Women's Hoops: Notes From ND-Michigan

Notre Dame likes to get out and press. By doing it, the Irish can avoid half-court defense, can avoid becoming tired out or lazy and in turn, get to play more offense.

The newfound press-and-run system in South Bend has its dividends, evidenced by Notre Dame's 77-46 win over Michigan on Sunday.

The Irish had 10 fast break points, but ended up creating much more havoc than that, making 13 steals and causing 22 turnovers.

Case in transition: Senior point guard Tulyah Gaines took the ball in her own backcourt. She rifled a pass to Charel Allen at the Michigan three-point line. Without dribbling, Allen found a cutting Devereaux Peters on he left baseline. Catch. Layup. Another basket in transition to give Notre Dame a 45-23 lead with 14:42 left.

"We just try to get out and transition all the time, you know, rebound and run is our focus every game," Gaines said. "Today we saw they weren't getting out as quick as they wanted to so we just kept pushing it."

Gaines said she could feel Michigan getting tired and frustrated with Notre Dame's constant run, run, run style.

The win was Notre Dame's fourth straight by 30 or more points, dating back to Nov. 20 against Central Michigan.

Walk-on guard Amanda Tsipis clinched the 31-point margin with a three-pointer from the right baseline with 27 seconds left to make the score 77-46.

Allen Moving Up
Notre Dame senior guard Charel Allen continued her climb up the Irish career scoring chart. With 19 points Sunday, she moved into a tie for 18th place with Courtney LaVere, who had 1,150 points from 2002-06.

"I felt like my shot was on from the beginning so I just continued to shoot," Allen said.

Allen also had seven rebounds Sunday, making her the 18th player in Notre Dame history with over 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds. She has 1,150 points and 501 rebounds.

Allen also can thrive in transition play. It allows her to try and run away from defenders rather than in typical half-court sets where she would have to come off of screens and fight through multiple defenders to get her shot off.

In transition, she can become lost to defenders.

"When we press, you get easy steals and you get layups," Allen said. "You have to play less defense so we like to press and score quickly."

It's Not Easy Being New

First-year Michigan coach Kevin Borseth built a winning program at Wisconsin-Green Bay, making seven NCAA Tournament appearances in nine seasons and either tying for or winning the regular season conference title outright in all nine of his years in Green Bay.

At Michigan, it has been a little bit different. The Wolverines are finishing a stretch of playing three major-conference opponents in 10 days -- and losing them all by more than 20 points.

"I feel like a wounded fish in shark infested waters," Borseth said. "That's kind of where we are right now. People are coming after us. That's evident by the amount of free throws that we're shooting. They are saying 'You know what, they are a piece of cake. We're just going to come after them and bury them.' That's how I feel at this point.

"I'm not going to desert the kids that played on that court in the end. If we play five kids for the rest of the year, those five kids will figure it out. I guarantee you. I promise you, at the end of this year, you're going to see a different team. If you think we're done playing basketball, you're crazy.

"That's my opening statement."

Michigan falls to 4-3.

This and that
The announced attendance of 10,825 was the fourth-largest in Notre Dame women's basketball history. The only three that topped this game were sellouts of 11,418 on Jan. 15, 2001 against Connecticut, Feb. 24, 2001 against Georgetown and Dec. 31, 2005 against Tennessee. It is the largest non-sellout the Irish have ever had. ... The win is Notre Dame's third straight in the series and second-largest margin of victory. The Irish beat Michigan 88-54 on March 19, 2001 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. ... Sophomore center Erica Williamson appeared to have a back issue in the second half. Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw didn't have an update on her status after the game, saying she was in the training room being looked at.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette