Maddy Westbeld matches career scoring best in 86-47 Notre Dame win over Wake Forest
Apparently for Maddy Westbeld, playing her worst game of the season Sunday in a loss at North Carolina didn’t sit very well.
Because the Irish junior forward responded with the best game of her career Thursday in an 86-47 rout of Wake Forest at Purcell Pavilion.
Westbeld scored 19 of her 25 points in the first half, helping Notre Dame to a wire-to-wire, no-doubt win, its seventh in the last eight games.
Westbeld sat out most of the fourth quarter but still matched her career-high in points on 10-of-15 shooting.
The No. 7 Irish (13-2, 4-1 ACC) led 7-0 to start, 21-8 after one quarter, 44-25 at halftime, and 66-37 after three quarters while dominating the overmatched Demon Deacons (11-7, 2-5) from start to finish. It was the most points Wake Forest has allowed this season.
Westbeld’s amazing performance came four days after she scored only 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting in the 60-50 loss to the Tar Heels.
Westbeld didn’t need much support vs. Wake. But Irish sophomore guard Olivia Miles chipped in with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Freshman guard Cassandre Prosper had 12 points and graduate center Lauren Ebo added 10 points to round out the Irish double-digit scorers.
Lingering concern
Notre Dame impressively shot 32-of-59 overall (54.2 percent) against Wake. But the three-point shooting remained a concern Thursday, even in the lopsided victory.
After going a miserable 2-of-22 from long range against North Carolina, the Irish managed just 4-of-16 against Wake Forest, making it 6-of-38 in its last two outings (16 percent).
While Westbeld patrolled the entire court, the Irish post-play advantage was the other decisive factor in this bounce-back win.
Against what was expected to be a stingy defensive opponent, Notre Dame won rebounding 49-27, second-chance scoring 16-7, and points in the paint 38-24.
Wake never pulled to within double digits after Notre Dame built an 18-8 lead late in the first quarter.
The Irish return to action Sunday at Syracuse (12-4, 3-2).
