Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, March 2, 2020

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Volume 54, Issue 94 | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Mayor Pete drops out Buttigieg announces end of candidacy home in South Bend

By MARY BERNARD and TOM NAATZ Assistant Managing Editor and News

ND suspends overseas program due to coronavirus

Editor

By CLAIRE RAFFORD

Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, announced at the Century Center on Sunday night that he was dropping out of the presidential race.

He discussed the necessity to support the eventual democratic nominee, his gratitude for his supporters and his vision for the future of America.

“I urge everyone who supported see ELECTION PAGE 4

Associate News Editor

MARY BERNARD | The Observer

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially ends his bid for the presidency after South Carolina’s primaries on Saturday.

College students pulled from study abroad in Rome

By MAEVE FILBIN Saint Mary’s News Editor

The Roman Forum sat empty under a clouded gray sky Sunday morning, the few visitors passing beneath the ancient stone arches wearing face masks. The Colosseum, one of the most visited monuments in Italy, was similarly vacant.

Students from Saint Mary’s made their last rounds through their favorite historical spots in Rome Sunday, preparing to cut their semester abroad short.

Walking the streets of the Rome, sophomore Cait Prestage noted how empty the city felt.

“It doesn’t feel right. We were all saying it feels like the apocalypse.”

Prestage said. “And no one wants to get too close to each other to breathe when you’re out in public.

You hear one person cough and everyone stares.”

Trastevere, a neighborhood on the west bank of the Tiber known for its artisan shops and restaurants, is particularly quiet, Prestage said. Only a few people sat in La Tavernetta 29 da Tony, or Tony’s — a favorite dinner location for Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame students studying abroad in Rome.

Many people in Rome wear

NEWS PAGE 3

masks as a preventative measure, Prestage said, even though the World Health Organization only instructs those who are sick or in direct contact with someone who is sick to wear masks.

Just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Saint Mary’s announced that the 33 students studying at John Cabot University (JCU) in Rome would be immediately pulled from their study abroad semester and sent home. This decision follows the continued spread of coronavirus throughout regions of Europe, including parts of Italy.

Sophomores Grace Floerchinger and Josie Gibson had been with Prestage in Rome for about seven weeks before the announcement was made.

Prestage was traveling in Switzerland with a friend when she first learned that she and the other Saint Mary’s students would be heading back to the U.S. “I was visiting Switzerland with my friend Emma, and we were actually going in a big group to Switzerland originally, but then people ended up canceling their flights when everything started getting a little bit crazy,” she said.

“We found out while we were in see ABROAD PAGE 4

SCENE PAGE 5

Notre Dame is suspending its Rome programs and bringing the 106 Notre Dame students currently studying abroad in the Italian capital back to the United States, the University announced in an email to students Friday evening. The move comes as the coronavirus has proliferated through Italy.

The Centers for Disease Control and State Department advised Americans on Friday to “avoid unnecessary travel” to Italy, raising the threat level to Warning Level 3 — the same status as China and South Korea.

Students studying in Rome will be “f lown back to the United States as soon as possible,” the email see ROME PAGE 3

Buttigieg ends campaign ahead of Super Tuesday Observer Staff Report

Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, is dropping his presidential campaign, the New York Times reported Sunday evening.

The decision comes after a severe loss in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Feb. 29, with Buttigieg coming in fourth place, amassing only 8.2% of the vote and receiving no delegates.

Buttigieg officially began his presidential campaign last

April with an announcement in South Bend.

After establishing himself as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination with a narrow victory in the Iowa caucus, Buttigieg’s momentum waned in Nevada, where he finished third.

Buttigieg’s slip in support has been widely attributed to his failure to build a broad base of support among black and Latino voters. Exit polls in South Carolina show 3% of black voters supported Buttigieg, according to The New York Times.

Buttigieg served as mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020. A South Bend native, his parents — Joseph Buttigieg and Jennifer Anne Montgomery — were professors at Notre Dame.

Buttigieg came out as gay in 2015, and in 2017, announced that he was engaged to school teacher Chasten Glezman, now his husband. The couple married in June 2018. Buttigieg is both the first openly gay elected official to serve in Indiana, and the first openly gay major presidential candidate.

County commissioner discusses desire to serve

By MARY MANSFIELD News Writer

St. Joseph County Commissioner, Deb Fleming, discussed on Saturday what led her to her current position as county commissioner: her desire to serve.

This was the first of three talks in Saint Mary’s College Republican’s Lecture Series, an

VIEWPOINT PAGE 6

new initiative to expose students to local politics and national issues.

Sophomore Elizabeth Zaczyk, president of College Republicans, said the focus of the club this semester was to make students interested in politics and to prepare them for the November elections by inviting local government officials to speak about their own platforms

and experience.

“You can only do so much at club meetings,” Zaczyk said.

“If you bring outside people in with their ideas and especially if you’re interested in going into politics yourself, it’s a great opportunity to learn something new that you might not get at a regular club meeting. I also

ND W BASKETBALL PAGE 12

BENGAL BOUTS PAGE 12

see SERVICE PAGE 4

2

TODAY

The observer | Monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Question of the Day: ndsmcobserver.com

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How much do you think U.S. students spend on spring break? Answer: $1 billion.

P.O. Box 779, Notre Dame, IN 46556 024 South Dining Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556

Maggie Farrell

Keegan MacDonell

sophomore Walsh Hall

sophomore Morrissey Manor

“$1 billion.”

“$5.”

Jack Bigej

Anthony O’Sullivan

sophomore Morrissey Manor

sophomore O’Neill Family Hall

“$700 million.”

“$50 million.”

Van Abbott

Sophie Canepa

sophomore Morrissey Manor

sophomore McGlinn Hall

“$150 million.”

“$2 billion.”

Editor-in-Chief Maria Leontaras Managing Editor Natalie Weber

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Today’s Staff News

Sports

Serena Zacharias Marirose Osborne Isabella Volmert

Jimmy Ward Luke Sisung

Graphics

Willoughby Thom

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Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Daily Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart 11:30 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

No Mass during Spring Break.

“Serious Youth in Sierra Leone” C103 Hesburgh Center 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Book launch featuring Catherine Bolton.

SUB Midterm Stress Relief LaFun Ballroom 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Free Rocco’s, Chipotle and ice cream.

Words in Prayer and Song Snite Museum of Art 6 p.m. - 7p.m.

Rosary and choral performance.

Code Café 246 Hesburgh Library 1 p.m. -5 p.m.

Community help with coding, free coffee and cookies available.

Music Faculty Research Talks O’Neill Hall of Music 4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Free event open to the public.

Educating the Whole Physician Lecture 214 DeBartolo Hall 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Presented by Professor Hil Malatino.

Men’s basketball vs.

Florida State Purcell Pavillion 9 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Irish take on the Seminoles.

Irish Music Concert DPAC 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Featuring Danú and Goitse music ensembles.

“Just Mercy” Showing Browning Cinema DPAC 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Student tickets are $4.

World Rare Disease Day conference held

By CATE VON DOHLEN News Writer

Post Office Information

Theresa Tulsiak

The next Five days:

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Erin Fennessy

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This weekend at the Morris Inn, the BolerParseghian Center for Rare & Neglected Diseases hosted the 11th annual conference on advancing rare disease research, therapy and patient advocacy. The event aligned with the global World Rare Disease Day and was chosen to fall on Feb. 29 in order raise awareness for people living with rare diseases on the “rarest day of the year,” according to the website.

The center’s director, Kasturi Haldar, explained why the organization holds the conference in tandem with World Rare Disease Day each year.

“We need to raise awareness for these diseases because individual diseases affect a small number of patients,” Haldar said. “The more awareness that you can raise, the faster you will be able to draw attention.”

While 30 million Americans suffer from rare diseases, Haldar said drawing attention to these diseases is very important with respect to human health.

The conference began as a small meeting in 2009 as a lunch between colleagues at the Morris Inn to celebrate World Rare Disease Day, where each participant brought a friend who knew nothing about rare diseases. The conference has since then grown

from a lunch to a two-day conference with attendees from all over the country.

Outreach coordinator Barbara Calhoun said the theme for this year’s conference was rare disease patient advocacy.

“We wanted to focus on how the University has many entities that collaborate together to assist rare disease patients,” Calhoun said. “Our goal is to be rare disease patient advocates through the clinical research we do, the laboratory research we do, drug discovery and through our students working with patients.”

Calhoun said the conference’s purpose is to provide a setting for patients, their families, service organizations and professionals in the health field to gather in discussions.

“The purpose of this conference is to provide patients with a forum for which they can share their experiences with the disease, whether it be from the perspective of their personal day-to-day life, their work with a patient service organization that they’ve developed and how that has helped their disease, and also we are looking at how our community, specifically South Bend, cares for those patients,” Calhoun said.

The center offers a class open to juniors and seniors who play a role in the conference, Calhoun said.

“We partner patient families with

students in our rare disease class,” Calhoun said. “The students in the rare disease class learn all they can about one particular disease, and then they get to meet the patient family that has the disease.”

Calhoun said the students also have the opportunity to work with clinicians who treat patients with the disease the students are studying, as well as researchers at Notre Dame who are working to develop treatments and therapies for the rare diseases.

