Women's basketball falls, 88-64, to Notre Dame

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU falls on the road to No. 3 Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (SMU) – The SMU women's basketball program dropped its road game against No. 3 Notre Dame, 88-64, on Sunday inside the Purcell Pavilion.

The Mustangs battled but could not keep pace with Notre Dame, the seventh-best scoring team in the nation. The Fighting Irish shot 46% from the floor (33-71) while SMU shot 39%. Notre Dame was 20-of-25 from the line while the Mustangs went just 9-of-14. SMU held Notre Dame to a season-low two three-pointers made (2-18).

The Mustangs are now 10-9 (2-5 ACC) overall, while Notre Dame improved to 16-2 (7-0 ACC).

Zanai Jones had a career game, scoring 20 points, tying her career-high and added five assists and five rebounds. She shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. She has had at least five assists in six of the past seven ACC games. Jones was 5-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of her 20 points.

Nya Robertson had a bounce-back game, scoring 16 points as she went 7-of-11 from the line. Eight of her points came in the fourth quarter.

Jessica Peterson recorded her eighth double-double of the season as she ended her night with 13 points and 13 rebounds. It was her first double-double in conference play.

SMU came out the game strong, led by three halfway through the first quarter after going a 6-0 run. Notre Dame responded with a 6-0 run of their own before TK Pitts scored her first bucket of the game. Peterson had eight points, shooting 4-of-5 from the field in the quarter as the Fighting Irish led 19-14 at the end of the first.

Notre Dame opened the second quarter on a 10-1 run, increasing the lead to double-digits. SMU stopped the bleeding with back-to-back threes from Ella Brow and Zanai Jones. The Mustangs continued to chip away at the lead as Jones hit her second three late in the period as SMU trailed 41-28 at the half. Peterson had eight points and nine rebounds and Jones had six in the half.

Peterson reached double-double status in the third quarter, halting a double-digit run from Notre Dame to begin the period. Jones hit her third three of the game and Robertson added three of her own, but the Fight Irish lead continued to grow as they closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run.

Notre Dame continued to pull away but SMU showed no signs of quitting as Robertson scored five consecutive points early in the fourth. SMU scored 26 points to the Fighting Irish's 27 in the fourth as Jones had 14 and Robertson added 11 as the Mustangs fought till the very end.

// NEXT GAME
vs (16/16) Duke | Thursday, Jan. 23 | David B. Miller Court at Moody Coliseum | 7 p.m. CT | TV: ACCN

// NOTES
Starters: #1 Zanai Jones (G, Gs.), #3 Nya Robertson (G, Jr.), #2 TK Pitts (G, Jr.), #4 Kaysia Woods (F, Sr.), #35 Jessica Peterson (C, Sr.)- 3rd game this season with this lineup.
SMU is now 2-5 on the road
SMU is now 1-3 all-time versus Norte Dame

[Pony4Life]

How much of the last 2 losses is simply getting beat by better teams, and how much is hangover from the collapse at Pittsburgh?

[Charleston Pony]

How much of the last 2 losses is simply getting beat by better teams, and how much is hangover from the collapse at Pittsburgh?

The Pittsburgh loss was brutal. No question about that as Pitt is one of the worst WBB teams in the ACC but Notre Dame, UNC and Duke (visiting Thursday) all have far more talent than SMU does. Jones & Peterson actually played pretty well against Notre Dame but the Irish were +11 on the boards and +8 on turnovers and you are just not going to win when you lose those categories by large margins. That's more a reflection of the talent differential than any "hangover" from the Pitt game IMO.

[ritarivas89]

How much of the last 2 losses is simply getting beat by better teams, and how much is hangover from the collapse at Pittsburgh?

The former. The very top of the ACC is really good. Top 25 ranked Cal lost to Duke 72-38. Also UNC is #1 in the ACC in pts allowed defense. Notre Dame got the current POY favorite back tonight and the ladies still managed to score more than the average pts allowed by Notre Dame this year. The team needs Embry back. They are really playing with one true rebounder the past 4 or so games.

