Feb. 7, 2016

Recap | Box Score | USATSI Photo Gallery

By Chris Masters

Inside The Game: #3 Notre Dame 66, #13 Louisville 61
Feb. 7, 2016 – Louisville, Ky. (KFC Yum! Center)

It Was Over When: Freshman guard Arike Ogunbowale grabbed the rebound from an off-target three-point attempt by Louisville’s Cortnee Walton with less than a second remaining, securing Notre Dame’s 66-61 victory. The Fighting Irish held the Cardinals to a single basket and just one free throw during the final six minutes, highlighting a game-ending 11-4 run in that span.

Game Ball Goes To: Graduate student guard Madison Cable, who collected 11 of her 13 points and eight of her 12 rebounds in the second half, including the go-ahead free-throws with 3:07 to play and a clutch three-pointer with two minutes left that made it a two-possession game and punctuated Notre Dame’s fourth-quarter comeback.

Unsung Hero: Ogunbowale kept Notre Dame within striking distance in the first half when the Fighting Irish had four players, including three starters, sidelined for large stretches with foul trouble. Ogunbowale scored 11 of her team-high 15 points in the first half, making all four of her shots in 10 minutes of court time.

Unofficial Play of the Game: Cable’s three-pointer with two minutes to play was the signature moment of Sunday’s win, as the Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, native came off a screen on the right wing and buried her only triple of the afternoon to give Notre Dame a 62-58 lead and turn the momentum solidly in favor of the Fighting Irish.

Stat Of The Game: In its last two road games (at Duke and Louisville), Notre Dame has trailed entering the fourth quarter. However, in the final 10 minutes of those two games, the Fighting Irish have outscored their opponents by a combined 44-26 margin, shooting .636 from the field (14-of-22) in the fourth quarter while holding the opposition to a .275 field-goal percentage (11-of-40) in that time, including 2-of-15 (.133) from three-point range.

Additional Notes: Notre Dame is 6-1 against ranked opponents this season and posts its first road win over a Top 25 team since Jan. 15, 2015, when the Fighting Irish defeated No. 12/10 North Carolina, 89-79, at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame trailed by nine points twice, its largest deficit against an ACC opponent this season, and was behind at halftime for only the second time all season (45-43 at Connecticut on Dec. 5) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish registered their largest comeback win since the aforementioned victory at North Carolina, when they trailed by 11 points before rallying for the win ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is off to a 23-1 start for the fourth time in five seasons and sixth time in program history (also 2000-01, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14) ââ’¬¦ since joining the ACC in 2013-14, the Fighting Irish are 49-1 against conference opponents (42-1 regular season, 7-0 postseason) and have won their last 24 ACC regular season games ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame has won 55 of its last 57 regular season road games ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won their last 26 games decided by single digits and/or in overtime, including all seven this season ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 14-1 this season when it has four or more players score in double figures, while improving to 132-6 (.957) in such games dating back to the start of the 2009-10 season and wins in 102 of its last 104 opportunities ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish senior class of Cable, Hannah Huffman and Michaela Mabrey moves to 131-7 (.949) in its career, the third-most wins by any group of seniors in program history, breaking a tie with the Class of 2013 (130 wins by Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 12-4 all-time against Louisville and has won the past nine series games ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish are 5-1 all-time when playing at Louisville and won their last four road games in the series (the home team has won just five of the 12 on-campus games in the series, four of those by the Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion) ââ’¬¦ more than half (9) of the 16 series games have been decided by 15 points or fewer, with this marking the closest margin between Notre Dame and Louisville since Feb. 11, 2009, when the Cardinals edged the Fighting Irish, 71-66 at Purcell Pavilion ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame has won 29 consecutive games in the month of February and moves to 124-28 (.816) in February games since 1995-96, as well as a 172-43 (.800) record in the 29-year Muffet McGraw era ââ’¬¦ Cable logged her third double-double of the season (fourth career) and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, one off her career best on Jan. 30, 2014, vs. Virginia Tech at Purcell Pavilion ââ’¬¦ Ogunbowale scored at least 15 points for the seventh time this season, including the third time in the past five games ââ’¬¦ Huffman tied her career high with four assists, matching her total set earlier this year at Pittsburgh (Jan. 3) and on Nov. 9, 2013, against UNC Wilmington at Purcell Pavilion ââ’¬¦ Huffman also became the first Notre Dame player to foul out of a game this season, while 13 opposing players have fouled out of a game to date this year, including two Louisville players on Sunday.

Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame is off for the next week before returning to action at 1 p.m. (ET) Feb. 14 when it welcomes No. 16/20 Miami to Purcell Pavilion for the eighth annual Fighting Irish Pink Zone/Play4Kay Game to raise donations for cancer research. The game will be televised live on the ACC-Regional Sports Networks, as well as ESPN3 and WatchESPN, while radio coverage will be 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).

– 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).