Congrats to ND

[BostonCanuck]

Lawson seems to have inherited Doris Burke’s “I’m not impressed” look.

Ha, you beat me to the punch on that one. Quite the contrast as well from her reaction last year after the William buzzer-beater. But as a former Lady Vol, Kara has SEC blood running through her veins.

 

[my2cents]

Again, we all love UCONN, but we should all love the Women's College Game just as strongly. Let's take the hate out of the game, fans.

If you want to read hate, visit NDNATION/MCGRAWS BENCH
Nothing wrong seeing your undying love and praise for their coach, you are just doing it in the wrong forum.

 

[Checkmate]

They’ll go with Mabrey/Arike/Young/Shep/Turner, Johnson back up PG and pushed Marina to the wing when she’s in. I’d also look for one of the two freshman posts to get PT spotting Turner or Shepard. I think that’ll be their 7 man rotation.

I cannot see Johnson being in the top 7. She has hardly played in her first 3 years. It has to be one of the two freshmen PG/Combo Guards.

 

[Hope]

I love UCONN too, but give it a rest. In a game like this you just don't call that a dirty foul. Heck, you may not like Mabrey, but you can't call her a dirty player. UCONN is all about respect, let's give some to ND.

 

[bballnut90]

Click to expand above. And then trust me on this one... Adam Amin is no national treasure.

I thought he was great in all 3 games. Hope he’s back next year. Can’t overemphasize how nice it was not having Doris Burke call the games this year.

 

[BostonCanuck]

I thought he was great in all 3 games. Hope he’s back next year. Can’t overemphasize how nice it was not having Doris Burke call the games this year.

Oh don't you worry, he'll be back. He's ESPN's new face of WCBB.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I thought he was great in all 3 games. Hope he’s back next year. Can’t overemphasize how nice it was not having Doris Burke call the games this year.

I think it was worse in 2016, the first year that Dave O'Brien was working with the Red Sox and couldn't call the final. It was Doris and Beth Mowins, and then in the old days of Doris and Dave, they had Rebecca, Kara, and Keven Negandhi up on the desk. Rebecca doing games I think is a relatively new thing. Remember she was the sideline reporter for many years before moving to the studio, and then when ESPN started its purge her and Kara seemed to take on a much bigger game calling role.

 

[osceola48]

Never should have been MS St in the finals. Should have been Hines-Allen shooting FT’s in the semifinal for Louisville.

Strongly agree! That was a clear and obvious foul, and very hard to believe it was not called. Would have been a Louisville-ND Final.

 

[bballnut90]

I think it was worse in 2016, the first year that Dave O'Brien was working with the Red Sox and couldn't call the final. It was Doris and Beth Mowins, and then in the old days of Doris and Dave, they had Rebecca, Kara, and Keven Negandhi up on the desk. Rebecca doing games I think is a relatively new thing. Remember she was the sideline reporter for many years before moving to the studio, and then when ESPN started its purge her and Kara seemed to take on a much bigger game calling role.

I love Kara calling games. Lobo does a solid job...I just cringe when she does some of the cheesy pregame videos (last year describing all of the different Asias, this year talking about the different styles from the 80s/90s). I do enjoy how both bring up anecdotes of personal experiences (ex. Kara Lawson hating playing defense, Lobo talking about her role as a post player, etc). I enjoy hearing about their experience since I’ve followed both for so long and they both were coached by legends.

 

[oldude]

Strongly agree! That was a clear and obvious foul, and very hard to believe it was not called. Would have been a Louisville-ND Final.

The ref clearly missed it. Rebecca was incredulous when she saw the replay as McGowan got Hines-Allen with the body and across the arm. The only possible reason that the foul wasn’t called is that Hines-Allen is so strong that she took the contact and still put up a reasonable shot that she almost made.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Hey Notre Dame nice job... well deserved... and Coach McGraw and staff great job this year.... particularly without some of your key horses....

As much as they are a rival.... i cannot think of a better deserved title... so shout out there...

I also love the job Vic has done at MsSt.... and sorry twice in national game and no conversions..... he has transformed things in Starkvegas though

 

[Dillon77]

I agree, but who starts? Turner replaces Westbeld. Do they start a freshmen point guard, or play without a true PG again?

Some early speculation calls for the Irish to start the same three guards (Mabrey, Young, Ogunbowale) and bring true PG Jordan Nixon into the mix, much the same way Lili Thompson was being used before she was injured. ND could use a pg against ballhawking teams like Louisville and MSU. And ND has two other frosh guards in Katlyn Gilbert and Abby Prohaska, who can spell the off-guard and wings. Gilbert also has PG experience, so maybe she's in the ball-handling mix from time to time, as well.

 

[Orangutan]

They’ll go with Mabrey/Arike/Young/Shep/Turner, Johnson back up PG and pushed Marina to the wing when she’s in. I’d also look for one of the two freshman posts to get PT spotting Turner or Shepard. I think that’ll be their 7 man rotation.

Muffet said this weekend that Mychal Johnson is not coming back. So point guard help will have to come from Jordan Nixon and/or Katlyn Gilbert. Vaughn was setting up to be a factor this year before her ACL tear and is reportedly recovering very well. I'd expect her to get solid minutes (Nelson's spot this year, essentially).

 

[bballnut90]

Side note—the unsung hero of the night may be Kristina Nelson. I watched her in games last year thinking, “how on earth is she a scholarship player?” Everything she touched was a turnover or missed layup. She was rock solid this Final Four and developed into a strong defensive presence inside. I thought she was great against McCowan and also played great against Connecticut the first time these teams met.

 

[Dillon77]

Side note—the unsung hero of the night may be Kristina Nelson. I watched her in games last year thinking, “how on earth is she a scholarship player?” Everything she touched was a turnover or missed layup. She was rock solid this Final Four and developed into a strong defensive presence inside. I thought she was great against McCowan and also played great against Connecticut the first time these teams met.

As a proud alum and fan, thanks much. Your thoughts in the past mirrored many folks, believe me. But all the hard work that Koko (and Post Coach Carol Owens) have done paid off this year. The work you noted against these teams...and other ones with tall posts, like Tennessee...was essential. On top of that, she's a solid team player, nurturing player (some call her "mother") and -- from what I've been able to tell -- good kid (oops, young adult).

 

[meyers7]

Congrats to ND. What a fantastic season for them. Never expected that. Next year will be a lot of fun. Gonna be 3-4 very good teams.

 

[Cheddie]

Watch the reaction from Lobo.

What's with the completely opposite non-reaction from Lawson?

 

[wbball novice]

Thanks to Notre Dame, Miss State, UConn, and Louisville for an incredibly entertaining weekend that really put women's bball in the spotlight. One of the hot takes on ESPN the morning after was that the women's final four and championship game were way more exciting than anything the men did. Also, Arike's game winners were so dazzling that they deflected uninformed hot takes about what's "wrong" with UConn.

 

[Ozimoto]

ND had an incredible tournament run. They got hot at the right time of the year. Hats off to them.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

This was a very bitter victory. No joy in the Nutmeg State after this one.

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

Never should have been MS St in the finals. Should have been Hines-Allen shooting FT’s in the semifinal for Louisville.

Totally agree. A foul is a foul whether its in the first minute, last minute, or anywhere in between. Not taking anything away from a terrific Miss State team, but bad job by the refs there.

Worst non call EVER...full on tackle , at half court....ND is more football team than anything else

Also agree completely. Kudos to ND and amazing coaching performance by Muffet, but that's a clear foul at any other point in the game, so why shouldn't it be called in the final seconds? Probably the biggest non-call in women's basketball history right there, with a championship hanging in the balance. Vic Schaefer is too classy to really question the call, but wow.

 

[UConn79]

Congrats to the Irish. You've gotta give credit where credit is due.

Fantastic game to watch. How they battled thru all their injuries was amazing.