What to know about Notre Dame women's basketball at Duke
There are some things Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey has yet to accomplish in her fourth season with her alma mater. The Fighting Irish have never advanced further than the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament under her watch, for example.
They’ve also never beaten Duke.
Notre Dame brings a three-game losing streak into Cameron Indoor on Monday. Two of those losses have come in the last two seasons. Those games were close; Duke won by 5 in South Bend, Ind., last year and by 2 two years ago at Cameron.
Can the Irish finally get over the hump and beat the scrappy Blue Devils — in a rare Monday primetime matchup on ESPN2, no less? Here’s everything you need to know about their attempt.
Notre Dame women’s basketball at Duke game info
- Teams: No. 16 Notre Dame (18-6, 8-5 ACC) and Duke (16-8, 8-5)
- Head coaches: Niele Ivey (79-31, fourth year at Notre Dame); Kara Lawson (62-29, 4th year at Duke)
- Date: Feb. 19, 2024
- Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, N.C.)
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN2
- TV broadcasters: Beth Mowins and Stephanie White
- Radio: 99.9 WQLQ-FM in South Bend
- Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires
Matchup notables
• Notre Dame and Duke are deadlocked in the ACC standings. With just two weeks left in the regular season, both teams likely don’t have a shot of winning the regular season title – a championship taken by the Irish a year ago. This game has ACC Tournament seeding implications, though.
• Both teams are coming off a loss. Notre Dame was defeated by No. 6 NC State in South Bend this past Thursday. Duke lost to No. 12 Virginia Tech on the same night.
• Duke has the No. 1 team defense in the ACC, only allowing 57.8 points per game. The Blue Devils have the No. 10 team offense in the league, meanwhile, at 70.2 points per game. Notre Dame ranks sixth (62.2) and first (81.3) in those categories, respectively.
• Notre Dame has gone under its season average in points per game in three of the last four outings. The Irish are coming off their worst offensive output of the season — 43 points on 26.9 percent shooting — at the wrong time. Duke has the type of defense to pounce on a team that isn’t playing well offensively.
• Duke’s leading scorer, junior guard Reigan Richardson, leads the Blue Devils at 11.2 points per game. Two teammates average in double figures as well. It’s not a prolific attack, but it’s one consistent enough to compete on most nights.
• Duke is 2-5 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Poll at the time of tipoff. Three of those losses were by double digits. The Blue Devils are 12-2 at Cameron Indoor, though, with one of those losses coming to No. 1 South Carolina. The other was a 69-62 defeat to Davidson on Nov. 16.
