March Madness 2022: Dara Mabrey’s 29 points help Notre Dame roll past Oklahoma

Notre Dame stormed into Oklahoma’s constructing, performed the Sooners’ up-tempo model and dominated.

Dara Mabrey scored a season-high 29 factors, and the fifth-seeded Preventing Irish rolled previous fourth-seeded Oklahoma 108-64 on Monday evening to earn a spot within the ladies’s Candy 16.

Mabrey made 11 of 19 subject objectives, together with seven 3-pointers. She set the tone early, scoring 17 factors within the first quarter in opposition to an Oklahoma workforce that was third nationally in scoring and had constructed its fame on forcing a quick tempo.

“That was one other primary point of interest — simply pushing, pushing, pushing the ball as a result of we all know that nobody within the nation can run with us, and as soon as we do this, we’re unstoppable,” Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles mentioned.

Sonia Citron scored 25 factors and Maya Dodson added 20 for Notre Dame (24-8). In keeping with Stats by STATS, Notre Dame turned the primary workforce, males’s or ladies’s, to beat a higher-seeded workforce by a minimum of 40 factors.

It was Notre Dame’s most full sport of the season.

“Your complete sport, so far as working and our offense, was precisely how I envisioned it so far as our tempo, and we shot the ball effectively,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey mentioned. “We did a fantastic job of shot choice, going inside out. We established inside sport, we ran. After which defensively, our stage raised. We raised our stage in opposition to a very nice offensive workforce.”

It’s the primary Candy 16 berth for Ivey, a second-year coach. The Preventing Irish went 10-10 and missed the match final season, making this season’s run sweeter.

“That is one thing I prayed about, one thing I knew may come to life, and I’m so over the moon,” Ivey mentioned. “I imply, I’m so happy with this workforce. I’m so happy with our journey. I’m so proud to see the place we’ve come since final season.”

The Preventing Irish will play No. 1 seed North Carolina State on Saturday in a Bridgeport Regional semifinal. The Wolfpack beat Kansas State 89-57 on Monday.

Taylor Robertson scored 19 factors for Oklahoma (25-9). Skylar Vann had 11 factors and 9 rebounds and Liz Scott had 11 factors and eight rebounds for the Sooners. Oklahoma dedicated 28 turnovers and shot simply 32.3% from the ground.

Notre Dame led 13-7 earlier than Mabrey scored 12 straight to push the Preventing Irish result in 18. She banked in her final three factors throughout the run to place Notre Dame forward 25-7.

Mabrey made 5 of 6 3-pointers within the first quarter. The Preventing Irish shot 56.5% within the opening interval to guide 35-12 heading into the second.

Oklahoma did not deal with Notre Dame’s early surge effectively.

“I feel generally once we get down by that a lot, we do attempt to get all of it again without delay, after which that form of causes dangerous issues for us to occur,” Robertson mentioned. “After which we would dwell on that, after which one other dangerous factor occurs, and it form of snowballed for us a bit of bit, and we may have performed a greater job in response to that.”

Notre Dame led 60-25 at halftime. It was probably the most factors the Preventing Irish have ever scored in a half in a match sport. Mabrey scored 19 factors and Citron had 17 earlier than the break. Robertson scored 15 within the first half for Oklahoma, however the remainder of the Sooners scored 10 factors on 4-for-27 taking pictures. The Sooners shot 24.2% earlier than the break.

Notre Dame led 85-47 heading into the fourth quarter. The Preventing Irish hit the 100-point mark on a quick break layup by Dodson with simply over 4 minutes remaining.

“I assumed Notre Dame was phenomenal, and if they will proceed to try this, be careful, all people,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk mentioned. “We would have liked to be higher, and we weren’t. That’s on us as a training workers for not having us prepared.”

BIG PICTURE

Notre Dame: The Preventing Irish used superior athletic capacity to outscore the Sooners 34-8 in quick break factors and used its dimension benefit and Miles’ court docket imaginative and prescient to make use of the submit sport and arrange outdoors shooters.

Oklahoma: It was a profitable season for Baranczyk, however it was a disappointing end for a Sooners workforce that had 4 Prime 25 wins and swept Baylor within the common season. The longer term appears shiny. Robertson, a senior, mentioned after the sport that she is going to come again subsequent season for a fifth yr.

DOING IT ALL

One sport after notching a triple-double, Miles almost received one other one.

The freshman guard had 9 factors, seven rebounds and 12 assists in opposition to Oklahoma. Within the two video games in Norman, she averaged 10.5 factors, 9.0 rebounds and 11.5 assists.

SISTERLY LOVE

Dara Mabrey tied Marina Mabrey’s college report for 3-pointers in a match sport. Marina had seven in a Candy 16 win over Texas A&M in 2018.

Dara expects to listen to about it from her sister, who’s enjoying professionally in Australia and likewise performs for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.

“Marina, for those who hear this, I’m going to interrupt your report sooner or later,” Dara mentioned.

STAT LINES

Notre Dame’s Maddy Westbeld averaged 16 factors on 56% taking pictures within the two video games in Norman. She additionally averaged seven rebounds and two steals.