No. 5 ND women earn key conference victory over No. 9 NC State

RALEIGH, N.C.

Arike Ogunbowale moved closer to becoming Notre Dwame’s all-time leading scorer with 22 points to lead all five starters in double figures as No. 5 Notre Dame ran away from No. 9 North Carolina State in the second half for a 95-72 women’s basketball victory Monday night in the 14th annual Play4Kay Game for cancer research on the Kay Yow Court.

Ogunbowale also had eight rebounds and a team-high eight assists for Muffet McGraw’s Irish (24-3, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) and could pass all-time scoring leader Skylar Diggins-Smith Thursday at 7 p.m. when Notre Dame is host to Duke. Ogunbowale now has 2,346 points, 11 behind Diggins-Smith.

Ogunbowale’s roommate, Marina Mabrey, had 21 points and Jessica Shepard had her 10th double-double (18 points and 13 rebounds) of the season and the 50th of her career that began at Nebraska. Jackie Young had a second-straight double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Brianna Turner had 12 points and two blocks for the Irish.

Elissa Cunane, a 6-foot-5 freshman center, had her third-straight 20-point performance, scoring a career-high 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting to lead Wes Moore’s Wolfpack (22-3, 9-3 ACC), who started the season with 21 straight victories but now have lost three of their last four. Kiara Leslie added 17 for NC State.

The Irish never trailed in the game but were tied three times, the last time at 47-47 in the third quarter when they went on a 12-0 run. The Irish shot 52.6 percent (on 40-of-76 shooting), outrebounded NC State 45-28 and outscored the Wolfpack 37-2 on the fastbreak. Despite Cunane’s work inside, Notre Dame outscored NC State 62-30 in the paint. The Irish finished with 24 assists on their 40 field goals.

A 4-0 NC State run cut a Notre Dame lead to 12-10 with 4:54, and Ogunbowale came out of the timeout to score nine points and assist on another basket as Notre Dame took a 23-21 first-quarter lead. The Irish had seven assists on their nine baskets (in 17 attempts for 52.9 percent). The Wolfpack were even hotter, making 9 of 14 shots (64.3 percent) while getting eight points from Cunane on 4-of-5 shooting and hitting 3-of-4 3-pointers to keep it close.

The Irish went 3:54 without a point until Ogunbowale fed Turner for an alley-oop basket that started a 6-0 run by the Irish at 7:02. After Mabrey hit a 3-pointer and Young scored after an NC State turnover, Notre Dame led 34-25 on an 11-2 run and Moore called a timeout with 4:44 left.

But the Irish had trouble containing the 6-5 Cunane, who had 16 points (on 7-of-12 shooting) and had both Turner and Mikayla Vaughn saddled with two fouls each. Nevertheless, the Irish led 41-36 at halftime thanks to 11 points from Ogunbowale, 10 by Mabrey and eight each by Shepard and Turner.

Cunane hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter to pull the Wolfpack within 45-44, but Shepard forced a turnover and Young scored for a 47-44 Irish lead. But Konig hit a 3-pointer to tie the game 47-47 for the third time at 7:03.

The Irish then went on a 12-0 run over the next 2:15. A Young steal and basket made it 51-47, Mabrey hit a 3-pointer to keep it going and finally Turner completed a 3-point play for a 59-47 lead with 4:48 to go in the third quarter.

Mabrey had seven points in the third quarter and all five Irish starters reached double figures by the quarter’s end as Notre Dame hit eight of its first 11 shots (72.7 percent) in the quarter while twice building a 16-point lead, the last time at 75-59 on Young’s buzzer-beater off a Mabrey feed.

NOTRE DAME (24-3): Ogunbowale 7-21 7-7 22, Young 8-13 0-3 16, Mabrey 9-14 0-0 21, Turner 5-8 2-4 12, Shepard 8-11 2-4 18, Vaughn 2-4 0-0 4, Prohaska 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 1-2 0-0 2, Cosgrove 0-3 0-0 0, Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Benz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-76 11-18 95.

NC STATE (22-3): Konig 3-7 0-0 9, Crutchfield 2-8 0-0 5, Leslie 6-14 1-2 17, Rogers 2-6 2-2 6, Cunane 10-19 7-7 28, Jones 2-5 0-0 4, McGoldrick 1-1 0-0 3, Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Wadsworth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 10-11 72.

Notre Dame 23 18 34 20—95

NC State 21 15 23 13—72

Shooting_Notre Dame 52.6 percent (40 of 76), NC State 42.6 percent (26 of 61). 3-Point Goals_Notre Dame 4-13 (Mabrey 3-5, Ogunbowale 1-5, Cosgrove 0-3); NC State 10-25 (Leslie 4-7, Konig 3-6, Crutchfield 1-5, Cunane 1-2, McGoldrick 1-1, Jones 0-3, Wadsworth 0-1). Assists_Notre Dame 24 (Ogunbowale 8, Young 6), NC State 19 (Konig 6, Leslie 6). Rebounds_Notre Dame 45 (Shepard 13, Young 12), NC State 28 (Rogers 6, Cunane 6). Steals_Notre Dame 10 (Young 4, Shepard 3), NC State 5 (Leslie 2). Blocked Shots_Notre Dame 5 (Turner 2), NC State 4 (Cunane 2). Turnovers_Notre Dame 10, NC State 15. Total fouls (fouled out)_Notre Dame 14 (Vaughn), NC State 14 (none). Technical fouls_None. A_5,500.