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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Arike eyes history as Irish host Duke

By Jordan Small

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish attempts a shot 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. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish attempts a shot 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. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will return home on Thursday night as they play host to Duke in their second to last home game of the regular season.

On Monday night, the Irish traveled to North Carolina State for Big Monday. Notre Dame beat the Wolfpack by a score of 95-72. The Irish now return home to play host to Duke. The Blue Devils are coming off a 64-57 loss at home against Virginia Tech.

The Irish

Monday was a much needed game for the Irish. They played well defensively and all five starters were in double digits for points. They went on the road and took down a top-10 team in North Carolina State. Now they return home to take on Duke with just three games remaining in the regular season.

The biggest thing for the Irish will be continuing to play good defense. Their offense is good enough to carry them against anyone, but they are nearly unstoppable when their defense is on top of its game. With their transition game being so strong, a good defense could be the difference maker as the season closes out.

It also could be a very big game for Arike Ogunbowale. She now sits just 11 points away from tying and 12 points away from passing Skylar Diggins-Smith’s record for most points all-time in program history. She has been playing really well as of late, so it should be no problem for her. In each of the last three games, Ogunbowale has scored over 20 points and led the Irish in scoring.

Duke

Duke comes into Thursday’s matchup at 11-13. They are 3-9 in conference play and have lost three of their last five. On the road this season, they are 3-7. One player to keep an eye out for is Haley Gorecki. She is currently averaging a team high 18.0 points per game on 37.6 percent shooting. Gorecki also leads Duke in rebounds per game with 7.3.

Next. NDMBB: Irish fall to Wake Forest. dark

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.