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Jewell Loyd Leads No. 4 Notre Dame to 63-50 Win Over No. 10 Duke

By Nicholas D. Blazek

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Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw had concerns about the Duke Blue Devils size inside, and early on it seemed it was indeed an issue. Duke raced out to a 14-5 lead early before Jewell Loyd and Madison Cable got hot from the outside for the Irish en route to the 63-50 victory.

The No. 4 Irish (24-2, 11-1 ACC) needed a win to avoid falling into a four-way tie for first place in the conference. early on it appeared the size disparity was going to give the Irish fits, as Duke’s Elizabeth Williams had her way on the block. But Notre Dame would eventually use a box-on-one employed on Rebecca Greenwell, and tightened up on Williams to slow the Blue Devils offense.

Madison Cable continued to be a danger from the outside, hitting three from beyond the arc, all in the first half. Loyd didn’t have one of her better offensive nights, but came up with some big shots, including two clutch three’s when the Irish were down early.

Coach McGraw got another solid night from freshman Kathryn Westbeld, who score eight, while recording seven rebounds and two assists off the bench. She’s made the most of her time, and has seen her minutes increase in recent weeks.

For the No. 10 Blue Devils (19-7, 10-3), it was more of the same for them against the Irish. What started promising ended up their lowest point total of the season thus far. The Irish did the same to them last season,  as well as holding them to zero three-pointers for the second time.

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With Notre Dame putting their defensive focus on Greenwell, Duke was clearly going to have to work the inside to keep pace with the Irish. But after some initial success against them, Duke wasn’t able to get good looks down low, and seven blocks by the Irish (Turner-4, Reimer-3) didn’t make it any easier.

The outside game for Duke couldn’t get started, finishing 0-for-12 on the night from three-point range.

Duke was able to hold an edge in rebounding over the Irish 45-37, including 20-12 on the offensive glass. But they were unable to capitalize as Notre Dame was out of reach for much of the second half.

The Irish will travel to Atlanta, GA on Thursday to battle the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before returning home for another “Big Monday” match-up on ESPN against Louisville.