I've been following the women's bball team for over 10 years when Coach Rhonda was still here. I saw a post that said the women's team was 3-15, 7-11, 4-12 and 5-11 in the American Athletic Conference the last few yrs under Rhonda and Coach Mays (0 wins his last yr). So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits. Contrast to the mens bball where we had the some years of relevance in the recent past (Larry Brown, etc.) so easier to get on par with the ACC talent level (plus the NIL $$ infusion to attract some of our current student-athletes).

[ALEX LIFESON]

How much of the last 2 losses is simply getting beat by better teams, and how much is hangover from the collapse at Pittsburgh?

The former. The very top of the ACC is really good. Top 25 ranked Cal lost to Duke 72-38. Also UNC is #1 in the ACC in pts allowed defense. Notre Dame got the current POY favorite back tonight and the ladies still managed to score more than the average pts allowed by Notre Dame this year. The team needs Embry back. They are really playing with one true rebounder the past 4 or so games.

I've been following the women's bball team for over 10 years when Coach Rhonda was still here. I saw a post that said the women's team was 3-15, 7-11, 4-12 and 5-11 in the American Athletic Conference the last few yrs under Rhonda and Coach Mays (0 wins his last yr). So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits. Contrast to the mens bball where we had the some years of relevance in the recent past (Larry Brown, etc.) so easier to get on par with the ACC talent level (plus the NIL $$ infusion to attract some of our current student-athletes).

"So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits."
Isn't this coach Wilson's 4th season?

[ritarivas89]

It’s going to take a few years … in the ACC. The past 2-3 years we had better showings in the AAC than we did under Mays or the end of Coach Rompola’s time. Getting ACC level kids interested wasn’t going to happen in yr1.

”So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits."
Isn't this coach Wilson's 4th season?

[Dukie]

”So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits."
Isn't this coach Wilson's 4th season?

When was the ACC announcement? (A year and a quarter ago.)

FB & MBB are away ahead, and ahead, of schedule. Coach Wilson has more than one year to be judged by that comment.

[ritarivas89]

I want a successful program but I’m realistic. The men actually get NIL money (I read 6-figures for Samet alone) plus the men’s program had some recent winning history from the Larry Brown era. The women don’t have that quick NIL fix and have to compete with schools such as A&M who pay every woman on the roster a minimum of $25k!

I watch most of the games for both teams. The women are down 3 of their top 7 rotation players. That’s not an excuse, rather I mention it b/c those injuries only magnify any disadvantage in recruiting. The talent in women’s college basketball is much more concentrated than with the men. New entrants in the Big 12 are seeing the same struggles - Houston and UCF are 1-16 in Big 12 conference play. We were 2-2 in conference before we lost our 2nd and 3rd players to knee injuries.

[PonyPride]

How much of the last 2 losses is simply getting beat by better teams, and how much is hangover from the collapse at Pittsburgh?

The former. The very top of the ACC is really good. Top 25 ranked Cal lost to Duke 72-38. Also UNC is #1 in the ACC in pts allowed defense. Notre Dame got the current POY favorite back tonight and the ladies still managed to score more than the average pts allowed by Notre Dame this year. The team needs Embry back. They are really playing with one true rebounder the past 4 or so games.

I've been following the women's bball team for over 10 years when Coach Rhonda was still here. I saw a post that said the women's team was 3-15, 7-11, 4-12 and 5-11 in the American Athletic Conference the last few yrs under Rhonda and Coach Mays (0 wins his last yr). So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits. Contrast to the mens bball where we had the some years of relevance in the recent past (Larry Brown, etc.) so easier to get on par with the ACC talent level (plus the NIL $$ infusion to attract some of our current student-athletes).

"So it was always going to take a few years for this program to be attractive to ACC-level recruits."
Isn't this coach Wilson's 4th season?

Yes

2021–22: 14–15/7–7 AAC — WNIT first round
2022–23: 17–12/7–8 AAC — WNIT second round
2023–24: 14–16/8–10