While the first day of the conference consisted of keynote speakers, awards and a dinner, the second day of the conference included a number of panels discussions regarding what it’s like to live with a rare disease, clinical care models and patient advocacy at Notre Dame — among others — in addition to research sessions. The students in the rare disease class also presented posters on the diseases they studied.

Haldar emphasized the importance of the family unit in treating and understanding a rare disease.

“The families know a lot about their disease because they might see a doctor once a year or twice a year, but they live with their disease, and since the disease is quite unique, often clinicians don’t really know a lot about that disease,” Haldar said.

Contact Cate Von Dohlen at cvondohl@nd.edu

News

ndsmcobserver.com | monday, march 2, 2020 | The Observer

3

Speakers present climate plan for South Bend

By ADRIANA PEREZ News Writer

In a joint initiative between the Kellogg Institute and the Office of Sustainability, Therese Dorau, South Bend’s director of sustainability, spoke at Notre Dame on Friday about the recently adopted climate action plan for South Bend.

In Nov. 2019, the South Bend Common Council unanimously approved “Carbon Neutral 2050” to reduce the city’s carbon emissions, according to the South Bend Tribune. The plan was one of the final initiatives of Pete Buttigieg’s mayoral tenure.

“Now we’re in the process of determining the details for implementation,” Dorau said.

Dorau said the plan sets two short-term and medium-term goals. The first is to reduce emissions by 26% by 2025, in keeping with the Paris Climate Accord, a goal that she says many local governments, businesses and states are “committing to in the absence of a national commitment.”

“We already have a lot of the resources and the capacity that we need here in the community, in South Bend,” Dorau said. “So, it’s really just a matter of rolling it out

Rome Continued from page 1

said. Once back in the U.S., students will likely be subject to government health screenings upon re-entry.

with intention and commitment to get to that first level.”

The medium-term objective is a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2035, which will require more resources, planning and policy change, Dorau said.

The end goal is achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Dorau spoke about the need, benefits and strategies behind South Bend’s “Carbon Neutral 2050.”

The need, she said, for climate action, is based on greenhouse emissions data, climate science and experiences. In regards to data, the administration calculated South Bend’s carbon footprint at 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

Furthermore, Indiana-based scientific predictions of climate events were carried out in 2018 by the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment. She also talked about the city’s experience with two major floods in 2016 and 2018.

Dorau prompted the audience to reflect on the benefits of climate action.

“As you look towards your life after graduation, or if you ever were to leave South Bend to move somewhere else, what would you

be looking for in your community?” Dorau asked.

The conversation steered toward climate resiliency, education, green spaces and clean air and water. Dorau also mentioned improved public health, cost savings, economic growth and increased equity, among other topics.

“Because we saw that 94% of our footprint was coming from these two categories, that’s where a lot of our strategies ended up: transportation and energy,” Dorau said.

The 25 actions in the plan, she said, can be condensed into “two basic ideas … use less, and if you can’t use less, use better.”

In terms of transportation, this would mean reducing miles and trips, or using cleaner fuel, she said. In regards to energy, it would mean improving efficiency, or using renewable sources.

Dorau mentioned some current resiliency projects in the city that reduce fossil fuel use, including Howard Park, which is seeking LEED certification, and Diamond Avenue’s bioretention system, “a natural, green storm water infrastructure that filters and stores water before it flows into the river in a storm event,” Dorau said.

She also talked about the solar panels on top of South Bend Fire Station #4 and other strides made in public transportation.

“I want to end with a reminder of what we’re trying to protect here in South Bend: a diversity of seasons … a diversity of faces, of passions, of talents,” Dorau said. “As climate stress becomes greater, it’s going to be harder to do this, to build these community features, and [it’s going to be] more important that we protect them.”

However, “Carbon Neutral 2050” is not without criticism.

Some activist groups such as the Sunrise Movement wanted an earlier timeline in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, as promised by more progressive plans like the Green New Deal.

Garrett Blad, National Press Coordinator for the Sunrise Movement, told The Observer last year that the plan was inadequate, irresponsible and dangerous.

“It doesn’t follow what the scientists say,” Blad said then. “When standing on the national stage, Mayor Pete himself even said that the time for carbon neutrality should be decades ago. Why did he still set the timeline on 2050 for South Bend?”

Dorau told The Observer that “the University of Notre Dame is uniquely positioned … because it is a faith-based and missiondriven organization, to justify the investments and the behavior change a little bit easier than a local government, which has to stay fairly neutral.”

“I mentioned finding champions and lifting them up as examples to say ‘This can be done.’

Notre Dame is setting example in our community,” she said.

In 2019, the University implemented Grind2Energy, a system to convert food waste into renewable energy, and announced that it had stopped burning coal a year ahead of schedule. Among other initiatives, these are part of Notre Dame’s five-year Comprehensive Sustainability Strategy launched in 2016.

“The city definitely considers Notre Dame a key partner in climate change, not only because we share a border, and your emissions are our emissions,” Doreau said. “But also, because the opportunity and the interest in reducing those emissions is shared.”

They will be required to stay home for 14 days and then must be cleared by a physician, according to the email.

Third-year architecture student Leighton Douglass said students at the Rome Gateway are upset and scared.

“We got the notification about an hour or so ago,” Douglass said in a text following the University’s email. “The halls in the villa are filled with people crying on the phone with their parents. We are all freaking out,

it’s insane.”

Notre Dame’s email said faculty and staff have been working with students to meet their academic needs, and all students are expected to be able to complete all their credits as planned for the rest of the semester.

International students will be provided off-campus housing in South Bend to “facilitate their 14 day isolation period,” said a follow-up email to students in the Rome architecture program.

Additionally, rooms in Walsh Family Hall are being converted into studio space for returning architecture students who have obtained medical clearances.

“The [Architecture] School is committed to your academic continuity,” the email for architecture students said.

The Notre Dame Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been meeting twice daily since the virus emerged to evaluate its impact on all study abroad sites and will continue to do so, tracking the evolution of the virus and providing updates to the Notre Dame community, the University’s email said.

“The students in the Rome programs will surely be disappointed that they are unable to finish the semester in Italy,” the email said. “Please be supportive in any interaction you have with them, and continue to be mindful of the many students, faculty and staff who have family and friends in countries that have been most seriously affected by this

global health threat.”

Students currently studying abroad in Rome had mixed responses to the University’s announcement.

“Notre Dame has done its best,“ Jennifer Trzaska, a third-year architecture student, said via text.

“I don’t think anyone in Notre Dame, the Italian government or Italy in general knew what was going to happen but they kept us informed as best we could. We pretty much knew it was coming.”

Third-year architecture student Dominic Grimes expressed his frustration regarding the situation.

“The University tried their best, I guess, but the major reason that I chose this University was to live in Rome for a year and now I feel robbed of that experience in its totality and the whole program now feels like a waste to me,” Grimes said in a text.

When asked what the atmosphere in Rome was like, Douglass said the tensions will likely become more heightened in the next few days.

“Everyone is here chilling but tomorrow they will probably be raiding the grocery store,” she said.

Notre Dame plans to book students on f lights to the American airport “closest to [their] home.” Students will start leaving Rome as early as Sunday.

News writer Mariah Rush contributed to this report.

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Contact Adriana Perez at aperez8@nd.edu

Contact Claire Rafford at crafford@nd.edu

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Abroad Continued from page 1

Switzerland, and it was just like a whirlwind of like, ‘Can we go back and get our stuff? Do we need to go back and get our stuff? Should we just go home from here?’”

Making emergency travel plans was especially difficult, Prestage said.

“Trying to work that out is hard, especially when you’re seven hours away from your family, or the people who are supposed to be helping you,” Prestage said.

In the days before Saturday’s announcement, Saint Mary’s officials told students they were safe to remain in Italy, Gibson said. At the same time, Notre Dame students also studying in Rome were having regular meetings in their villa, discussing the possible consequences if the travel advisories were to escalate.

Saint Mary’s students were soon alerted of their immediate departure, following the heightened safety risks.

“Saturday morning, we all woke up to the email saying we need to basically needed to pack our bags and have a flight booked, but they didn’t tell us what we needed to leave by,” Gibson said.

Students were told to leave Italy by midnight on Tuesday and were

Election Continued from page 1

me to continue with the cause,” Buttigieg said. “ … There is simply too much at stake to retreat to the sidelines at a time like this.”

He did not endorse any other candidate during the speech, but said suspending his campaign was the “responsible” thing to do.

“The truth is the path has narrowed to a close, for our candidacy if not for our cause,” he said. “ … We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify America to defeat Donald Trump and win the era for our values. So we must recognize that at this point in the race the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our country and party together.”

He thanked the citizens of

Service Continued from page 1

thought this was a good semester to have speakers with the election coming up. We can all learn a lot from these speakers.”

A wife and mother of four, Fleming, a South Bend native, attended University of Kentucky on a volleyball scholarship where she later completed dental school.

Thirty years later, Fleming is still practicing dentistry but now implements her desire to serve, not only in the field of medicine but in the political arena as county commissioner.

“During my time as county commissioner, I have been very

instructed to complete a three-step check-in during the return process.

The students said they were frustrated by the lack of clarity from the College, which lead to widespread confusion. Following a week of assurances, the sudden influx of emails from the administration Saturday was overwhelming, Floerchinger said.

