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Message: [QUOTE="FridaFriend, post: 2944969, member: 8582"] I think that Notre Dame players had a lot of pressure on them. Each of the starting players is on a watch list for best player at her position. They were playing at home before a sold out venue and defending a home winning streak. They [U]needed [/U]to demonstrate that they were the best team in the nation and that the championship last year was not a fluke. They had lost 4 December games in a row to UCONN. In the first quarter, the Notre Dame team members looked at Christyn and said, “Who is that girl and why is she playing today? Nobody told me to guard her.” Meanwhile, Napheesa was pulling down more rebounds than Shepard and Turner combined. I think she showed once again why she was the last college player to be considered for the US national team. Even with Christyn and Napheesa tearing up the court, Notre Dame kept it close until the fourth quarter. Then I think it was a combination of frustration with missing shots and with the physicality of the game that caused them to lose their composure. Olivia makes a Kiah Stokes-style block of the ball and Mabrey. Megan bumps Mabrey, who goes down hard. Turner tries to block KLS and falls awkwardly and hard herself. Arike resorts to football plays, albeit illegal football plays, targeting, clipping, hands to the face. But I must defend Arike. She had a double double. She had half of the team’s assists. And she didn’t punch Geno. So she did show some restraint. All that aside, I do still admire the force of her personality and her willingness to try so hard to win. I would like to cut her some slack on this one and see how she does down the road. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach