Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Fighting Irish Defeat Iowa 105-71 in the ACC/B1G Challenge

Keeping it Going.

It’s a bit delayed with our start, but our coverage of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team is back for the season.

After a 6-0 start and a Vancouver Showcase championship, the Irish have played very well in their encore season from last year’s national championship run. They came home to Purcell Pavilion to play in their ACC/B1G Challenge. The top rated Irish took on the Iowa Hawkeyes tonight.

Let’s recap this one, shall we?

1st Half

After a strong start for the Irish in the first quarter, the Hawkeyes were able to weather the storm a little bit. They were doing well in their points in the paint, keeping the Irish a bit at bay. The Irish never lost the lead thanks to Arike Ogunbowale and her incredible shots from the elbow and running floaters. Marina Mabrey kicked off the scoring with a couple of three point shots. Additionally, it was AWESOME to have Brianna Turner back on the floor and just being a BOSS in the paint. Clutch rebounds and tough hoops are her speciality.

In the second quarter, much of the same occurred. Megan Gustafson and Tania Davis for the Hawkeyes led the way with some points in the paint. They combined for 24 points, 12 each, going 10-12. They kept the Hawkeyes in the game as the second quarter came to a close. Arike kept doing her thing, though, to get to 15 points to lead the Irish in scoring in the first half. The lead was 45-34 Irish as the teams went into locker room.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

2nd Half

The Irish started off the half with six straight transition points off two steals and then a miss by Iowa. It set a great tone for the start of the half. After an Iowa timeout, the Irish still built their run to 12-0. Even after a three pointer from Iowa, Arike hit a 3 and another transition shot to extend the run to 18-3. It was flat out dominant. The rest of the third quarter tone was pretty much set after that. Iowas made some shots, but the Irish took too much of a lead for them even to compete much. The Irish outscored the Hawkeyes 34-14 in that quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was the same story. Marina Mabrey hitting three pointers and Arike hitting shot after shot. Arike got to the 30 point mark, and she has scored at least 20 points in all 7 games this season so far. The Irish also got over 100 points. It’s absurdly awesome. When it was all said and done, the Irish got the blowout victory by a final score of 105-71.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Up Next

Next up for the Irish, they remain at home in their game for the Jimmy V Classic. It should definitely be a classic as they will take on UConn on Sunday afternoon at 4 PM. The game will be on ESPN. UConn will be looking to avenge their national semifinal loss to the Irish this past March. It will be #1 vs. #2. It’s going to be a doozy, and we’ll cover it all for you.

Go Irish.