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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Miami beats Irish, ACC Title in Jeopardy

By Jordan Small

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Muffet McGraw of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - APRIL 05: Head coach Muffet McGraw of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts in the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the NCAA Women's Final Four Semifinal at Amalie Arena on April 5, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame women’s basketball team fell to Miami on the road on Thursday night 72-65.

Notre Dame hit the road on Thursday night after dismantling Georgia Tech. Poor shooting and rebounding hurt the Irish, as they picked up their third loss of the season. Jessica Shepard led the team with 17 points and 17 rebounds in the loss. Her teammate in the post — Brianna Turner — only managed five points and four rebounds on the evening.

Terrible shooting does the Irish in

Since losing to UConn in early December, one thing the Irish have done a good job of is shooting the ball. They have shot the ball over 50 percent consistently and have gotten better as the season has gone along. In their win on Sunday, they shot 55.9 percent from the field. But on Thursday night, the Irish were in a much different situation.

Against Miami, the Irish shot just 37.3 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line. The starting five struggled, with only Jessica Shepard shooting 50 percent from the field. Because Notre Dame doesn’t get much scoring help from the bench, they really suffer when they are unable to get anything going with the starting five. If the Irish want to avoid losing another game this season, Brianna Turner has to step up. Five points just isn’t going to cut it from a player in her fifth year.

Third loss hurts shot at ACC title

Since the Irish joined the ACC in 2013, they have had at least a share of the regular season ACC title. However, that seems to be in jeopardy this season. With the loss to Miami, that brings the Irish to three losses on the year and two in the conference. North Carolina State lost on Thursday night as well so they now have two losses in conference play. Four teams, including Miami and Florida State, now have two losses in the conference. However, Louisville still only has one loss. If the Cardinals were to lose again this regular season, it would give the Irish a shot. When it comes to the NCAA Tournament, they would need to win the ACC tournament to even have a shot at a number one seed.

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Next Up

The Irish will return home to take on No. 24 Florida State in their annual Pink Game. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET.