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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish travel to Knoxville to take on Vols

By Jordan Small

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jackie Young #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates her teams lead late in the game against the Connecticut Huskies during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Connecticut Huskies 91-89. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Jackie Young #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates her teams lead late in the game against the Connecticut Huskies during the second half in the semifinals of the 2018 NCAA Women's Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Connecticut Huskies 91-89. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will be hitting the road on Thursday night as they travel to the University of Tennessee.

On Sunday afternoon, the Irish played host to Boston College. Notre Dame defeated BC by a score of 92-63. Arike Ogunbowale once again led all scorers with 24 points. The Irish now travel to a struggling Tennessee team who they scored a big win against last season. Coming off a monster loss to Louisville in the early portion of 2018, the Irish returned home to defeat Tennessee. The Irish will look to continue a strong start to 2019 with a non-conference road win.

The Irish

If there is one thing that the Irish have continually done well all season, it’s the transition game. While there have been up and down points of the season when it comes to the offense and defense, the transition game has stayed true. The Irish have some of the most agile and mobile forwards in the country and that allows them to have all five players running the floor. They also have one of the best outlet passers in Jessica Shepard. The ability of all five players to handle the ball going up the court makes for a matchup nightmare. As they get into the later part of the season, this is one thing they will need to stay true to.

Against Boston College on Sunday, the Irish played a good portion of the game in a man to man defense. So often this season, they have been playing a 2-3 zone, so the switch up was definitely an interesting choice. But as the game went on, it proved to be the right decision. Stay tuned to see if the coaching staff sticks with the 2-3 zone or continues to mix it up with a little bit of man defense.

Tennessee

Tennessee comes into Thursday’s matchup at 12-6. They are just 1-5 in conference play and are currently on a five game losing streak after dropping Monday night’s contest to Arkansas. At home this season, they are 7-4. One player to keep an eye out for is sophomore guard Evina Westbrook. She is currently averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting. On the rebounding side, look out for sophomore Rennia Davis, who averages 8.2 rebounds per game. Davis is also second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.5 points per game.

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How to watch

Tip-off for the matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.