WBB AT NOTRE DAME FEB 2 AT 8 PM

The Ladies play at Notre Dame tonight at 8 PM. The game is on the ACC Network. This is a big game for the Ladies, a chance to make a statement to the rest of the ACC. Notre Dame just beat NC State by 3 at home; we recently lost to NC State by 6 in Raleigh in a game in which we did not play well. Kitley was 3-23, Amoore was 5-12 and Sheppard was 3-12. If any of those 3 have a decent game, there might have been a different outcome.

Notre Dame is 17-4 and 8-2 in conference. The two losses were by 2 points at Duke and by 2 points at BC. We have been less consistent.

Kitley will be 3 inches taller than any one else on the court most of the night; but Westbeld and Dodson at 6'3" are tall enough to give her problems on defense. And both are the type of physical player that have given Kitley problems in other games. And former Hokie Dara Mabrey is a starting guard for the Irish, who leads them in 3 point shots attempted and made. She has nearly one third of their attempts and nearly one half of their made threes. Good defense on her will be vital in this game. She does have a history of being a streaky shooter; if we can throw her off her game early, she will be less of a factor.

With their physical forwards ND is outrebounding their opponents by 8 rebounds per game; and they average nearly 14 offensive rebounds per game. The Ladies will have to be aggressive on the boards tonight. All five ND starters average 11 or more ppg. They are a very balanced team.

AVERAGES:

DETAILED STATS:

If Kitley gets her double double tonight, she will have earned it. The guards are going to have to carry a lot of the load tonight. If we don't have anyone hitting from three, ND will collapse on Kitley and beat her up all night. We have to force the Irish defense to spread out and cover the whole court.

LET'S GO HOKIES!