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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish and Cardinals set for ACC rematch

By Jordan Small

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates 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: Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates 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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After beating Syracuse, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team will play Louisville on Sunday in the ACC Tournament Championship.

On Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame took on Syracuse in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. The Irish defeated the Orange 91-66. Jackie Young led all scorers with 18 points and Marina Mabrey broke a three-point record in the win. The Irish will now take on Louisville in the championship of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC.

The Irish

For the Irish, it’s all about defense. If they can play well enough defensively, it will take a lot of pressure off the offense. Notre Dame has put up over 90 points in both games and has scored over 100 points in the paint between the two games. But they’ve also allowed over 65 points per game. While they still won by double-digits in both games, it’ll be a different story on Sunday. Louisville is one of the top four teams in the country and this win will mean a lot. If for some reason the Irish go through a cold shooting stretch, the defense will have to bail them out to keep it close.

The last time these two teams played, it was the Arike Ogunbowale show in the first half. She had a slightly more quiet day against Syracuse on Saturday than we are used to seeing. A big game from her is a must to counter ACC Player of the Year Asia Durr. Ogunbowale needs to show the conference why she was keeping it close in the race.

Louisville

Louisville comes into Sunday’s matchup at 29-2. They were 14-2 in regular season conference play, just like the Irish, and beat Clemson on Friday and North Carolina State on Saturday. One player to keep an eye out for is ACC Player of the Year, Asia Durr. She had 22 points in the win over North Carolina State on Saturday. Against Notre Dame in January, she scored 29 points in 40 minutes of play.

How to watch

Tip-off for the matchup is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.