Notre Dame women’s basketball’s (26-4) quest for its seventh ACC Tournament championship turns to the next chapter as the Irish knocked off California 73-64.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Despite playing just one game, the Irish arguably won twice on Friday as the Florida State Seminoles, who had the best offense in the ACC, fell to North Carolina 60-56. The Seminoles ranked fourth in the conference and own a victory over the Irish in South Bend back on Feb. 27.
While North Carolina State remains alive, the number one overall seed in the ACC tournament and Notre Dame’s other conference loss, the Irish have a date with the Duke Blue Devils (24-7) with the chance to play in the championship game on Sunday.
The two teams met just once this past season in Purcell Pavilion, on Feb. 17, when the then-number one-ranked Fighting Irish picked up a 15-point victory behind 19 points from sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo. It was one of six times that Hidalgo scored less than 20 points in a game, with four coming in February. Against California, however, Hidalgo finished with 25 points on 9-15 shooting.
The Irish defense was the focal point of the 64-49 win over the Blue Devils, as they shot just 38.5% from the field, 1-11 from three along with 19 total turnovers.
Although she was a nonfactor in the first meeting between these two teams, freshman forward Toby Fournier is the leader of the Blue Devil offense, averaging 14 points per game on 54% shooting. She scored 20 or more points on nine separate occasions this past season, including 28 points against Florida State on Mar. 2 in a 14-point win over Florida State. Her three steals against Louisville in the quarterfinals were a pivotal part in the Duke win.
Taina Mair, a junior guard from Boston, is the fifth leading scorer for Duke, however, she had her second highest scoring performance of the season against Notre Dame. She finished with 15 points in 34 minutes of action while shooting 6-11 from the field. Against the Cardinals, Mair finished with six points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Despite seeing a career low in turnovers per game at 2.1 this season, Mair is averaging three per game over her last seven games, including five against Louisville on Friday.
This is one of the better matchups you can draw up for the Irish, who are going to once again limit the Blue Devils from beyond the arc. During the regular season, Duke ranked 14th in the ACC in three pointers made per game with just 5.9, while Notre Dame ranks first in the conference in opponent three-point percentage with opponents knocking down just 26.9% of threes.
To keep the Blue Devils at bay, however, Notre Dame will need to turn its attention to junior guard Ashlon Jackson. While averaging 12.1 PPG on the season, Jackson is attempting a career high 5.9 threes per game on a 39.6% clip. When these two teams first met, the Irish game planned well for her as she was only able to get three shots up from range and was unable to knock down any of them, finishing with four points, her second lowest of the season. Still, Jackson has knocked down two or more threes over her last four games, including a 3-7 showing against Louisville in the quarterfinals.
For Notre Dame, the key to victory is taking care of the basketball. The Blue Devils led the conference during the regular season, forcing 649 total turnovers with a league leading 6.13 turnover margin. While the Irish handled the Blue Devils in the first meeting by double-digits, they still turned the ball over 18 times, with seven of eight players that saw action finishing with multiple turnovers. Against California, the Irish finished with 13 compared to the Golden Bears 28.
The game will tip-off at 2:30 p.m. from First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and will be broadcast on ESPN 2. The winner will take on either North Carolina or North Carolina State in the championship game tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Click to Join! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/legionoftheleprechaun
Commentaires