Notre Dame women's basketball masters Michigan in March Madness second round
SOUTH BEND – Three thoughts as No. 3 seed Notre Dame women’s basketball breezed past No. 6 Michigan with a 76-55 victory at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for a fourth consecutive season and 21st time in program history ...
That was a heck of an Irish encore - in the first quarter
No way would Notre Dame look as good or play as well as it did two days prior when it dismissed Stephen F. Austin by 52 points in a game it led by as many as 55 after trailing 6-0.
Right? Wrong.
We didn’t have to wait long to see if the Irish would pick up where they left off. They picked up almost from the start, smacking the Wolverines with a 32-12 sledgehammer in the opening 10 minutes. You could almost start making travel plans for Alabama and the Birmingham regional then. Notre Dame was that scary good on offense and on defense. All over the place.
The Wolverines likely didn’t know what hit them. It was that quick of a lightning strike in a game where the Irish never trailed and led by as many as 35.
Notre Dame will get tested along the NCAA way, right?
Postseason isn’t supposed to be this easy. Not after the Irish had lost on the road and lost at home and lost at a neutral site to close the regular season.
It's been that easy. Ridiculously easy.
Michigan made a run in the second quarter to put some mild pressure on Notre Dame, which turned it over three times in the first three-plus minutes and didn’t score any points. Niele Ivey needed a timeout, which was exactly what the Irish needed.
Back from the timeout, the lead bumped back to 17 and was at 18 (46-28) at halftime. Yep, this is a team that really was bored with the regular season. Get them deep into March and watch them look like a team that can make a deep run.
So much for that aching left ankle of Olivia Miles
For about 45 hours, the left ankle of All-American graduate student guard Olivia Miles was the most talked about, fretted about, wondered about lower body of an Irish athlete since the College Football Playoff and the right knee/status of Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
No need to worry then; no need to worry now.
Miles insisted that she would play. And she played. She was in the starting lineup and was her usual confident, attacking self from the start. Miles had seven points, three rebounds and three assists at half. When she sank a 3 late in the half, she backpedaled down the floor shaking her and stuck her tongue out.
Miles had eight points, four rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame women's basketball dismisses Michigan in March Madness second round
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