“I personally felt a little frustrated at the beginning of this whole frenzy because I was like, ‘What’s going to happen to us, what’s going on?’” she said. “We weren’t getting full transparency.”

However, Prestage said she and other students appreciate the support they have received from College administrators, particularly Jennifer Zachman, the faculty coordinator of study abroad programs.

“I know she’s heartbroken and I know her email must be blowing up,” she said. “No one can prepare for a pandemic, right? No one can prepare. No one saw this coming.”

Floerchinger, Gibson and Prestage plan to fly out of Rome on Monday morning. Upon returning to the U.S., they will be screened and submitted to up to 14 days of quarantine at home, with limited contact with family members and pets.

“We’ve all been super confused what the quarantine means,”

Prestage said.

These students will complete their John Cabot courses online and are to remain mostly isolated for about two weeks.

Interim vice president for student affairs Linda Timm said the College made the decision to bring the students back to the U.S. with their safety as their highest priority.

“Saint Mary’s officials made the difficult decision on Friday evening to bring all students home from Rome for the remainder of the semester,” Timm said. “The Center for Disease Control and the State Department have raised the advisory against non-essential travel for Italy to Warning Level 3 due to the widespread outbreak of the novel coronavirus.”

The College has created a webpage with emergency information, travel advisories and other resources for students currently abroad and those returning to the U.S. While the remaining Saint Mary’s study abroad programs are not impacted at this time, Timm said, the College is closely monitoring the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and the State Department and will “follow their guidelines regarding international travel.”

Junior Zoe Ricker has decided to remain in Rome, through an “opt out” option offered by the College.

This process required students to request a waiver, which was to be signed and scanned to the administration by 5 p.m. EST the same day the email was sent out.

Jennifer Zachman, the faculty coordinator of study abroad programs, told students that the administration had first met to discuss the status of coronavirus in Italy on Wednesday, Ricker said.

“The way the situation was handled overall was messy, and the drawn-out decision-making stressed out most girls to the point that despite the option to opt-out, they have chosen to leave anyways,” she said. “The timing of school wide emails at 6 a.m. our time was ridiculous and could have been avoided by making a decision Wednesday when the administration first met.”

John Cabot University is currently prepping students for midterms, and Ricker said the timing of the announcement made students so distressed that many decided to comply with the orders to leave Rome simply to avoid further trouble.

“Overall, it felt like things could have been handled better, but I suppose there is no great way to do that in an emergency and

with such a great time difference,” Ricker said. “And of course, I am now content with my signed and dated waiver to opt-out.”

Despite more and more American universities calling for the return of their students studying in Italy, Ricker said most locals feel “no sense of urgency.”

As an institution, the College does not support programs that are located in regions declared Level 3 or higher, Timm said, which is why students have been asked to return to the U.S. “This is an ever-changing situation, and we do not know if the risks will become greater if a student chooses to stay,” she said. “If a student chooses to remain and not return home at this time, they are required to sign an opt-out waiver.

By signing the waiver, the student is assuming all responsibilities and risks for remaining in Italy.”

Before leaving Italy on Monday, Floerchinger, Gibson and Prestage said they would each throw one last coin into the Trevi Fountain, and wish for safe travels home and good health for all students.

“This last night is going to be the best last night we can possibly hope for, given the circumstances,” Gibson said.

South Bend, the Pete For America staff and the other candidates — those who have dropped out and those who remain.

Chasten Buttigieg, Buttigieg’s husband, took the stage first — at times, fighting back tears. He remembered the moment Buttigieg first mentioned running for president and how their relationship grew.

“After falling in love with Pete, Pete got me to believe in myself again,” he said.

The atmosphere was mixed before the announcement, which an estimated 500 people attended. One woman, dressed in Pete For America apparel, was crying.

Others hugged, comforting each other.

But the mood was still hopeful.

Marty Kennedy, a Notre Dame sophomore and South Bend native, attended the announcement and saluted the city’s native son for his efforts.

“It’s a proud moment,” Kennedy

said. “South Bend fought, South Bend showed up and South Bend won … it’s a moment people will look back on with hope and pride — in every sense of the word.”

Senior Andrew Jarocki, a registered Republican, attended the announcement.

“There’s not a lot of candidates that I would come out for to see their goodbye or their thank you,” Jarocki said. “I thought Pete was a much-needed candidate to spice things up and add to the discourse.”

Despite his partisanship, he appreciated Buttigieg’s rhetoric, especially compared to the “vocabulary and vision” of President Donald Trump, Jarocki said.

“Pete was definitely a breath of fresh air,” Jarocki said. “ … While I might not agree with it in some ways, at least he has a really bold vision and I appreciated that.”

Mara Trionfero Lucas, an assistant director at McWell, was also at the Century Center for the

announcement.

“It was beautiful to see South Bend celebrate across the nation,” Trionfero Lucas said.

She said she felt hopeful, but sad. Trionfero Lucas hoped the crowd showed Buttigieg the support the city had for him.

“Wherever he goes next, we’ve got his back,” she said.

Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses earlier this month, and came in a close second to Senator Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary less than a week later.

However, Buttigieg has struggled to gain traction since then.

He received 14.3% of the vote in the Nevada caucuses, good enough for a third place finish behind Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden, respectively.

He attracted only 8.2% of the vote in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, behind Biden, Sanders and billionaire Tom Steyer.

The decision comes before 14 states hold their primaries on this

week on Super Tuesday.

There was a palpable sense among the crowd that this campaign was just the start of Buttigieg’s career in national politics. During his speech, the crowd broke into chants of “2024! 2024!” in reference to the next presidential election cycle.

As he ended his speech, Buttigieg expressed hope for the country’s future.

“I firmly believe that in these years — in our time — we can and will make American life and politics more like what it could be,” he said. “Not just more wise and more prosperous but more equitable, more just and more decent.”

Buttigieg was the mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020.

Mayor James Mueller took office Jan. 1 of this year.

proud of the many improvements we’ve been able to achieve for the county,” Fleming said. “For example, when I first came on, there were no department head meetings so I started these meetings in the county and because of that we’re working together and now we have developed our mission, vision and values for our county.

This has led to a renewed focus on economic growth by hiring our first economic development director in the county.”

In addition to updating internal systems to improve efficiency and safety and updating energy systems to make the county more energy efficient, Fleming said her main focus is working with and for the elderly, as they make up

the highest percentage of residents in St. Joseph County.

“We are the first county in our state to become age friendly,” she said. “We will hopefully be able to help our parents and grandparents as they continue to get older.”

With the various number of universities that are present in northern Indiana, Fleming also said she prioritizes improving the economy to bring more jobs to the county to keep young graduates local and to prepare a thriving business community for the future.

“I have been disappointed that our country has not grown for over forty years,’’ she said. “Back in the ‘70s we were the third largest county in the state and now we

have dropped down to sixth, but because of our economic promotion and improving services, we have grown by 3,000 since 2015.

“We have great universities here, but we don’t have good economies for jobs here so our young graduates have to move away to California, Texas, New York. I want to help the people that are here which is why I made the county age friendly, but now I would also like to develop our economy to bring in businesses so young people can stay here and get good jobs.”

Fleming concluded by returning to her opening point that a life of service is both a universal call and the means of finding greatest fulfillment.

“Serving as county commissioner is one of the ways I have chosen to live in the interest of others,” she said. “I believe strongly that when we look to consider others as more significant than ourselves, we will find true meaning and ultimate joy. “ ... I challenge others here today, myself included, to think about how each of us can do more to serve. Where can you serve our schools and work places? How can we serve others who are less fortunate or different from us?

And how can we all serve to the point where it requires sacrifice?”

Contact Maeve Filbin at mfilbin01@saintmarys.edu

Contact Tom Naatz at tnaatz@nd.edu and Mary Bernard at mbernar5@nd.edu

Contact Mary Mansfield at mmansfield01@saintmarys.edu

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THERESA TULSIAK | The Observer

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The observer | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Inside Column

Hello, it’s me

An embarrassingly honest dive into my screen time

Maria Leontaras Ashton Weber

Editor-in-Chief

Welcome to Ashtown

Everyone has been asking me the same things: How does it feel to be Editor-in-Chief? And the second Saint Mary’s one at that? Are you nervous? Is it a big time commitment? Are you excited? I hadn’t been able to answer these questions for a while. How do you tell someone that you’re nauseous and nervous and excited and scared but as ready as you’ve ever been to do something great for something that you love?

I guess like that.

Nothing about placing my name at the top of the list on page two felt real until Thursday night. We had a little farewell party at a local pizza joint (I am a proponent of a nice Midwestern pizza, don’t worry everyone), and the paper suddenly became mine. But the most important thing to note is that the paper isn’t mine or the last EIC’s or the EIC’s before that.

The Observer belongs to everyone who enters the basement of South Dining Hall, never truly knowing when they will make it out of nighty production. It belongs to the students who work tirelessly to create the content that fills the paper while taking on full class loads. It belongs to the tri-campus community that makes our coverage possible.

There are many facets of The Observer that make it special, the tri-campus community being one of them.

It’s independent. It’s student-run. It’s daily. It’s a place people can find friends. It’s somewhere I can call home.

