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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Young’s Strong Second Half Propels Irish to Final Four

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 return to the Final Four for the second straight year as they took down Stanford 84-68 in the Elite 8.

After beating Texas A&M on Saturday, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team took on Stanford in the Elite 8 with a trip to the Final Four on the line. They took down the Cardinal 84-68 to advance to the Final Four in Tampa. Jackie Young led all scorers with 25 points. Arike Ogunbowale added 21 points and 5 rebounds in the win.

Complete Domination from Jackie Young

In the first half, the Irish struggled. Jackie Young had just six points in the first half, but the Irish came alive after halftime. In the second half, Young had 19 points and finished with 10 rebounds. The difference for the Irish in the second half was the fact that they were able to pick up the tempo. With Stanford missing shots, the Irish were able to get out into transition and play their game.

It is hard to state just how important Young is to this Irish offense. With Arike Ogunbowale on the bench because of foul trouble, Young made sure to step up and take the Irish back to the Final Four. And what they were doing on offense was not special, but the drag screen off of Brianna Turner gave Young just enough space to sink Stanford.

Rough first half nearly sinks

The Irish played their worst half of the season in the first half against Stanford. They could not hit a shot to save their life and had just 26 points. Irish guards struggled in the first half, shooting just 4-for-25 in the first half. Notre Dame finished with 44 percent shooting from the field for the game, but that was in large part due to a crazy good second half. All things seemed to be going poorly for the Irish and halftime could not have come at a better time. Out of the break, the Irish were firing on all cylinders. They would outscore the Cardinal 58-35 in the second half of the game to eventually win by 16.

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Next Up

The Irish will take on UConn in the Final Four in Tampa Bay. The game will tip off at 9:00 p.m. on Friday night.