ND women cruise, Ogunbowale moves up
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and moved into second place on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list as the sixth-ranked Irish led wire-to-wire in a 97-47 Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball victory over Boston College Wednesday at the Conte Forum.
Ogunbowale, one of five starters in double figures, moved two points past current associate head coach Beth (Morgan) Cunningham’s 2,322 scored when she played for head coach Muffet McGraw from 1993-97. Only Skyler Diggins, who played for McGraw from 2009-13, lies ahead of Ogunbowale with 2,357 points.
Ogunbowale, who had a team-high seven assists, got her points on 8-of-16 shooting as Notre Dame shot 54.4 percent (37 of 68) for the game. Forward Brianna Turner had 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while fellow forward Jessica Shepard had 16 points and 12 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season.
Jackie Young had her fifth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with six assists, and Marina Mabrey had 12 points for Notre Dame, which visits No. 12 North Carolina State next Monday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
The Irish also enjoyed a 48-29 advantage on the boards thanks to 16 offensive caroms, had 23 assists on its 37 field goals but committed 18 turnovers though forcing 24.
Notre Dame, which beat Boston College 92-63 on Jan. 20, was without two reserves. Sophomore forward Mikayla Vaughn did not make the trip as she continues to rebound from a concussion suffered in Sunday’s 97-70 victory over Florida State. Freshman point guard Jordan Nixon did travel but suffered a hamstring injury during warmups.
Taylor Soule scored 11 points to lead Boston College, which shot 30.5 from the field (18 of 59), including 1-of-21 shooting (4.8 percent) from beyond the 3-point line.
The Irish (23-3, 10-2 ACC) never trailed, starting with an 8-0 run in the first 1:21 of the game and stretching it to 18-4 with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter on Abby Prohaska’s second of two free throws. The Eagles (14-11, 3-9) closed the quarter on a 7-4 run but trailed 22-11 going into the second period.
The Eagles, who missed their first 10 3-point attempts, never got the lead under double digits as Notre Dame used a 10-0 run for a 43-18 lead on Turner’s layup, off an assist from Danielle Patterson, with 3:06 left before halftime.
It was 51-22 Notre Dame at halftime despite 10 turnovers that left McGraw unhappy. Turner and Ogunbowale each had 13 points and Young and Shepard scored 10 each, with Shepard one rebound short of a double-double as the Irish had a 29-14 edge on the boards. Notre Dame had a 28-10 advantage on points in the paint and an 18-4 edge in second-chance points thanks to nine offensive rebounds.
The Irish used an 23-0 run to open up an 83-27 lead with 3:03 left in the third quarter. They finished with 37 points for an 88-29 lead after three quarters, hitting 15 of 19 shots (78.9 percent) and holding the Eagles to just 3-of-15 shooting (20 percent) and seven points.