It’s where I wedged myself in freshman year as a little production worker. The tiny office in the basement of the Saint Mary’s Student Center is where I’ve spent countless hours piecing together stories and engaging in hour-long budget meetings. It’s where I realized the work we do means more and reaches more than you’d think.

There are days where it feels like nothing matters and everyone hates what we do. But then there are moments where friends of friends say they read an article and had no idea that was happening, or people I’ve never met before say they’re so excited to meet me. It’s these days that make the grind worth it, that make me want to keep working to make something great even better.

I think it’s time for an anecdote — one that may be a poor reflection on my work ethic, but necessary nonetheless.

As I stare at this Google Doc trying to form some thoughts, my phone buzzes with notifications from my fellow student journalists pausing their midterm studying to find a way to cover Pete Buttigieg’s departure from the presidential race. We’re tweeting. We’re writing a staff report. We’re piecing together information from Chile and grandmas to find when and where the former South Bend mayor will announce his leave.

The chat is full of editors past, present and future, and their commitment is something I can only hope to inspire in others throughout my time as Editor-in-Chief.

I want nothing more than to use my term to show others they should continue working for what they want, grasp opportunities when they present themselves, see the value in being a part of an institution that produces more than another thing to throw into the recycling bin.

I am The Observer’s biggest fan — my Twitter says so — and I hope you will be, too.

Contact Maria at mleontaras01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Every Sunday morning at 9 a.m., a purple notification blinks on my phone, letting me know that my weekly screen time report is available. When it happens, I’m usually sleeping (what kind of person is awake before 9 a.m. on a Sunday?!), so it’s often the first thing I see when I reach for my phone to turn off the incessant chime of my 9:45 alarm.

I don’t know how you feel about the whole screen time report thing, but let’s see if we’re on the same page. Do you ever look at it and freak out because the ten seconds you spend reading the report are the same ten seconds it takes to realize you’re wasting your life away on a screened-in facade of reality that’s just, uh, not real? Then do you fall into a thought spiral of all the other things you could’ve done with your life for that many hours a day? And then do you resolve to do better next week (knowing deep, deep down that you won’t)?

If you’re with me, great! I’m so glad we can find solidarity in how scary we think our screen time reports are! If you’re not with me, you probably think I’m crazy and have a screen overuse problem. OK, boomer. (I’m kidding!! Thank you for your concern.)

When Apple first decided to add the feature to iOS 12 in 2018, I checked my screen time occasionally. But I never got weekly push notifications about it, so I found it much easier to avoid the truth of my overuse.

I switched phones at the beginning of this year and my new device came preset with the pushes. I’m an economics major, so I know that default bias was 100% at play when I decided not to opt out of receiving them.

I’m glad I didn’t. Because, for the month of January, my screen time was disturbing. Yes, I was at home. Yes, it was winter break. But, seriously, how can one person stare at a 6.1 inch screen for an average time of seven hours per day? That’s absurd!

At first, I tried to justify it: “I watched a movie, so that’s why it looks like I was on my phone all day!”

“I had to check a lot of emails!”

“Basically all the time I spend on my phone is productive. I would just be on my laptop if I wasn’t on my phone. It’s fine.”

But, unfortunately, the people who work at Apple are very smart and would not allow my pathetic justifications to fly. They included a breakdown of which apps my time was spent on and tracked everything down to the minute. So, when I saw that I spent almost two hours scrolling through Instagram every day, I knew something had to be done.

I started by setting a one-hour time limit on all my social media. After the hour was up, the app wouldn’t run anymore. Instead, I would be shown a screen that said “You’ve reached your limit.” But, every time that pesky message came up, I felt like my phone was judging me for using it. And I hate to be judged, so I just ignored it in favor of 15 more minutes. And then 15 more and 15 more and soon, I was at or past the two hours I had been trying to avoid.

After break, I came back to campus and my screen time went down a whole hour! Some weeks, it went down an hour and a half! That’s right, I was no longer spending 7 hours on my phone every day. I was only spending around 5.5 hours on my phone! Victory!

Follow us on Twitter: @ObserverViewpnt

Again, the number seemed a little concerning, but not terribly so, and it was a lot better than before and I knew plenty of people who seemed to be on their phones just as often as me, if not more. But, on the second-to-last night of January, I was sitting with my best friend in LaFun, talking about how much we use technology. We decided to compare screen time reports. He looked at his and gasped.

“Oh my gosh! This is so bad!’’

“What is it?!” I asked, sure his number would be much higher than mine and I could gloat about my amazing self-control abilities.

“Three and a half hours!’’

“Oh,” I glanced down at my own screen, which said I spent five and a half hours a day on my phone that week.

It was completely embarrassing, and writing this is also completely embarrassing. Like, how did I do that?

How did I assume it was normal to do that?

The moment was a wakeup call. I started thinking about the moments in which I grab my phone and start scrolling and realized that it’s always during little moments. The ones where I’m waiting for class to start or where I’m standing in a long line for something or really just any time I have a few free seconds.

I check my phone all the time because I’m desperately afraid of missing something. Did someone text?

Do I have notifications on social media? Did I get any more emails? Hm, I should probably check to make sure nothing’s happening without me.

But is it possible that, in trying not to miss things online, I’ve been missing out on the real world?

I decided this constant anxiety-induced, obsessive phone-checking had to stop. So, I devised a plan. I set a 40-minute limit for Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter and I put a ban on all apps (except for the essentials, like Gmail and my daily reflection app, Reflectly) between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Within the first week, my screen time dropped to three hours. According to the categorical breakdown of my report, the thing that went away was my social media use. I went from 18 hours of social media a week (I know, I’m judging me too!) to nine hours. Instead of seeing pictures of “healthy food” and fitness guides splayed all over my Instagram explore page for hours a week and feeding my food anxiety even more, I’ve been using social media for the sole purpose of human interaction. And I’ve found it much easier to be less anxious and more happy.

I feel myself reaching for my phone less and instead engaging with the world around me. When I wait for class to start, I talk to my classmates. When I stand in line, I observe my surroundings. When I walk down the quad, I pay attention to the sun and the birds (and, of course, the squirrels).

My February screen time slim-down has helped me find more happiness living in the real world. It might be bitterly cold, but it’s pretty nice out here. If you, too, have lived in the cloud for too long, I invite you to join me.

Ashton Weber is a sophomore with lots of opinions.

She is majoring in economics and film, television and theatre with a JED minor. Making new friends is one of her favorite things, so feel free to contact her at aweber22@nd.edu or @awebz01 on Twitter.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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The observer | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

The importance of the upcoming primaries and the dangers of polarization Sierra Stinson BridgeND

On Sept. 13, 2017, a gunman opened fire at Freeman High School in Spokane, Washington. The alleged suspect, a 15-year-old sophomore, brought an AR-15 rif le and a pistol, killing one student who attempted to prevent the shooting from taking place. Three other students were injured and taken to the hospital. This is not an event that has garnered much attention, as school shootings are becoming more commonplace. Students in Spokane, Washington rallied for some sort of change to happen: They petitioned their representatives and senators, and some went to the capitol in the hopes of drawing attention to their pleas.

As expected, change is something we never got.

Our generation has grown up believing that our voices won’t make a difference in the life of politics. However, the design of our government calls for the exact opposite. It was implemented for the protection of minority groups. Why aren’t we seeing such change? Polarization.

In Washington state, following the Freeman shooting, legislation was put forward to implement safety measures within the schools: training for teachers, security guards and new bullet proof doors. It was denied. New legislation was then proposed to limit the access to firearms in Washington, which likewise failed to pass.

Ultimately, nothing happened, and the story of the Freeman shooting began to fade. One side of Washington is heavily conservative, while the other is heavily liberal, creating an inevitable gridlock.

Our unwavering identification based on parties has prevented compromise and productive discussion.

Now, Washington has become the paradigm of a recurring problem that we have faced in the last two presidential administrations.

With the next primary, we may be faced with voting for two complete opposites: a far-right conservative and a far-left liberal. This can be very dangerous for any possibility of change for two specific reasons. First, the policies of both candidates are marketed as intriguing and “f lashy.”

However, by design, it will be hard for any extreme policies to be passed through both the House and the Senate, leaving America to become, once again, a gridlocked country.

For a country begging for immediate policy change, the increase of polarization will only exacerbate the failure to compromise. Secondly, following the 2016 election, America became increasingly divided: Citizens rallied behind one of two extremes and left no room for civil discussions. The middle ground was perpetually disintegrating. If a far-left leader is elected as the democratic primary candidate, this divide will grow even further.

What practice, then, can possibly hope to unify the country? Voting.

It is necessary that we find a candidate that

members of both parties can rally behind. This can unify the country to create the change that we have been dying to see. Someone who understands the importance of representation for all groups and can incorporate them into practical governmental policies. On Tuesday, March 3rd, the Super Tuesday primaries will take place, and will prove essential to the outcome of the Democratic primary.

We need to get back to the America in which real change is accessible and where political discussion is praised as necessary, rather than frowned upon. With these increasingly negative and polarized perspectives fed by our own emphasis on party factions, civil conversation will never come to fruition.

The only way to begin the process of reunification in the American people is to identify and support a candidate that promotes unifying policies representative not only of both parties, but of the multitude of voices seeking to be heard in our country.

