A Super Bowl Sunday matchup against the South Bend Irish that'll be on ESPN at 2 p.m. What once was a highlight game of the women's college basketball schedule is now just a renewal of a rivalry where one of the squads has fallen from top 25 consideration. Quite honestly, it may not even be the best ACC game on at the time-slot today, as NC State goes to Chapel Hill to face UNC.
Notre Dame is 8-7 on the year and 6-5 in the ACC this season. The Irish are being led by a freshman (Maddy Westbeld), a transfer (Dara Mabrey) and a returnee (Destinee Walker) who started at Notre Dame, went to UNC, but decided to come back for a graduate season with the Irish.
Westbeld is gathering some consideration for Freshman of the Year in the ACC. She averages 15.1 ppg, and 7.4 rebounds a game. She's 6'3" and it'll be interesting to see how she does today against another freshman (Olivia Cochran) and a proven junior (Liz Dixon). That's assuming Cochran's knee is cleared and she can go . Personally, I think the Freshmen of the Year award is a two-player race between Kamilla Cardoso and Hailey Van Lith -- but GT fans might argue Loyal McQueen is a viable candidate.
Mabrey began her career at VT, but, decided to become the third Mabrey to play at Notre Dame and transferred in this year. She does lead the Irish in threes (32-74) and gets 12.6 points an outing.
Other Irish to consider are sophomore Sam Brunelle who has had an up-and-down season, Abby Prohaska, a defensive specialist who is back this year after sitting out last year, Anaya Peoples and Mikayla Vaughn.
The players love new coach Niele Ivey, which is more than you could probably say about old coach Muffet McGraw, and have performed well for her at times -- with wins over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Then, there's the eyebrow- raising losses to Ohio, Clemson, Boston College and Syracuse. Which UND team will show up today in the KFC YUM Center?
For Louisville, it's just a matter of playing Louisville basketball and that revolves around big performances from Dana Evans, solid post play out of Cochran and Dixon (and maybe Parker if Cochran can't go?) , sparks from Konno, Balogun, K. Smith and Robinson -- plus a solid effort on both end of the boards and not getting stuck in a slowed-down, half-court game. Louisville likes to run (ask DePaul or Boston College) and seems to be at their best when they can be that kind of team.
We always speculate about who will start and today is no exception. Walz will tell you starters are un-important, it's who he has out there in the final minutes of a close game that is more important. But, fans want to know, Coach, so I'll offer a "big" lineup of Cochran, Dixon, Van Lith, Balogun and Evans as a potential five. We can be assured Kianna Smith and Robinson will see minutes, I hope Konno gets a fair share of them and Parker and Russell have seemed to play well enough to earn more than they have been getting. Ahlana Smith hasn't done anything to hurt her chances at more court minutes either. The problem is you have 200 minutes total in a game. Dana will get her 35-40, you can expect Van Lith about the same and the hybrid Cochran/Dixon combo will use up 35-40 as well, most likely. That leaves roughly 90 minutes for the remaining seven-eight players. You do the math and remember that Walz gave Robinson 35 minutes at BC. Obviously because Cochran and Balogun didn't play, but Louisville won thaat game by 29 and Walz loves Robinson's facilitator role. Plus, her birthday was yesterday....(OK, I'm belaboring it, I know).
Also interesting is that BC went on COVID Pause after hosting the Cardinals. The Clemson game today, plus the UNC game coming up Thursday for them are postponed. Here's hoping the Cards got out of Beantown healthy and have been testing negative since the return. Also consider Balogun is coming back from Atlanta after practicing with the Nigerian National Team. Let's hope she's OK as well.
I'm going to predict the Cards are able to turn this one into a track meet and avoid the half-court, grind it out type of battle Notre Dame would prefer. That could depend on how well the Cards gather in missed ND shots, though, and handle defense against Westbeld, Mabrey and Brunelle.
I'll go with Cards by about 15, let's say 81-66, overcoming a slow first half to shine in the final 20 minutes. I hope I'm dead wrong and we get a 50+ point, blow out over Notre Dame, I truly want the Cards to beat the Irish quite badly any-time Louisville plays them in any sport, and anyone else who plays UND destroys them as well. That's just me, it probably goes back to McGraw's haughty attitude and way she interacted with Walz.
