In their first ACC game on the road, the Irish came out blazing at Wake Forest with a quick 15-2 lead and shot 12-of-15 from the floor (80 percent) to take a 28-12 lead after one quarter. Both Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey already had 10 points apiece after the first 10 minutes.
Ogunbowale finished with a game high 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Mabrey tallied a season high 22 points while finishing 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. She also had six rebounds and five assists.
Jessica Shepard saw more limited action and sat the fourth quarter to rest her ankle, but she still scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. In her place, Kristina Nelson had a quality performance with 13 points and seven rebonds to complement Kathryn Westbeld's 10 points and eight rebounds. Jackie Young had a typical all-around game with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals.
The bad news was with 1:58 left in the third quarter, point guard Lili Thompson went down pretty hard after getting fouled on a drive to the basket. She had to be helped to the bench and did not apply weight to her right leg, and was later taken into the locker room. I don't suspect we will know anything further until more examinations in the next day or two.
The Irish already have lost three players for this season to torn ACLs in Brianna Turner, Mychal Johnson and Mikayla Vaughn. Plus, Westbeld and Shepard both are dealing with ankle issues and Jackie Young has to wear her custom-made mask for about another month because of a broken nose.
This is truly becoming a war of attrition.
Ogunbowale finished with a game high 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while Mabrey tallied a season high 22 points while finishing 8-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. She also had six rebounds and five assists.
Jessica Shepard saw more limited action and sat the fourth quarter to rest her ankle, but she still scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. In her place, Kristina Nelson had a quality performance with 13 points and seven rebonds to complement Kathryn Westbeld's 10 points and eight rebounds. Jackie Young had a typical all-around game with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and a couple of steals.
The bad news was with 1:58 left in the third quarter, point guard Lili Thompson went down pretty hard after getting fouled on a drive to the basket. She had to be helped to the bench and did not apply weight to her right leg, and was later taken into the locker room. I don't suspect we will know anything further until more examinations in the next day or two.
The Irish already have lost three players for this season to torn ACLs in Brianna Turner, Mychal Johnson and Mikayla Vaughn. Plus, Westbeld and Shepard both are dealing with ankle issues and Jackie Young has to wear her custom-made mask for about another month because of a broken nose.
This is truly becoming a war of attrition.