Sierra Stinson is a freshman involved in BridgeND. She can be reached at sstinson@nd.edu BridgeND is a multi-partisan political club committed to bridging the partisan divide through respectful and productive discourse. It meets on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in the McNeill Room of LaFortune Student Center to learn about and discuss current political issues, and can be reached at bridgend@nd.edu or on Twitter @bridge_ND.

Letter to the editor

South Bend and Notre Dame share a future Notre Dame does much good for our community. And South Bend, a city that is 26% African American and 15% Hispanic, has a future being quietly crushed.

South Bend has a lead poisoning epidemic that exceeds Flint, Michigan, by some metrics. The response by city, county and state has been poorly organized. We have thus far addressed few of the homes in which children are exposed to lead — homes predominantly in neighborhoods that are very diverse and low-income. Lead destroys lives, and destroys lives generationally.

South Bend’s violent crime has surged, with more murders and more shootings. The victims are disproportionately African-American — 60% of homicide victims are identified as such. The violence has spread; the Notre Dame community received reports of shootings near campus this academic year. Beyond the numbers, there is no accurate measurement of this trauma, how it wounds the present and the future.

Evictions and expulsions are on the rise. Local families are displaced in the endless search for decent and affordable housing. South Bend is in the top 20, nationally, in eviction rates. Expulsions drive African-American children from school at a percentage that has tripled since 2015. Some children move from school to school — sometimes multiple times in a single year — due to evictions and expulsions.

South Bend has lost roughly 25% of its public school students in the last decade. The student body of South Bend public schools is now a majority African-American or Hispanic. Of South Bend schools, 70% are rated by the federal government at the lowest level. For five years, local parents and children have endured a busing crisis that has delayed or canceled buses frequently, threatened job schedules and student performance, and placed children in unconscionably long commutes. One

local leader called the financial future of public schools “dire”.

Local minority-owned businesses have suffered from neglect. The city board charged with promoting them did not meet for years. The city of South Bend spent just $700 on African-American-owned business in 2017. It spent just $5,000 on Hispanic owned business in 2018. These spending levels came from annual budgets between $70 to $100 million. A 2019 disparity report described accounts by minority business owners of bias, poor communication and low support from the city and community.

These are symptoms of a city strangling its future. What will happen to South Bend, and to Notre Dame?

Notre Dame could learn from Yale’s progress.

When I was a student there over a decade ago, Yale fostered a bunker mentality. Yale was still reeling from violent acts against faculty and students, which impacted academic recruitment negatively.

Public schools and city neighborhoods just blocks from the university were in visible disrepair.

At orientation, we were warned of the dangers of living in a city with a high violent crime rate, were told which neighborhoods to avoid and were informed that we could summon university-paid vans and buses anywhere in the city, obviating public transportation.

Yet more recently and wisely, Yale has invested strongly in New Haven’s future. The University now provides free public college tuition, or substantial support for private colleges in the region, to any graduate of a New Haven public school with a B average or better. It provides vocational training to adult residents in economically challenged New Haven neighborhoods, partnering with local unions. Yale provides local college tuition support for job candidates from New Haven to gain needed skills. Violent crime in New Haven has nearly

halved in 10 years’ time.

Over the last decade, Notre Dame paid South Bend, a city of 102,000 people, $3 million in direct contributions. In 2018 alone, Yale sent more than $12 million in direct contributions to New Haven, a city of 129,000 people.

The tales of these two cities and universities is undoubtedly more complicated. Yet, for all the good Notre Dame does for South Bend, the city is regressing in public safety, public health, public education and public support for minority-owned business.

I would like to challenge University leadership to consider what more Notre Dame can do. As Yale does with its hometown, Notre Dame could directly contribute much more to South Bend. It could partner with local colleges like Holy Cross and Saint Mary’s, and state universities like Indiana and Purdue, to make college attainable for many South Bend school graduates. It could amp up its diversity in purchasing efforts along with its diversity in faculty and staff recruitment initiatives. It could sponsor the mentoring of local students as a university priority.

I am a South Bend native and a longtime resident of the city’s West Side, the more diverse and lower-income part of town. In recent years, my neighborhood lost our only grocery store, saw a nearby industrial site razed without a clean-up of its debris, became publicized as an epicenter of lead poisoning, found our largest park adjacent to an illegal asbestos dumping site and witnessed the shuttering of many of our commercial corridor’s businesses. Violence has surged. Children live here, needing generous and provident action, for their future and for ours.

Ricky Klee class of 2002 Feb. 27

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Classifieds

The observer | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Adam prince

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Use your time wisely. Reach out to people you have an interest in or have worked alongside in the past, and new ideas will emerge.

You can make a difference if you stand up for your beliefs and do your part.

Don’t ponder over hypothetical situations; look at the facts, assess situations and be a part of the solution. Your numbers are 2, 16, 22, 28, 33, 38, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take time to reflect on what’s happened in the past and the lessons learned. Reset your attitude to help you see all sides of a situation before you jump to conclusions or act on a false assumption. Take care of personal baggage.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be responsible for what you want to happen.

Speak up and share your intentions, and find out if you are on the same page as someone you want to do things with moving forward. Change begins within; be willing to compromise.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Take the time to revisit the past, assess the present and make decisions that will influence the future. Be calm and do not become frustrated. Prepare to let go of what isn’t working for you to clear the way for better days ahead.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Plan your strategy, and prepare to follow through.

You have the ability to accomplish anything. How you handle others will make a difference in the way your ideas are received. Force will not be necessary if you are considerate and include perks for those you want by your side.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take a breather. Sit back, relax and give your body a chance to rejuvenate. Walk away from situations that are restrictive or indulgent. Peace, quiet and balance are what you need to reorganize your thoughts and make satisfactory decisions.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Look closer, and you’ll discover what it is that motivates you. Sometimes you have to venture a distance to experience life and to appreciate all you have. Live, laugh and be merry, and it will enrich your life.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Stay on top of your game. Don’t let anyone take advantage of you, and protect against a loss, poor health and people who aren’t good influences. Spending money or being indulgent won’t help matters. Be kind to yourself.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll have some good ideas that will help you make your space conducive to achieving something creative you want to pursue. Make a change. Don’t rely on others; do the work required to reach your goal.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Expect someone to ruin your plans or mislead you. Be an independent person. Take matters into your own hands, and map out a program that allows you to control what you want. Give yourself incentives to make the task you take on more enjoyable. Romance is favored.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take a moment to enjoy the fruits of your labor. All work and no play will lead to loneliness. Reach out to people who can appreciate what you have accomplished and who bring out the best in you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Do what needs to be done, and keep your opinions to yourself. Personal growth and educational pursuits are in your best interest. Avoid making a premature change, even if someone close to you is prompting you to take a risk.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep the peace, offer solutions and protect what is near and dear to you. Let the past be a lesson, the present an awakening and the future a chance to make a difference. Embrace change, and let go of what’s no longer useful.

Birthday Baby: You are responsive, caring and sensitive. You are charitable and dedicated.

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

Contact Maria Leontaras at mleontaras01@saintmarys.edu

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W Bball

Sports Authority

The dumbest pro sports mascots Hayden Adams Associate Sports Editor

I haven’t yet taken over as Sports Editor, but as the time approaches for me to do so, I feel compelled to send off my predecessor, Connor Mulvena, by writing a tribute sports authority to his old piece on the dumbest pro sports mascots. So without further ado, in no particular order, here are mine.

Los Angeles Clippers You may be wondering what a clipper is. Excellent question, one that I had to google. According to nba. com, after the original Buffalo Braves franchise moved to California, “a contest decided on Clippers because the city was known for the great sailing ships that passed through San Diego Bay.” Yeah … no. Clippers sounds like the team works at a salon clipping people’s fingernails. Or maybe, if they’re lucky, it connotes cutting hair, since that seems a little better. I feel like this name f lew under ever ybody’s radar, as a lot of these did, back when people weren’t into f lashy sports names, and because this particular team has been owned by the “Big Brother” Lakers for almost its entire tenure in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Lakers I’m not going down the rabbit hole on this one, but I assume they’re called the Lakers because the franchise was in Minneapolis, where there are lakes.

Clever.

Sure, they had George Mikan Jr. and were successful, but I don’t think they had enough success to warrant sticking to a name like the Lakers when moving out to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes, and in fact today there is basically no water at all (sorr y, not sorr y).

Houston Astros Just wanted to throw this one in here because it’s no longer appropriate.

They should change their name to the “Stealers” (a la Pittsburgh). You’re welcome.

Washington Redskins You know why.

Green Bay Packers I hardly know her. In all seriousness, when you google “what is a packer,” the first thing that comes

up is a Wikipedia page on “packing,” which I don’t think would be appropriate to discuss in this piece.

Apparently Green Bay got their name from the Indian Packing Company, which used to process meat and had a factor y there. Could they at least pick a factor y that packed cheese? You’re embarrassing the heartland.

Cincinnati Bengals/ Jacksonville Jaguars/ Carolina Panthers I get that the Tigers and the Wildcats are two of the three most overused mascots (along with Bulldogs), but we don’t need this many cats in the NFL. And to those who would argue that there are too many bird mascots, an eagle is the national bird so I give it a pass.

