Robert Morris-Notre Dame Preview (Mar 14, 2017)

By AP
Published

For the Notre Dame women's basketball team, the march toward a championship begins on St. Patrick's Day.

"Hopefully a good omen for the Irish," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw told the South Bend Tribune.

Some luck of the Irish never hurt anybody, but hard work is the reason that No. 1 seed Notre Dame has built a title contender. The Fighting Irish (30-3, 15-1 ACC) will host No. 16 seed Robert Morris (22-10, 14-4 Northeast Conference) on Friday night at Purcell Pavilion.

A top seed is nothing new for Notre Dame. This year marks the seventh year overall -- and the sixth year in a row -- that the Fighting Irish have received a No. 1 seed. The Fighting Irish have made seven Final Four appearances and won one championship (2001) during McGraw's tenure.

This season's team is as strong as ever in South Bend. Notre Dame closed the season on a 14-game winning streak and claimed the ACC regular-season and tournament championships. The Fighting Irish improved to 20-2 in their last 22 games with an 84-61 victory over Duke in the conference final on Sunday afternoon.

Guard Lindsay Allen was named the most valuable player of the tournament after registering double-doubles in back-to-back games. Allen scored 11 points and matched a tournament record with 13 assists in the win over the Blue Devils.

"We are playing with a lot of confidence right now," McGraw told the South Bend Tribune. "It starts at the top with Lindsay, but look at our sophomores Arike (Ogunbowale) and Marina (Mabrey). They are really coming along."

Ogunbowale averaged 15.1 points per game and shot 45.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Mabrey also made life difficult on opposing defenses by scoring 14.2 points a contest and shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Notre Dame also boasts a talented frontcourt led by Brianna Turner, who averaged 15.6 points and 2.5 blocks.

Robert Morris might not feature the same caliber of athletes, but its work ethic is undeniable. The Colonials earned an automatic bid with a 65-52 win over Bryant in the NEC championship game on Sunday.

Guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou sets the tone for Robert Morris. She is the NEC Player of the Year and two-time conference tournament most valuable player. This season, she led the team with 16.5 points a game and is one of two players in school history to surpass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals.

The game marks the fifth tournament appearance for Robert Morris, which also reached the postseason in 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2016. The Colonials played Notre Dame in the first round in 2014, which marked the only previous meeting between the teams. Notre Dame won that contest 93-42.

"Seeing our name pop up on the board was very exciting, and there was a little bit of deja vu with Notre Dame since the senior class played them as freshmen," coach Charlie Buscaglia told the school website. "We're going to go forward with a lot of joy and continue to work hard and give it our best shot."