Notre Dame Women's Basketball Looks To Bounce Back Against Wake Forest
The Notre Dame Women’s basketball team returns home looking to bounce back from a Sunday loss at No. 22 North Carolina. Thursday night’s home game against Wake Forest precedes two road games next week at Syracuse and Clemson for the Fighting Irish.
Where: Notre Dame, Ind – Purcell Pavilion
When: Thursday, Jan. 12 – 7:00 PM EST
Network: ACC Network Extra – Patrick Hartnett and Conor Clingen
Radio: ND Radio Network, 99.9 FM WQLQ in South Bend – Sean Stires PBP
Let's take a look at today’s matchup:
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (12-2, 3-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Niele Ivey (46-21 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)
The Fighting Irish dropped their first ACC game of the season at No. 22 North Carolina on Sunday, scoring a season-low 50 points in the process. Notre Dame also shot a season-low 16 for 57 (28%) overall, including 2 for 22 (9%) from 3-point range.
The lone bright spot in the game for the Irish was Lauren Ebo’s rebounding performance. The 6-4 grad transfer grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, which was almost half of the team’s total of 42 for the game.
Olivia Miles (15) and Sonia Citron (13) were the only to Irish players to score in double figures. The sophomore duo combined to shoot 9 for 20 from the field, while the rest of the team was 7 for 37.
The Irish were able to score 14 fast break points in the first half when they held the Tar Heels to 27% shooting, but they managed just three fast break points in the second half when UNC shot 45%, including a backbreaking 5 for 6 from behind the 3-point arc.
Notre Dame also leads the ACC with 18 assists per game, but had a season-low seven in the loss.
Projected Irish Starting Lineup
G Olivia Miles- 5-10, Soph. - 15.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 7.3 APG
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.0 APG
G Dara Mabrey - 5-7, 5th – 10.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.5 APG
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 9.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 23 BLK
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 17 BLK
WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS (11-6, 2-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Megan Gebbia (11-6 in 1st season at school, 171-112 in 10th year overall)
Megan Gebbia is in her first season as Wake Forest’s head coach after spending a decade as head coach at American University. She left as American’s all-time winningest coach and the only head coach in program history to lead the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament. She led the program to three NCAA appearances, including last season.
The Demon Deacons are coming off a 51-50 win over Georgia Tech on Sunday for their second ACC win over the season. After holding the Yellow Jackets to 50 points on Sunday, the Deacs are holding opponents to an average of 55.9 points per game, which ranks 25th nationally and No. 3 in the ACC. Wake ranked 164th in the nation in scoring defense last year.
The Demon Deacons have played their best defense of the season over the last 12 games, holding 11 of 12 opponents to 61 points or less and six opponents in that stretch to less. Opponents have shot just 35.9 points per game and only 28% from behind the 3-point line while also forcing 15.8 times per game in the 12-game stretch.
Projected Starting Lineup
F Olivia Summiel - Stats – 7.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.4 APG
F Demeara Hinds - Stats – 5.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 14 BLK
G Kaia Harrison - Stats – 8.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.7 APG
G Elise Williams – Stats – 9.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.6 APG
G Jewel Spear - Stats – 15.9, 4.1 RPG, 2.2 APG
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Despite its worst shooting and scoring game of the season against North Carolina, Notre Dame still leads the ACC with a .484 field goal percentage and also has the second-best scoring offense (81.6ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.350) in the conference.
As noted above, Wake Forest’s defense is both good and much improved from a year ago, the Demon Deacons lack the offensive depth that the Irish have. The Fighting Irish have four players who average at least 10.4 points a game and a fifth (Maddy Westbeld) who was averaging double figures before Sunday’s loss to North Carolina and now sports a 9.9 scoring average. Meanwhile, Wake’s Jewel Spear, whose 18.3 ppg led the ACC last season, is the only double figure scorer for the Deacs.
Wake Forest is 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC in both scoring offense (62.1 ppg) and field goal percentage (.408). They are also the worst rebounding team in the conference (36.4), while the Irish are No. 2 in the ACC with 45.4 rebounds per game. Look for the Irish to go to work on the glass and use their transition offense to get Wake out of its half court defensive sets.
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Irish Breakdown Content
2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
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