In just the blink of an eye, the end of February is upon us and March is just around the corner, marking the witching hour for college basketball.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Notre Dame women’s basketball will play its final two road games this week, first against the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday, followed by a date with the number 13 North Carolina State Wolfpack.
The Hurricanes have been on a downward spiral since the non-conference schedule ended on Jan. 29, when they lost at home to North Carolina. Since starting 11-1, Miami has won just two of its last 13 games to move to 13-12 on the year, and 3-11 in ACC play.
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If you are at least somewhat familiar with TikTok and social media, you’re aware of the return of the Cavinder twins to the University of Miami. However, only one of the two twins, Haley, has been producing for the Hurricanes 14 games into conference play.
Haley Cavinder, a 5’6” senior guard, is having a terrific season, scoring 18.8 points per game on 47.2% shooting. She’s also grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game, and a team-leading 4.7 assists per game. Despite the lackluster season for the team, Cavinder has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and has scored 20 or more in five of her last six.
Down low, the Hurricanes are led by senior forward Cameron Williams. Williams, a native of Chicago, is in her first season with Miami after spending her first four years of college at the University of Michigan. This season, she is getting more playing time than before, logging 27.8 minutes per game. In that time, Williams is averaging 11.4 PPG on 56.7% shooting, while leading the team in rebounds with seven per game.
The Irish must be careful and not find themselves in a trap game, especially with how close the Hurricanes have played their last two opponents who are both in the top 25. They took on North Carolina State on the road where they lost by just two points, followed by a one-point home loss to number 23 Florida State. While Sunday’s game against North Carolina State is going to be one of the biggest of the season for the Irish, they must take care of business against Miami first.
For the 13th-best team in college basketball, North Carolina State had its nine-game winning streak snapped on the road against in-state rival North Carolina on Feb. 16 by a point. Now with a two-game lead in the conference, Notre Dame can lock up a regular season conference championship on Sunday against the Wolfpack.
It’ll be one of the best scoring teams the Irish have seen all season, as the Wolfpack average the fourth most points in the conference with 77 per game. They are captained by senior guard Aziaha James, averaging 17.8 PPG on 46.5% shooting and a 32.7% clip when she goes beyond the three-point line. James is also grabbing five rebounds per game and collecting a career-high 1.2 steals per game.
Accompanying James in the NC State loaded backcourt is sophomore guard Zoe Brooks. Averaging 13.3 PPG, Brooks is one of four players averaging double figures this season for the Wolfpack and is doing it on an impressive 46% shooting clip. She has been in a bit of a slump over the last two games, scoring just 18 points on 33% shooting in that span.
6’0” senior guard Madison Hayes is fresh off a double-double against the Tar Heels, where she put up 13 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 2-3 from deep. It’s her fourth double-double of the season and the third straight game Hayes has knocked down two or more threes, shooting 8-17 from outside in that span.
It’ll be the toughest game the Irish have played since they knocked off UConn back on Dec. 12. With an ACC championship on the line for the Irish, however, there shouldn’t need to be a lot of motivation injected into the players.
As far as injecting motivation goes, the men’s side will play their first game since head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s stern postgame press conference back on Feb. 16 after a 15-point loss to Louisville.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
It was the worst loss since Dec. 3 when they lost on the road against Georgia by 21 points, and it lit a fire under Shrewsberry. What’s been said has been said and it’s time to see how the players will react, as they take on SMU and Pittsburgh, both in Purcell Pavilion, this week.
It’ll start tonight against the Mustangs from SMU, who enter off an 11-point loss at home to Wake Forest. Prior to that, the Mustangs had won five straight and eight of their last nine, which has them at 10-4 in ACC play this season. It goes without saying that SMU is playing for a bit more than the Irish at this point in the season and will be chasing a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament over their final six games.
It’s one of the deepest rosters you will find in all of college basketball, with six players averaging double figures, bringing their team average to 82.1 PPG. Boopie Miller, a junior guard from Chicago, is in his first season with the Mustangs after spending his previous three with Central Michigan and Wake Forest.
Miller has made an adjustment over his last five games played – missing the game against the Demon Deacons – taking fewer shots than he had been all season. In his first 19 games of the season, Miller was averaging 12.4 shots per game and had single-digit field goal attempts in just five of those games. Compare that to Miller’s 7.4 shots per game in his last five games and he attempted 10 shots in just one of those.
Miller will be a game-time decision.
The shooting tandem of senior guards Chuck Harris and Kario Oquendo could be an issue for the Irish, as they are shooting 44.5% and 41.7% from three respectively. Outside of those two, senior forward Matt Cross has also proven to be a threat from deep, shooting three or more threes in his last eight games, and is making 39.2% of them on the year.
Following two four-game losing streaks for Pittsburgh, the Panthers have found themselves on the bubble and are looking for a big win against Notre Dame.
Despite entering Purcell Pavilion on a two-game winning streak, the Panthers have won just two road games since ACC play opened for them back on Dec. 7. They’re manned by a two-headed monster at guard in sophomore Jaland Lowe and senior Ish Leggett, with the two combining for 32.8 of the Panthers 77.3 PPG.
With the loss of senior guard Damian Dunn for the season, Pittsburgh has turned to senior forward Zack Austin from three-point land. He’s coming off a 3-4 shooting performance from deep in the win against Syracuse, where he finished with 19 points.
Should the Irish escape with a win on Saturday, it will come down to not letting players like Austin get comfortable from deep. They will already have to worry about two elite scoring options in Lowe and Leggett, it’ll make it that much harder if they allow someone else to find a rhythm.
The basketball week will tip off at 7 p.m. tonight as the men’s squad welcomes the SMU Mustangs to South Bend.
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