no rest for the i rish as Florida state comes to town

By TYLER REIDY sports Writer

o n the heels of graduate guard d ara m abrey’s college career-ending knee injury, n o. 7 n otre d ame women’s basketball awaits another challenge as n o. 24 Florida s tate will visit Purcell Pavilion Thursday night in a pivotal acc matchup. F s U (18-4, 7-2) sits just half a game out of first place in the conference. b rooke Wyckoff’s team doubled up Pittsburgh at home s unday for a 74-37 win. The i rish (16-2, 7-1) are one of the two teams occupying the acc ’s top position, sharing it with n o. 16 d uke. n otre d ame has won four consecutive games overall and six straight on the home hardwood. n iele i vey’s group most recently added a 76-54 defeat of v irginia on s unday.

Irish lose a leader m abrey announced m onday evening that she had suffered an ac L injury during s unday’s game.

“The last three years at n otre d ame have been filled with so many ups and downs, but i wouldn’t trade the memories for anything,” she wrote in a social media post. “ i am so grateful for my time in a n otre d ame uniform, and i can honestly say i poured my heart and soul into this program.” m abrey concludes her collegiate career, which began at v irginia Tech, with a host of accolades to her name. i ncredibly, she started all 135 games she played in, scoring 1,472 points across five seasons. m abrey sunk 301 career three-pointers, more than her sister m arina who is the i rish program leader with 274. a bove all else, m abrey has been and will continue to be an admirable leader for the i rish. e ven as she endured a severe distance shooting slump to open 2023, m abrey contributed heavily in other areas. o n a per-game basis, she closes 2022-23 averaging 9.3 points, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals.

Who’s next?

i vey has never needed to replace m abrey in the starting five, but she has the firepower to sufficiently do so. s he may opt for a more interior-heavy lineup with graduate student Lauren e bo, who has played all 18 games. The graduate center stepped up in s unday’s game, contributing 15 points, six rebounds, and four steals off the bench. e bo has averaged 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and has plenty of starting experience dating back to her senior season at Texas.

Freshman guard KK b ransford could also see more playing time as well. The former m c d onald’s a ll- a merican has also seen action in all 18 games, scoring 7.9 points per game. r eplacing m abrey’s threepoint prowess will be especially difficult, as e bo and b ransford have combined to attempt just eight triples this season. c urrent starter s onia c itron has the capability to help that cause though. The sophomore guard buried a career-best six threes on s unday, bringing her season percentage to 48.

Seminoles poised to strike again

Though on the edge of the a P Top 25, Florida s tate is as dangerous as any acc team. The ‘ n oles played within eight points of n o. 5 U c onn in mid- d ecember and have made waves in conference play. They have beaten n o. 15 n orth c arolina on the road and walloped then- n o. 11 nc s tate two Thursdays ago. With an o T conference loss at b oston c ollege and a handful of tight non-conference games, F s U can sometimes play down to competition. e ven so, the i rish can expect to have their hands full Thursday night.

Florida s tate boasts the fifth-best scoring offense in the country (85.8 points per game). n otre d ame is 17th in that category. Their attack is led by Ta’ n iya Latson, the top scorer in the acc . The dynamic freshman has posted 23.6 points per game and paces the team in steals, assists and free throw percentage. Latson has the ability to take over games, evidenced by her six 30plus point outings this season.

Latson is not the only star on the s eminoles roster, as m akayla Timpson is also present on several national leaderboards.

To go with 13.1 points and nine rebounds per game, her 61.9 field goal percentage and 2.45 blocks per game place her in the top 15 nationally.

The former acc a llFreshman selection has recorded three double-doubles in her last five games and nine this season.

Thursday night’s ranked showdown will tip-off at 8 p.m. in Purcell Pavilion. The game will be available on local rsn affiliates and the n otre d ame r adio n etwork. Florida s tate is 2-1 against a P Top 25 opposition this season, while n otre d ame is 2-2.

The s eminoles and i rish will not meet again in regular season play this year.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu