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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish finish three game road trip at Clemson

By Jordan Small

NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 07: Muffet McGraw, head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts to an officials call in a game against the Connecticut Huskies during the National Semifinal game of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at the New Orleans Arena on April 7, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Connecticut won the game 83-65. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 07: Muffet McGraw, head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts to an officials call in a game against the Connecticut Huskies during the National Semifinal game of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at the New Orleans Arena on April 7, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Connecticut won the game 83-65. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will finish up their road trip on Thursday night as they travel to Clemson University.

On Sunday afternoon, the Irish traveled to Chapel Hill to take on the University of North Carolina. Notre Dame fell to the Tar Heels by a score of 78-73. The Irish were without Jackie Young, who missed the loss with an ankle injury. The Irish now travel to Clemson to finish up their three game road trip. Clemson comes into the game having won four of their last five.

The Irish

For just the second time this season, the Irish are looking to rebound from a loss. The first time they lost this season it was to UConn in early December. They then came out the next game and beat Toledo by 16 points on the road. But Thursday night’s game will be an even bigger challenge for the Irish. Two big things need to change if the Irish are to pick up a victory at Clemson.

First off, they either need Jackie Young to return to the lineup or have a freshman step up in her place. Young is currently listed as a game-time decision and did return to practice on Wednesday. Young was badly missed against North Carolina and both Abby Prohaska and Jordan Nixon struggled to fill in for her. The biggest issue is that Young is averaging double digits in scoring this season. Without her, the Irish have a big hole to fill and considering the Irish get next to no scoring from the bench, it became a huge issue on Sunday. Either Young plays or the Irish need someone to step up big time.

The other thing the Irish need to fix in order to pull out the victory on Thursday is limiting the turnovers. Notre Dame turned the ball over 20 times against North Carolina. While the Irish have struggled with holding onto the ball the past year and a half, Sunday was one of the worst showings. That isn’t something that is going to be completely eliminated, but you aren’t going to win many game with 20 turnovers.

Clemson

Clemson comes into Thursday’s matchup at 14-6. They are just 5-2 in conference play and have won four of their last five. They are coming off a loss at undefeated North Carolina State. At home this season, they are 10-2. One player to keep an eye out for is junior post Kobe Thornton. She is currently averaging a team high 15.6 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting. Bailey also leads Clemson in rebounds per game with 8.1.

How to watch

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