Sorry, Father Bob...
--sonja--
Notre Dame is 8-7 on the year and 6-5 in the ACC this season. The Irish are being led by a freshman (Maddy Westbeld), a transfer (Dara Mabrey) and a returnee (Destinee Walker) who started at Notre Dame, went to UNC, but decided to come back for a graduate season with the Irish.
Westbeld is gathering some consideration for Freshman of the Year in the ACC. She averages 15.1 ppg, and 7.4 rebounds a game. She's 6'3" and it'll be interesting to see how she does today against another freshman (Olivia Cochran) and a proven junior (Liz Dixon). That's assuming Cochran's knee is cleared and she can go . Personally, I think the Freshmen of the Year award is a two-player race between Kamilla Cardoso and Hailey Van Lith -- but GT fans might argue Loyal McQueen is a viable candidate.
Mabrey began her career at VT, but, decided to become the third Mabrey to play at Notre Dame and transferred in this year. She does lead the Irish in threes (32-74) and gets 12.6 points an outing.
Other Irish to consider are sophomore Sam Brunelle who has had an up-and-down season, Abby Prohaska, a defensive specialist who is back this year after sitting out last year, Anaya Peoples and Mikayla Vaughn.
The players love new coach Niele Ivey, which is more than you could probably say about old coach Muffet McGraw, and have performed well for her at times -- with wins over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Then, there's the eyebrow- raising losses to Ohio, Clemson, Boston College and Syracuse. Which UND team will show up today in the KFC YUM Center?
For Louisville, it's just a matter of playing Louisville basketball and that revolves around big performances from Dana Evans, solid post play out of Cochran and Dixon (and maybe Parker if Cochran can't go?) , sparks from Konno, Balogun, K. Smith and Robinson -- plus a solid effort on both end of the boards and not getting stuck in a slowed-down, half-court game. Louisville likes to run (ask DePaul or Boston College) and seems to be at their best when they can be that kind of team.
We always speculate about who will start and today is no exception. Walz will tell you starters are un-important, it's who he has out there in the final minutes of a close game that is more important. But, fans want to know, Coach, so I'll offer a "big" lineup of Cochran, Dixon, Van Lith, Balogun and Evans as a potential five. We can be assured Kianna Smith and Robinson will see minutes, I hope Konno gets a fair share of them and Parker and Russell have seemed to play well enough to earn more than they have been getting. Ahlana Smith hasn't done anything to hurt her chances at more court minutes either. The problem is you have 200 minutes total in a game. Dana will get her 35-40, you can expect Van Lith about the same and the hybrid Cochran/Dixon combo will use up 35-40 as well, most likely. That leaves roughly 90 minutes for the remaining seven-eight players. You do the math and remember that Walz gave Robinson 35 minutes at BC. Obviously because Cochran and Balogun didn't play, but Louisville won thaat game by 29 and Walz loves Robinson's facilitator role. Plus, her birthday was yesterday....(OK, I'm belaboring it, I know).
Also interesting is that BC went on COVID Pause after hosting the Cardinals. The Clemson game today, plus the UNC game coming up Thursday for them are postponed. Here's hoping the Cards got out of Beantown healthy and have been testing negative since the return. Also consider Balogun is coming back from Atlanta after practicing with the Nigerian National Team. Let's hope she's OK as well.
I'm going to predict the Cards are able to turn this one into a track meet and avoid the half-court, grind it out type of battle Notre Dame would prefer. That could depend on how well the Cards gather in missed ND shots, though, and handle defense against Westbeld, Mabrey and Brunelle.
I'll go with Cards by about 15, let's say 81-66, overcoming a slow first half to shine in the final 20 minutes. I hope I'm dead wrong and we get a 50+ point, blow out over Notre Dame, I truly want the Cards to beat the Irish quite badly any-time Louisville plays them in any sport, and anyone else who plays UND destroys them as well. That's just me, it probably goes back to McGraw's haughty attitude and way she interacted with Walz.
Sorry, Father Bob...
--sonja--
