Notre Dame Blasts Virginia, But Loses Dara Mabrey To Knee Injury
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Notre Dame women’s basketball (16-2, 7-1) beat Virginia (14-6, 3-6) handily on Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion, blasting the Cavaliers by a 76-54 score. The victory was resounding, but it also came at a potentially high cost.
Graduate student guard Dara Mabrey was fouled while attempting a fast break layup and went to the floor clutching her right knee. Mabrey was down on the floor for several minutes and finally had to be helped to the locker room by Notre Dame’s medical staff.
"It was a little bit emotional for us, and I’m very proud of the way we responded,” Irish head coach Niele Ivey said after the game. "I’m proud of our grit, our poise.”
Mabrey spent the rest of the first half in the locker room, but she spent most of the second half sitting at the end of the bench with a large immobilizing brace on her right leg. She left the floor on crutches at game’s conclusion. Several of her teammates made their way over to her to hug her and encourage her during the game.
"I wanted to cry for her, man,” Irish point guard Olivia Miles said of Mabrey after the game. "She’s just such the heart and soul of our team, the leader. I hope she’s going to be ok and she can return quickly. But we’re praying for her. We prayed for her on the court. It was tough but we did this for her.”
Mabrey is expected to have more extensive examination on her knee this week to determine the full extent of the injury.
KK Bransford entered the game and connected on two free throws in Mabrey’s place for Notre Dame’s first two points of the game. The Irish looked out of synch for a few minutes after Mabrey’s injury, but they went on a 14-0 run to go up 18-4 and never looked back from there.
Sonia Citron ended a three-game stretch without reaching double figures by scoring a game-high 20 points. She hit her first six 3-point attempts and finished 6 for 7 from long range and 7 of 11 overall.
Two of Citron’s 3s came in a third quarter that saw the two teams combine for 17 of the game’s 34 total fouls. Miles ended the frame with her own 3 put the Irish up 62-42 heading to the fourth quarter. Miles finished with 12 points and dished out a dizzying array of seven assists.
Bransford finished with 10 points, while Lauren Ebo scored 15 to help the Notre Dame bench score 33 points. The 76 points the Irish scored in their fourth consecutive win is the third-most Virginia has allowed in a game this season.
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