Notre Dame rallies past Texas A&M
SPOKANE, Wash. — Muffet McGraw checked through the list of all the things Notre Dame did poorly early on. Bad shot selection. Lack of rebounding. Not enough stops on defense.
“We got down big. We’ve been down in other games. We feel like we are poised and can come back,” McGraw said.
As McGraw expected, the top-seeded Fighting Irish did have a comeback waiting and it landed Notre Dame back on the cusp of another trip to the Final Four.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half and Marina Mabrey added 25, hitting a career-high seven three-pointers, to help Notre Dame beat No. 4 seed Texas A&M 90-84 on Saturday in the Spokane Regional semifinals.
The Irish (32-3) rallied Notre Dame guard Arike Ogunbowale goes to the basket past Texas A&M center Khaalia Hillsman for two of her 27 points.
from a 13-point firsthalf deficit and are back in their familiar spot of playing for a trip to the Final Four.
It took a fantastic shooting performance from Mabrey and some key contributions late from Ogunbowale and Jackie Young for Notre Dame to hold off
Chennedy Carter and the Aggies. Young had three key baskets in the final five minutes and finished with 15 points. Mabrey was 7 of 11 on three-pointers and the Irish made 10 of 18 shots from behind the arc. She had all of her points in the first three quarters.
“I practiced for it,” Mabrey said with a grin. “I don’t know. I think when the shots are open, they’re a little bit easier to make. My teammates are finding me in great positions.”
Carter, the dynamic freshman for the Aggies, finished with 31 points and seven assists. Anriel Howard added a career-high 26 points and 14 rebounds, but the Aggies (26-10) have advanced to the Elite Eight just once since winning the title in 2011.
Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said he wouldn’t be secondguessing any decisions after this tournament loss. The Aggies were simply outclassed.
“I wouldn’t change a thing. We played exceptionally well,” Blair said. “Even though we were up 12 or 13 or whatever it was, we knew Notre Dame would come back. They were hitting shots. They were doing what they needed to. That’s why they’re the No. 1 team.”