notre Dame had a season-low 10 turnovers … Notre Dame had six double-figure scorers for the first time since Jan. 11, 2005, when it also had six reach the mark in a 104-58 win over Boston College at Purcell Pavilion … four different Fighting Irish players posted career-high scoring totals on Monday at Valparaiso — Mabrey (18), freshman guard Arike Ogunbowale (16), junior forward Kristina Nelson (10 — her first career double-figure game) and junior forward Diamond Thompson (6) … Ogunbowale (8) and Thompson (4-tied) also set or tied career-high rebounding totals … Westbeld tied her career high with four assists, and finished one off her career scoring best (17 at Virginia Tech on Jan. 29, 2015) … sophomore forward Brianna Turner registered her second five-block game of the season and ninth of her career, while also logging her 100th career block just 51 seconds into Monday’s game … Notre Dame improves to 26-0 all-time against Valparaiso (the most wins without a loss against one opponent in program history), including a 12-0 record on the road … the 26 series wins against Valparaiso tie for the third-most against one opponent in school history (32 vs. Marquette, 28 vs. Syracuse and 26 vs. Georgetown) … Monday’s 110 points were the most the Fighting Irish have ever scored against the Crusaders in a series that dates back to the inaugural game in Notre Dame history (a 48-41 Fighting Irish win on Dec. 3, 1977, at Purcell Pavilion) … the 56-point margin of victory was one off the series high (an 84-27 win by Notre Dame on Jan. 21, 1982, at Valparaiso) … the Fighting Irish are 69-5 (.932) all-time against the current Horizon League alignment and have won 44 consecutive games against present members of that conference — Notre Dame also is 30-4 (.882) on the road all-time against the current Horizon League configuration and has won its last 23 road games against the present schools in that conference … the Fighting Irish move to 126-32 (.797) all-time against Indiana schools and pick up their 21st consecutive win against an in-state opponent … the 26 wins against Valparaiso are the most by Notre Dame against any other Indiana school … Notre Dame is 56-11 (.836) when playing on one day’s rest or less since the start of the 2008-09 season … the Fighting Irish are 92-14 (.868) in the month of November since 1995-96, including wins in 29 of their last 30 November games.

Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in the Caribbean as it makes its second appearance in five years at the Junkanoo Jam, hosted by Basketball Travelers at St. Georges High School in Freeport, Bahamas. The Fighting Irish will take on first-time opponent Denver in the tournament opener at 3:15 p.m. (ET) Friday, with radio coverage available in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and free of charge around the world through the official Notre Dame athletics online multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv). Basketball Travelers has announced plans to stream the games live via Periscope through the official Junkanoo Jam Twitter feed (@JunkanooJam), with links provided shortly before tipoff.

— ND —

Chris Masters, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2001 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s basketball and women’s golf programs. A native of San Francisco, California, Masters is a 1996 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, earned his master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).