And take it from someone who has a pet cat, one is plenty.

Oakland Athletics Calling yourself an “athletic” is a dead giveaway that you are anything but athletic, especially given that the A’s had to use applied mathematics and economic strategies to become successful. Coming from a nerd, that’s pretty nerdy.

It’s also incredibly pretentious. Given that people who compete in sports are called “athletes,” it’s like they thought “I don’t want to be a barbaric ‘athlete,’ I want to be an ‘athletic.’” It’s like Gw yneth Paltrow calling her butler a “house manager” (something she actually did).

W henever I think of dumb mascots I harken back to an episode of “The Big Bang Theor y” where Sheldon enlightened me by saying the point of a mascot is to intimidate your opponent, then said no animal matches the strength pound-forpound of an army ant. Jokes aside, I get the pride teams and cities take in their mascots, but let’s not forget the power a name holds.

Something generic like the “Flyers” can result in you having too much leeway in your physical mascot, so you wind up with something like Gritty, who was sued for (allegedly) punching a kid.

C’mon guys. We can do better than that.

Contact Hayden Adams at hadams3@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Continued from page 12

four to open the final stanza, yet another three from Brunelle and a layup from Sniezek put the Irish back in front. She scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Florida State scored on back to back possessions to retake the lead, but the Irish answered with buckets from Vaughn and Sniezek. Florida State retook the lead again, but Sniezek tied the game with a pair of free throws

Hockey Continued from page 12

But just in the knick of time, sophomore forward Alex Steeves and senior forward Cam Morrison scored back-to-back goals to move the game into a stalemate and forcing an overtime period.

In the overtime period, neither team was able to find the game-winning goal.

Another overtime period was played this time with just three players playing on each side of the ice.

After time expired in the second overtime, the game moved into a sudden death shootout.

Irish senior goaltender Cale Morris made a clutch save to open up the shootout, and on the very next attempt, senior defenseman

9

with just under five minutes to play. The teams traded baskets over the ensuing possessions, and Florida State tied it with a layup with just over a minute remaining.

Sniezek came through with a tough bucket inside to put the Irish up, 66-64. They defended well, forcing a turnover late, and Walker had a chance to end the game with two free throws. She split the pair, extending the lead to three points, and Florida State had a chance to tie.

Gilbert fouled the shooter on the three point attempt with

less than a second to go, giving the Seminoles three free throws. She missed the first, but made the second. She attempted to miss the third on purpose, to give Florida State a chance to win with a tip-in.

The shot didn’t hit the rim, and Notre Dame was able to narrowly escape with the win.

Notre Dame will now head to the ACC tournament with a lot of momentum, having won their last three games. They take on Pittsburgh in the opening round of the tournament Wednesday afternoon.

Tory Dello netted one for the Irish to secure the win.

Irish head coach Jeff Jackson spoke on his teams win after the game.

“It has been one of those wild years. We go up, down and all around, through it all I am proud of this group,” Jackson said. “I think that we probably could have done more throughout the year but it has been a strange year — probably one of the strangest I’ve been involved in. … But they have all stayed positive, they have done a great job off the ice.

The culture is strong. It is just like we have been so inconsistent [with] some parts of our game … but I am proud of what they did tonight.”

Heading into postseason play, the Irish will head to Minneapolis to face off against the Golden Gopher

in a best-of-three series for the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

Jackson said that although the team enjoys their home fans, they have established a sort of road warrior presence throughout the season.

“I think we are more focused on the road,” he said.

“We have a set schedule — a set routine — we don’t have to worry about going to classes on Friday morning.

They are together at the hotel, they have their normal routine after pre-game meal where they generally go take a nap. We are just generally more focused.”

Next up, the Irish will be looking to advance forward in the Big Ten Tournament when they face off against Minnesota in a three-game series in Minneapolis on March 6-8.

Hannah Huelskamp | The Observer

Irish senior forward Cam Morrison and sophomore forward Michael Graham skate down the ice past multiple defenders during a 3-3 tie against Michigan State at Compton Family Ice Arena on Saturday.

The Observer accepts classifieds every business day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame office, 024 South Dining Hall. Deadline for next-day classifieds is 3 p.m. All classifieds must be prepaid. The charge is 5 cents per character per day, including all spaces. The Observer reserves the right to edit all classifieds for content without issuing refunds.

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Sports

The observer | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Bouts Continued from page 12

the end of the fight. Toward the end, it was clear that both fighters had run out of steam as they struggled to get much power behind their punches. In the end, Niceley controlled most of the fight and was declared the winner by split decision.

“This is a sport I never saw myself doing,” Niceley said. “This is my first year doing it. In high school, I played golf, so I really had no experience with anything close to what boxing was like. It feels great to come out my first year, put in a lot of hard work just like all the other guys, and see it pay off this evening.”

147 pounds Thomas “Tex” Edwards def.

Evan “Fringe Guy” Muller Edwards, a sophomore from Knott Hall, and Muller, a junior in Zahm House, both got the second fight of the night started.

Both fighters came out of the gates swinging, and Edwards landed some big punches early on. Muller held his own, however, and the first minute or so was back and forth for the most part. Toward the end of the round, Edwards defended well, which allowed him to finish the round on the attack. Muller was able to hang in there and land plenty of blows of his own as well.

The second round began with Edwards flying out of the gate and going right after Muller. Edwards’ punches began to look like they had a bigger effect on Muller toward the end of the round, as Muller began to show clear signs of fatigue. Edwards had the momentum on his side throughout the second round, and he ended the round by another series of hard punches that forced Muller on the defense.

Going into the third round, Edwards had one goal.

In the third round, Edwards continued to exert his dominance, forcing the referee to give Muller a count early on. It appeared that Muller had no answer for Edwards’ punishing punches. It was clear that Edwards had dominated the fight, and he was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

Edwards never expected to win a finals match when the tournament began.

“Ever since the beginning of prelims, I never really thought that I would make it this far,” Edwards said. “I never really thought that I would get that involved with the club.”

The mission statement for Bangladesh and the motivating captains are two things that led to Edwards’ success.

“Ever since I became committed and started making practice everyday, and learning what the club is all about with the missions in Bangladesh, I sort of fell in love with it with all the guys in the club and all the captains. They have been major role models to me, and I have always looked up to them since the first day of practice,” he said.

148 pounds Ryan “Short Stack” Smith def. Tim “Dirty T” Mikulski Smith, a junior from Morrissey Manor faced up against Mikulski, a senior from Duncan Hall in this bout. Both fighters came out of the gate a bit sluggish, but Smith was able to slip a haymaker from Mikulski and land the first big punches of the fight. Smith was once again able to land some big punches moments later, but this time Mikulski was able to respond and connect on some swings against Smith. As the first round commenced, it was clear that this fight was going to be a tightly contested battle.

Smith started the second round by connecting on some combos against Mikulski. He then managed to slip some of Mikulski’s punches and land some big blows to Mikulski. Mikulski was able to grab some momentum later in the round as Smith began to show some clear signs of early fatigue. As the second round drew to a close, both fighters engaged in some back and forth fighting, and it was still unclear who the winner was going to be.

“I feel like I had a really good second round, especially with the way I finished. I felt that I started figuring it out a bit and figured him out a bit,” Smith said. “He got a little predictable, so I was able to exploit that a bit. It was a really close fight either way. It was definitely never a sure thing in my mind, but the second round definitely stuck out as something that I really finished strong in.”

The third round saw Mikulski come out on the offensive, but Smith was able to defend well and avoid large blows. Smith grabbed some momentum at one point to land some combos and force Mikulski on the ropes. Mikulski was able to hang in, though, and with 30 seconds to go in the fight Mikulski went after Smith. As the fight ended, both fighters once again each landed some large blows of their own, and it was evident that this fight would be a tough one to call for the judges. In the end, the winner by split decision was Smith.

After the fight had ended, Smith was visibly emotional and explained that the victory meant a lot to him.

“This is everything. My first experience with Bengal Bouts was six years ago. My brother, who I gave a hug to, boxed for two years here.

I got a chance to watch him as a freshman in high school,” Smith said. “When I got here, I knew I wanted to join this program and this great tradition. The last two years I have worked my butt off to be a champion. The fact that I did it means everything. This is one of the best moments of my life.”

153 pounds Aidan “Ace” Becklund def.

Lenny “Typhoon” Calvo Becklund, a sophomore in Dunne, came out aggressive in this match, going straight for his opponent’s body but Calvo, a junior representing Keough, was quick

to respond, shredding the body of Becklund. Becklund was able to land a couple of big headshots, but Calvo clapped back with some right hooks of his own that connected with the head of Becklund.

Calvo came out strong in the second sensing fatigue in his opponent. He quickly slipped through Becklund’s defense and bloodied his nose up pretty badly. Becklund was not down and out quite yet, though. He pushed through and eventually landed some shots of his own after the early round salvo from Calvo. After two rounds, it appeared Calvo had the advantage, and the bloodied Becklund would have to have a tremendous round to come away with a title.

