Notre Dame's Jessica Shepard anxious for first NCAA game
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - If Jessica Shepard thinks about it, the ride the 6-foot-4 junior forward experienced in the preseason was a precursor for Notre Dame's roller-coaster season of injuries, emotions and ultimate success in capturing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"This is not an opportunity I take lightly," said Shepard, who will be playing in her first NCAA Tournament when Notre Dame (29-3) hosts Cal State Northridge (19-15) on Friday in a first-round game.
For reasons that still remain personal, Shepard left Nebraska, where she had averaged 18.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in two seasons, to transfer to Notre Dame, where Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw counted the 2001 national championship among seven Final Four appearances in 24 previous NCAA trips.
Notre Dame petitioned the NCAA to allow Shepard to play immediately and got the OK just before its preseason game Nov. 1 against Indiana (Penn.).
"We didn't know what they were going to decide," Shepard said, "(but) it has allowed me to play with these girls and for coach McGraw this season."
The 29-3 season that McGraw and the Irish have fashioned included several devastating injuries. Along the way, Shepard started all 32 games and finished with averages of 15.0 points and 7.9 rebounds to earn all-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team honors with junior All-America guard Arike Ogunbowale. The highlight of Shepard's season was a 39-point, 11-rebound performance in a 91-72 victory over DePaul on Dec. 17.
The highs have often been interrupted by lows. Notre Dame won a Thanksgiving weekend tournament title in Florida that included a victory over defending NCAA champion South Carolina before a heartbreaking loss at No. 1 Connecticut, its longtime rival. A 100-67 loss at No. 3 Louisville on Jan. 11 was followed by a 37-point turnaround in an 84-70 home victory over No. 6 Tennessee a week later.
Notre Dame, which shared a fifth straight ACC regular-season title with Louisville but lost to the Cardinals in the ACC tourney final, will now face Big West tourney champion CS Northridge, winners of six of its last eight.
"We respect them just like any other opponent we have," Matadors coach Jason Flowers said. "But we're not afraid of anybody."
The Matadors are led by two-time Big West Player of the Year Channon Fluker, a 6-foot-4 junior center averaging 18.8 points and 12.1 rebounds, and tourney MVP Tessa Boagni, a 6-2 senior forward who averages 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds.
"Northridge is a very impressive team and their post play is phenomenal," McGraw said.
HARES VS. TORTOISE?
Friday's nightcap features No. 8-seed South Dakota State (26-6) against No. 9-seed Villanova (22-8). It's the third time in 11 NCAA appearances that Villanova has been a No. 9 seed.
Riding a four-game winning streak, including the Summit League tournament final victory over regular-season champ South Dakota, coach Aaron Johnston's Jackrabbits are averaging 78.3 points a game. Veteran coach Harry Perretta's 40th Villanova team averages 66.9.
"They like to get up and down the court," said Villanova senior Alex Louin, who leads four Wildcats in double figures with a 12.0 scoring average.
South Dakota State is in the tournament for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons and is 2-5 in first-round games under Johnston.
"They know how to play in the tournament because they have played in it a lot," Perretta said.
Junior guard Macy Miller leads the Jackrabbits with an 18.1 scoring average and South Dakota State's resume includes a four-point loss to then-No. 4 Louisville.
"I think they are hungry," Johnston said. "They've beaten some really good teams. Our losses are to really good teams."
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?
Much has been written about Notre Dame's four season-ending ACL injuries that began almost a year ago when All-America forward Brianna Turner was hurt during an NCAA tourney victory over Purdue. The Irish then lost senior point guard Mychal Johnson in the preseason, promising freshman forward Mikayla Vaughn in November and Lili Thompson on Dec. 31.
Cal State Northridge can relate. Flowers lost expected starting guards Serafina Maulupe and Cheyenne Allen to injuries before midseason and guard Hayley Tanabe (7.8 points, 107 assists) dealt with a stress fracture in her foot at the start of the season.
"We obviously had a little adversity as Notre Dame did," Flowers said. "We felt we had the pieces but with those two out the margin of error because a lot smaller. Everything happens for a reason. Our young kids have continued to work, and last week was the culmination for them of the improvement they have made through the year."