Notre Dame downs Oregon to charge into Final Four

[March 27, 2018]  Senior forward Kathryn Westbeld scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting to help top-seeded Notre Dame reach the Final Four with an 84-74 victory over second-seeded Oregon on Monday in the Spokane Regional final of the women's NCAA Tournament at Spokane (Wash.) Arena.

Junior guard Arike Ogunbowale scored 19 points and junior forward Jessica Shepard added 18 points and nine rebounds in the Elite Eight contest as Notre Dame (33-3) won for the 17th time in the past 18 games.

Junior guard Marina Mabrey contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and sophomore guard Jackie Young registered eight points, 13 rebounds and six assists as the Fighting Irish reached the Final Four for the eighth time in program history.

Notre Dame will face Connecticut on Friday in the national semifinals at Columbus, Ohio. The Fighting Irish dropped an 80-71 decision to UConn on Dec. 3.

"It is so rewarding for this team to get back there (to the Final Four)," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said in a postgame interview on ESPN. "They have been working so hard all year, so resilient and just persevered through so much adversity. It's amazing."

Sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu scored 26 points for the Ducks, who had a 12-game winning streak halted. Sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guard Maite Cazorla had 13 points for Oregon (33-5).

The Ducks shot just 8 of 31 in the second half to finish at 43.1 percent from the field. Notre Dame also shot 43.1 percent but owned a 51-29 rebounding advantage.

 

The Fighting Irish trailed by six at halftime but controlled the third quarter by outscoring the Ducks 21-9. Oregon hit just 3 of 17 from the field in the period.

Notre Dame ripped off a 13-2 surge during one stretch to take a five-point lead. Oregon was later within 57-55 after a 3-pointer by senior guard Lexi Bando, but Young scored the final four points of the quarter to give the Fighting Irish a six-point edge.

The Ducks started the fourth quarter strong and pulled within 65-63 on Hebard's fastbreak layup with 5:49 remaining. However, Notre Dame answered with an 8-2 run with Young's layup accounting for a 73-65 lead with 3:53 left.

Oregon never got closer than six down the stretch.

Ionescu had 19 first-half points and Oregon shot 58.8 percent from the field while possessing a 46-40 lead at the break.

--Field Level Media

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