But Becklund has fighting in his blood — his father, Vance, competed in the Bengal Bouts from 1987 to 1990. Thus, Becklund opened the third on the attack. He landed some heavy blows, and the two continued to go back and forth until about midway through the round, when Becklund unloaded on Calvo with a huge combo of hooks, landing to the head of Calvo and forcing the referee to pause the fight. Becklund retreated to the corner and waved his arms at the crowd in celebration as the referee checked Calvo’s headgear. This swing was sufficient enough for the judges to rule Becklund the winner by split decision.

Becklund spoke on his strategy and performance after the fight.

“My strategy was just staying out of range, when he came in to strike be active the whole time — give it my all,” Becklund said.

He also touched on his huge third-round comeback he had to seal the decision and how much the title means to him.

“I was thinking about — I was like ‘I can’t lose, there is no way I’m losing this bout,’ so I just went into it with everything I had. Those last 10 seconds I could barely breathe and I just kept going and going,” he said. “It means the world. Part of it is [that] my dad did the Bengal Bouts, and he was very good, so I knew I had to get at least his record or better, and so far we are on the right track, so it meant a lot to me.”

161 pounds Johnny “The Missing” Link def. “Cool Hands” Luke Fraser Both fighters came out hungry for blood in this 161-pound final.

Both fighters clashed in the center ring to start the action. Link was patient with his attacks and retreated at the right times. With several left-left-right combos and then unleashing a flurry of hooks on his opponent Link was able to force Fraser against the ropes on several occasions in the first round. Fraser, a junior in Alumni Hall did manage to give Link a taste of his own medicine on one occasion, but Link ultimately remained dominant through the first.

Link, a senior captain representing O’Neill Family Hall forced Fraser against the ropes once early in the second, but Fraser flipped it around and soon Link was fighting with his back to the ropes. Despite this early exchange, Link would recover and it was he who found

himself forcing Fraser to the ropes as the bell to conclude the second round rang.

Fraser opened the third and final round as the aggressor but he was too far behind at this point of the fight. Link gave Fraser everything he had left in the third and final round bullying Fraser against the ropes on several occasions. For his effort Link was declared winner by unanimous decision. Later in the night, Link was also awarded the Bengal Bout award for the best boxer in the tournament.

Link spoke on his performance after the fight.

“It was difficult mentally in terms of preparation just because I knew I had one more fight left in my Bengal Bouts career,” Link said.

“Especially after taking a year off to go abroad and coming back realizing how much I missed this club — this sport. … At first, it was just about getting over that mental hurdle and telling myself that I need to own the moment and enjoy it so as soon as I started to approach it with a smile on my face, I realized I could just take the moment.”

He also said he was more proud of the club’s accomplishments than his own victory in the ring.

“Honestly, it sounds corny but I’m more excited about everything the club was able to accomplish this year,’’ Link said. “The number one priority was to blow fundraising out of the water, given that it was the 90th year. What we thought about every day and what I pretty much texted Parker Revers, the president, about every day is how we would hope to honor the 89 years of boxing that came before us.

“Our fundraising numbers were through the roof, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys and how hard they worked, I had a blast corning everyone. I’m glad that this worked out as well, but I’m really just more thankful for the experience that the entire club was able to have.

Link also touched on winning the Bengal Bouts award.

“Completely unexpected,” he said. “I sort of always thought of myself — early on in Bengal Bouts career — freshman, sophomore year — as sort of a brawler, a guy that just liked to scrap. I took a step back this year and realized that I needed to add in some more technical skills.

“I can’t thank some of the guys enough who worked with me.

Matt Gelchion, who works with the University, Taylor Vucinich, who’s a senior captain who wasn’t able to compete this year. All the other coaches that were able to help me out, develop some skills to actually become a little bit more of a boxer, so I’m just in complete shock right now to be honest.”

168 pounds Kyle “Nemo” Mettler def. Pat “Good Guy” Rafferty Both fighters came out swinging early, but both were failing to land as their defensive sensitivity early on was far too heightened. Mettler, a junior in Alumni, slipped after the senior from Duncan, Rafferty landed a couple of hooks, but this would not result in any deduction of point for Mettler. Mettler was

clearly frustrated with the trip, as it meant that Rafferty was fighting with a slight advantage after this, and he would go on to get the better of Mettler in the remainder of the round. Mettler was fighting with his back to a corner as the bell to conclude the first round ended.

Mettler played it cautious in the second, not wanting to risk another slip perhaps, and kept his opponent at bay. Mettler retreated at the ideal times and put pressure on his opponent at the right time; even so, on two occasions in the second the ultra-aggressive burst of attack from Rafferty forced him against the ropes.

Mettler landed one to Rafferty’s head to start the third and final round, and he was able to keep the pressure on landing a few big right hooks and a couple left jabs mixed in for good measure.

He landed a few blows back on Mettler, but ultimately it would not be enough, as Mettler, with his patient and controlled fighting style, was declared winner by split decision. Mettler came just shy of winning a title last year in a dogfight of a match last year between him and then-senior captain Michael Feijoo, where Feijoo was declared winner by split decision. Mettler spoke on his victory after his fight.

“I just felt really confident in the work I put in, so I just wanted to stick to what I’ve been drilling in the last few weeks,” Mettler said.

“My defense has been feeling a lot better, it was definitely a defensive focus against him. I knew he was going to put a lot of pressure on me, so I had a big focus on keeping my hands up, using my blocks, slips and just controlling the center of the ring.”

170 pounds Parker Revers Slahor

def. Luke

Slahor, a freshman representing Duncan, was able to land some early shots on his senior captain Revers, who lives off campus.

However, Revers was well-covered when Slahor was on the attack, forcing him to connect with his gloves instead of Slahor’s desired target, his head. Both fighters remained calm through the first, and the bout appeared to be a deadlock at the end of the round.

Slahor was able to land some big hooks in the second round, but Revers was quick to respond, forcing Slahor against the ropes on occasions in the second. Revers came out as the aggressor in the third and final round but Slahor countered back.

They battled back and forth in the third, but by the time the bell to conclude the fight ended, both fighters were too tired to continue swinging and instead embraced each other and had the referee separate them only to embrace once more, and finally one more time after the competition was over. Revers was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Revers spoke about his strategy following his victory.

“The goal was to bring it into some deep water,” Revers said.

“I’ve been working on my cardio this whole season. I just know that if I apply a pretty consistent pace

Sports

Bouts Continued from page 10

the first and second rounds, then the third round should be mine. It worked, but that being said Luke was super tough and gave it his all the third round.”

Revers said winning the title as president of the club means much “It means so much,” he said. “I mean, you see the competition aspect, but the amount of behind the scenes action and the amount of training we do for the club — our organization with 200-plus guys that work with us, with Baraka Bouts — it is the equivalent of a fulltime job often, so to end it like this is superb.”

180 pounds Dan “Pilgrim” O’Brien def.

Chris “tmas” Lembo (Dillon Hall) The first round was an action-packed one, as defending 173-pound champion and junior captain from St. Edwards Hall, O’Brien came out firing against fellow senior captain Chris Lembo.

Lembo, representing Dillon Hall, responded with a series of his own hooks and jabs, but as the round progressed, O’Brien gained position and kept Lembo on the ropes, which fit each boxer’s respective styles.

“I like to march forward, and he’s very comfortable on the ropes. He has a very strong cross, and he likes to counterpunch,” O’Brien said after the bout, “My mentality was sticking with what I was comfortable with and not walking into his cross.”

Lembo entered the second round needing something a little extra to get his way back into the bout, and he had it early, connecting on a few blows, but O’Brien kept Lembo pinned in the corner, and he eventually turned his strong position into a series of hard jabs that had him in control heading into the third round.

With two strong crowds from their respective dorms providing a raucous environment, both fighters came out swinging — O’Brien looking to secure a victory and Lembo looking for some decisive blows. The Dillon Hall senior landed two hard shots early in the round, showing impressive fight.

O’Brien was extremely complimentary of his fellow captain and finals opponent.

“He’s a phenomenal boxer, and the best teammate.”

However, a miracle comeback was not to be, as O’Brien rallied back with his signature thundering right hook. The blow temporarily sent Lembo to his knees, and although he bounced back up, the referee stopped the contest, handing O’Brien a second consecutive Bengal Bouts title.

182 pounds Luke “Big Chunky” SheridanRabideau def. Greg “Yellow Cat” DeFalco In a young final featuring a sophomore in Sheridan-Rabideau and a freshman in DeFalco, it was the Alumni freshman who came

ndsmcobserver.com | monday, march 2, 2020 | The Observer

out swinging and getting the early jump in the 182-pound final. The two boxers tied each other up multiple times throughout the round, and neither fighter gained a significant advantage, but “Big Chunky” landed a big blow on his opponent right before the first bell, much to the pleasure of his hall mates in Kennan.

The second round began with “Big Chunky” seizing his momentum from the first round and slamming DeFalco off balance with a series of combinations.

“I love swinging, but I needed to keep it under control and tried to stick to a plan,” Sheridan-Rabideau said after the bout.

After the referee stopped the match briefly to check on DeFalco, the Keenan sophomore unleashed another series of big blows, punctuated by another brutal right hook that forced another pause in the bout. The referee restarted the bout one more time, but another brutal combination from SheridanRabideau dazed DeFalco one more time, forcing the referee to stop the contest and ending the freshman’s valiant run to the finals. When the referee announced the result, “Big Chunky” responded with a roar and fist bump, garnering a massive response from a strong Keenan contingent.

