Notre Dame women’s basketball tops Oregon to set up Final Four showdown with UConn
Notre Dame forward Kathryn Westbeld kisses the tournament trophy after defeating Oregon 84-74 in a regional final at the NCAA women's college basketball tournament, Monday, March 26, 2018, Spokane, Wash. Credit: AP / Young Kwak
SPOKANE, Wash. — Kathryn Westbeld scored 20 points and Jessica Shepard added 18 for Notre Dame, which reached the Final Four for the eighth time in school history by defeating Oregon, 84-74, in the Spokane Regional final of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
Westbeld came up with the biggest game of her Notre Dame career despite being slowed by an ankle injury suffered during first round of the tournament. Westbeld had scored a combined 12 points in the previous four games, but she teamed with Shepard for an inside attack that hurt the Ducks. Westbeld was 9-for-12 from the field.
Notre Dame (33-3) outscored Oregon in the paint, 52-38, and outrebounded the Ducks, 51-29. Arike Ogunbowale added 19 points and Marina Mabrey had 15 for the Irish.
Despite a handful of costly injuries along the way, Notre Dame is back in the national semifinals. It’s the sixth Final Four for program since 2011 and old friend Connecticut will be its opponent in a semifinal Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.
First-team all-American Sabrina Ionescu led Oregon (33-5) with 26 points, but the Ducks struggled offensively over the final 20 minutes. Oregon shot 8-for-31 in the second half and Ionescu had just seven points after the break.
The Ducks were unable to find other scoring options. Ruthy Hebard had 12 points in the first half and just five in the second half. Oregon also never got into a rhythm with its outside shooting. The Ducks were 4-for-15 on three-pointers after entering as the No. 2 team in the country at 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame’s defense was a big reason why Oregon shot so poorly. After an offensive showcase in the first half, Notre Dame did a better job of pressuring Ionescu and getting the ball out of her hands. When she did get a shot attempt, it was often a challenged look. Notre Dame took full advantage, starting the half on a 15-4 run, including three second-chance baskets and Jackie Young’s jumper with 30 seconds left in the quarter that gave the Irish a 61-55 lead.
The Ducks closed to 65-63 on Hebard’s fast-break layup — just the sixth field goal of the second half for Oregon. Free throws by Westbeld and Shepard’s basket after Ionescu missed pushed the lead back to 69-63 with 4:50 remaining. Westbeld scored again and the lead was 71-63.
