No. 10 Notre Dame Women's Basketball Continues Homestand Against Pittsburgh
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Notre Dame Women’s basketball looks to get back to its winning ways when the Irish host the Pitt Panthers Thursday night. The Fighting Irish are coming off a 57-52 loss to Duke Sunday afternoon.
Where: Notre Dame, Ind. – Purcell Pavilion
When: Thursday, Feb. 9 – 6:00 PM EST
Network: ACC Network – Jenn Hildreth and Debbie Antonelli
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 (18-4, 9-3 ACC)
Head Coach: Niele Ivey (52-22 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)
Notre Dame is coming off of one of its worst offensive games of the season after Sunday’s 57-52 loss to currently No. 9 ranked Duke. The Fighting Irish scored a season-low six points and hit just two of 13 shots in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Olivia Miles was the only field goal for Notre Dame in the final 8:36 of the game against the nation’s No. 4 scoring offense.
Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with 15 points to reach double figures for the second time in her last three games. Sonia Citron’s 14 points saw her reach double figures for the fifth consecutive game.
Miles finished with 11 points, but she also had a season-low two of the team’s seven total assists. The last time Notre Dame only had seven assists was in their Jan. 8 60-50 loss to North Carolina. That game and the Duke game are also the two lowest scoring games of the season for the Irish.
Projected Irish Starting Lineup
G Olivia Miles- 5-10, Soph. - 15.1 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 6.9 APG
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.1 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 22 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 10.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 31 BLK
G KK Bransford – 5-11, Fr. - 8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG
PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (8-15, 1-11 ACC)
Head Coach: Lance White (40-94 in 5th season at school/overall)
Pittsburgh opened the season with five consecutive wins, but wins have been much harder to come by since then. The Panthers lost their first 11 ACC games by an average of 15.2 points. Nine different Panthers have started at least three games this season.
Head coach Lance White has never had a winning season since taking the Pitt helm five years ago. They have finished 14th, 15th, 12th, and 15th in the ACC standings in his first four seasons and are currently last (of 15 teams) in the current conference standings.
Projected Starting Lineup
F Maliyah Johnson - Stats – 8.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 SPG
G Marley Washenitz - Stats – 3.6 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.9 APG
F Amber Brown - Stats – 10.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.5 APG
G Emy Heyford – Stats – 2.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.8 APG
F Gabby Hutcherson - Stats – 5.0, 3.5 RPG, 19 BLK
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
This is a “get well” game for Notre Dame. Without Lauren Ebo (9.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 19 blocks), the Irish have lost two of their last three games and they escaped a potential upset by outscoring Boston College 29-16 late in the second half to win 72-59 and avoid what could have been a three-game slide.
Ebo missed those three games with a leg injury. She was in a walking boot and on the bench for all three contests. Her status for Thursday’s game is uncertain.
In addition to Ebo’s recent absence, 3-point ace Dara Mabrey is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL and leg fracture. Teams have played much more zone defense against the Irish in the four-plus games Mabrey has missed and the Irish are still trying to adjust with less experienced players who are still finding their way being asked to assume bigger roles.
Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the ACC in a majority of statistical categories this season. They rank No. 13 in scoring offense, No. 14 in scoring defense, No. 15 in scoring margin, No. 14 in rebounding, No. 13 in 3-point defense, No. 13 in field goal percentage, No. 11 in field goal percentage defense, No. 12 in turnover margin, No. 13 in assist to turnover ratio, No. 11 in steals, and No. 13 in assists.
With or without Ebo, Notre Dame must find an offensive gear that saw them blow out better defensive teams like Florida State, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Thursday’s game will be the first of two meetings between the Irish and Panthers. Notre Dame will visit Pittsburgh on Feb. 19.
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