“It means the world to win,” Sheridan-Rabideau said. “So many incredible people put in a lot of work this year, and I’m so appreciative to all of them.”

191 pounds Will “Manly” Hanley def.

Sam “The Hammer” Miller Facing a freshman opponent, Hanley, a junior, decided on an extremely aggressive approach out of the gate, as he pushed Miller all over the ring, but the St. Edwards freshman was able to keep his hands high and avoid giving up any decisive blows, but it was “Manly” clearly in control of the pace and landing most of the punches.

“I came out really hard in the

first round, and then I tried to cool it off and work more tactically,” Hanley said after leaving the ring.

After attacking with a fake left followed right jab most of the round, Miller landed a strong blow at the end by attacking with a straight left jab that caught Hanley off guard, and kept the match relatively level after one round.

As the second round progressed, it became clear that Miller would need to maintain long periods of strong defense, and land some counter punches when possible.

He followed that recipe to the letter in the middle period, taking one powerful right hook but largely dancing and evading his way out of trouble. “The Hammer” fought back with back-to-back right hooks and then a quick left jab, but the freshman then retreated back on defense, keeping his hands high while the taller Hanley probed for a gap. The second bell sounded, and the fight progressed to the third round with the result very much in doubt.

Hanley seemed to feel a need to make a statement early and he came at Miller like a bull to start the third round, landing some strong body blows in the early stages. The Stanford Hall junior maintained that strategy, staying low on Miller and delivering powerful jabs into his ribs. Miller responded well defensively, but he struggled to land any more significant blows before the bout ended.

Despite the hotly contested bout, Hanley claimed a victory by a unanimous decision. He spoke to the dedication it took to make his way to the finals.

“It shows me that I can do a lot more than I thought I was capable of,” he said.

202 pounds Matt “Money” Cyrs def. Kevin “The Wild One” Sanchez The match looked like it was going to have a quiet first round.

And then, with one thundering hit, the bout was over. until it wasn’t. Cyrs, a senior in St.

Edwards took a hard blow early, but he responded well with some defensive adjustments.

“I got hit hard right in the face quickly, and it was a reminder to adjust my defense, tighten up my gloves,’’ Cyrs said. “Once I did that, I felt better.”

Cyrs sent Sanchez, a off-campus graduate student, spinning into the ropes with a thundering right hook to the side of his headgear.

“I just tried to utilize my jab to create space and look for any openings with the hook,” Cyrs said on his strategy after the bout.

After an extended pause, the referee deemed the contest over and declared the Cyrs the winner after barely 30 seconds of boxing. Cyrs was ecstatic after the victory.

“When I came to Notre Dame, I knew this was one of the things I wanted to do, so to win the finals as a senior,” Cyrs said. “I need some time to let it sink in, I’m still speechless”.

Heavyweight Ali “Mega Chungus” Thomas Jr. def. Fr. Nathan “Last Rights” O’Halloran Defense was optional in the first round of the heavyweight battle between O’Halloran, supported by fellow grad students and Holy Cross priests, and Thomas, who was spurred on by a small but vocal crowd from Duncan Hall. With both fighters landing blows seemingly every second, it was difficult to discern who was creating an advantage. “Last Rights” used his longer reach to pound his opponent from the outside, delivering large quantities of body shots. “Mega Chungus” responded by finding a few jabs and hooks around and between the gloves of “O’Halloran,” before the bell ended the wild first round.

After a calmer start to the second round, the Duncan Hall representative pounded O’Halloran, the offcampus alumnus into a corner, but

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the priest was able to fight his way off the ropes before taking a jab to the headgear. “Last Rights” responded in kind with a strong combination that was punctuated with a strong blow that sent Thomas bouncing off the ropes. However, before the second bell sounded, “Mega Chungus” regained his momentum with a pair of thundering right hooks that landed squarely on his opponent’s headgear, giving him a slight advantage heading into the third round.

“I was trying to be strong defensively, take the center of the ring, and outlast him.” Thomas said. “The first two rounds were very close, but I ended the second round strong and had a strong third round, knocked him down a couple times.”

Thomas came out aggressive in the third round, and O’Halloran was forced to backpedal quickly, losing his balance and falling the mat. However, he quickly got up and came back strong with a series of jabs. However, “Mega Chungus” demonstrated impressive endurance, and he picked his spots well, twice more forcing his opponent into the corner. Although O’Halloran kept his hands high, it was all he could do to finish the round without surrendering a massive blow. Thomas talked a little about his training regimen that allowed him to maintain his energy throughout the round.

“I’ve been training for four years, but I finally got that champion’s jacket,’’ he said. “I tried to add more cardio and lifting, and I joined the cheerleading team my junior year, which helped me gain some muscle, and get more in shape.”

Ultimately, Thomas claimed the victory via unanimous decision, his strong and consistent performance earning him the heavyweight title and concluding the 90th Bengal Bouts Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu, Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu and Jimmy Ward at wward@hcc-nd.edu

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The observer | monday, march 2, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Bengal bouts | Finals

Bengal Bouts concludes 90th year of competition with Finals this past weekend

By NATE MOLLER, AIDAN THOMAS and JIMMY WARD Sports Writers

137 pounds Drew “Mr. Nice Guy” Niceley def. Danny “Smiley” Rogers The finals began with a fight between Rogers, a junior from Zahm House and Niceley, an off-campus graduate student.

Both fighters were a bit hesitant coming out of the gates, but Niceley managed to land some big punches early and keep Rogers on the ropes.

Rogers fought back, though, and slipped a big punch to land some punches of his own. Both fighters settled down a bit right until the end of the first round where Niceley landed some more big punches.

“I just had to go in there, make sure I kept up my tempo. I wanted to make sure that I controlled the pace of the fight,” Niceley said. “Other than that, it was really just feeling what he was doing and trying to make

sure that I matched it. He did a fantastic job, and I can not commend him enough on his skillset.”

To start the second round, both fighters came out swinging, but it was Niceley who connected early on. Rogers continued to be elusive and was able to slip some of Niceley’s punches and generate some momentum. Toward the end of the round, Niceley was able to seize back the momentum and land some big blows on Rogers.

Niceley had a height advantage over Rogers, which helped him land some jabs while keeping his distance.

“The height advantage definitely did help me,’’ Niceley said.

At the start of the final round, both fighters were fatigued but Rogers connected with some big punches to start. Niceley responded in a huge way, though, and used a barrage of punches to force Niceley on the ropes at see BOUTS PAGE 10

Anthony Reo | The Observer

Sophomore Aidan “Ace” Becklund and junior Lenny “Typhoon” Calvo exchange blows during the Bengal Bouts Finals on Saturday. Becklund defeated Calvo to take home the 153-pound weight class title.

Nd Women’s basketball | ND 70, FSU 67

Nd Hockey

Squad wins a conference point against MSU

Irish upset FSU in ACC matchup

Observer Sports Staff

Observer Sports Staff

The Notre Dame hockey squad (14-13-7, 9-9-6-4) closed out their regular season home slate against the Michigan State Spartans (1517-2, 11-11-2-0) in a series over the weekend.

Although the first game saw the Irish fall 1-3, they bounced back in the second game with a sold-out crowd cheering them on and finished the game against Michigan State the same way they did when they first faced off against the Spartans this year in East Lansing. The game would ultimately head into an overtime shootout and the Irish would steal the conference point away from the Spartans.

After three periods, the score was knotted up at 2-2.

But the game was not as even as the score showed — Michigan State was leading 2-0 with less than five minutes left in the game.

Nathaniel George | The Observer

see HOCKEY PAGE 9

Irish sophomore defenseman Spencer Stastney looks down the ice in a tie against Minnesota at Compton Family Ice Arena on Feb. 14.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team (13-17, 8-10 ACC) ended their regular season with a signature win Sunday afternoon, defeating No. 19th ranked Florida State (22-7, 11-7 ACC) on the road. Freshman forward Sam Brunelle led the Irish, scoring 25 points and knocking down a career high seven three pointers. Junior center Mikayla Vaughn also made a big contribution with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate. Florida State led 5-4 five minutes into the game, but after a three from Brunelle and a layup from graduate student guard Destinee Walker, the Irish opened up a 12-6 lead. Florida State scored the last five points of the quarter, but Notre Dame led after one quarter, 14-13.

Both teams opened the second quarter shooting the ball well. A Brunelle three knotted the game at 19 a piece, but Florida State immediately

went on a 10-0 run courtesy of three 3-point plays. The run was finally cut short when sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert knocked down a jumper. Brunelle scored seven points in the final 90 seconds of the quarter to cut the Seminole lead to just two, but Florida State beat the buzzer with a half-court heave to take a five point lead into the break, 35-30.

The Seminoles scored the first six points of the second half to go up 11, before graduate student guard Marta Sniezek scored a bucket inside, and Vaughn earned a put back bucket off of her own shot on the next possession. A Florida State three pushed the lead back up to 10, but the Irish answered again with back to back buckets. After a timeout, Brunelle drilled her fifth three of the contest, and would hit her sixth just before the horn to cut the lead to two heading to the fourth.

After Florida State went up see W BBALL PAGE 9