Ogunbowale leads top-ranked Irish to 67-36 win over Fordham

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw learned something about her team Monday night. The top-ranked Irish can win ugly.

The Irish struggled at times on offense, but Arike Ogunbowale scored 13 points to help them beat a pesky Fordham squad, 67-36 in a preseason WNIT quarterfinal game.

Ogunbowale, who earned ACC player of the week honors earlier in the day, had a steal and layup to put the Irish up by 20 points early in the fourth quarter, just four minutes after Fordham had cut the lead to eight.

"It's a great thing to learn about this team, that we can win ugly," McGraw said. "We missed a lot of shots and we were frustrated early, but we kept our composure."

After shooting over 52 percent in a 60-point win over Central Michigan to open the season, Notre Dame shot 42 percent against Fordham, including making just one of eight 3-pointers.

"The offense the other night, we couldn't miss," McGraw said. "Tonight, we couldn't make a shot, but we kept working on defense and never let it get to us."

The Rams weren't any better, shooting just 23 percent, including 2 of 19 from 3.

Lindsay Allen finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Irish (2-0).

G'mrice Davis led Fordham (1-1) with nine points and 15 rebounds.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

The Irish hit just one of their first 12 shots to open the second half after ending the first half by going scoreless for nearly three minutes before Allen's leaner in the paint gave them a 14-point halftime advantage.

Anna Kelly's jumper from the left corner with three minutes left in the third quarter cut Notre Dame's lead to 36-28, but the Irish got a spark from an unlikely source. Reserve center Kristina Nelson scored the next six points while grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds.

"I thought Kristina Nelson was player of the game, she made some huge plays for us," McGraw said.

Notre Dame loosened up from there and turned it into a rout in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Rams 20-4 in the final 10 minutes.

"When (Nelson) made that mini run and got those hustle plays, that revved us up a little bit," Allen said. "It gave us that energy that we needed."

SURPRISE VISITOR

Former Notre Dame men's coach Digger Phelps stopped by the Fordham shoot around at Purcell Pavilion earlier in the day and stayed long enough to give the undersized Rams some inspiration.

"He just walked in out of nowhere and made a great speech to the kids," said Fordham coach Stephanie Gaitley. "He talked to them about one of his teams that was small and had injuries, and they left it all out there. As you can see, we go four guards out, but I was really proud of our effort, I thought we gave a great defensive effort. Their size and talent just over-powered us at the end."

BIG PICTURE

Fordham: Gaitley remains stuck at 99 wins in her sixth year at Fordham, which is making its first appearance in the preseason WNIT. This game also marked the first time Fordham has faced the nation's top-ranked team.

Notre Dame: Jackie Young, last year's Naismith National High School Player of the Year, sat out a second game with a thumb injury, but could be back on Thursday as the Irish continue working toward their second ever preseason WNIT championship (2004).

UP NEXT

Fordham: The Rams play a consolation game on either Friday or Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined.

Notre Dame: The Irish host Green Bay in the WNIT semifinal round on Thursday