Women’s NCAA Tournament: Oregon Ducks Need To Keep Pace With Notre Dame

The Oregon Ducks face a tough task against an experienced team in Notre Dame on Monday night.

You hope the games that you play during the regular season lead to something more to test your team. This is the case for the Oregon Ducks on Monday night. Oregon will play in their second ever Sweet 16 Matchup – their second in two seasons. Notre Dame is playing in their ninth. Of course, it helps that Head Coach Kelly Graves has seen this before, but with Gonzaga. He will have his team ready to play.

Notre Dame came from behind after being down double digits at halftime against Texas A&M on Friday. Marina Mabrey was 7 for 11 from three-point range vs the Aggies and had 25 points to lead the team. The Fighting Irish lead the NCAA in scoring in three games with 95 points. The Oregon Ducks have had a good defensive effort in their three wins over Seattle, Minnesota, and Central Michigan,

Notre Dame has just three losses on the season. Oregon has four. The Ducks have the weapons to compete. Ruthy Hebard had a double-double against Central Michigan. Sabrina Ionescu also came through with a double double, but saw her tenth triple-double against Seattle at Matthew Knight Arena last weekend against Seattle.

The Fighting Irish have four players that average in double figures. Arike Ogunbowale averages 20 points and 5 rebounds per game. Marina Mabrey leads the team hitting 40 percent from three-point range. Notre Dame, however, is hitting just over 74 percent as a team from the free throw line, which could be a key to the game on Monday.

Next: Oregon Ducks Head Back To Elite 8

The Oregon Ducks and Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet Monday night at 6 pm Pacific Time on ESPN.