Cal State Northridge women fall 99-81 to top-seeded Notre Dame

Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points and top-seeded Notre Dame beat Cal State Northridge 99-81 on Friday in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.

The Irish did suffer another injury as senior captain Kathryn Westbeld went down early in the game after she rolled her left ankle and did not return.

There was no immediate word whether Westbeld would be ready for Sunday’s game. Notre Dame played most of the season without four players who suffered season-ending knee injuries.

Jessica Shepard scored 24 points, Marina Mabrey had 23 and Jackie Young 13 for the Irish (30-3), who will meet the winner of Friday’s second game between eighth-seeded South Dakota State and ninth-seeded Villanova on Sunday at the Purcell Pavilion, where Notre Dame has won 24 in a row.

The Matadors (19-16), who won four conesucitve games to win the Big West tournament, got 25 points from Channon Fluker, 24 from Destiny Brooks and 23 from Tessa Boagni.

Often referred by McGraw as “the glue” of team, Westbeld went down in the lane with a rolled left ankle after her short jumper was blocked by Fluker with 7:35 left in the first quarter. As Westbeld was getting up slowly to limp back into the action, Brooks madeher second three-pointer of the quarter to give the Matadors an 8-2 lead. Notre Dame finally got a timeout with 6:51 to get Westbeld out of the game.

After receiving courtside attention from the team physician and trainer, Westbeld left the court before halftime and returned after the third quarter started, limping with her ankle taped, to take a seat on the bench for the rest of the game.

Cal State Northridge’s Channon Fluker goes up for a shot between Notre Dame’s Marina Mabrey (3), Jessica Shepard (23) and Kathryn Westbeld (33) during their game Friday.

(Robert Franklin / Associated Press )

After the initial shock wore off, the Irish finished on a 21-8 run to take a 27-16 lead after the first quarter thanks to seven points from Young and Ogunbowale and six by Shepard. The Irish shot only 44 percent to CSUN’s 50 percent and were outrebounded 12-7 in the first 10 minutes. But Notre Dame forced eight turnovers, including six steals with its 2-3 hawking zone, while committing none.

Buckets by Shepard and Ogunbowale gave Notre Dame a 27-16 lead and Flowers called a 30-second timeout with 9:12 left in the half. The Matadors cut their deficit to 31-22 with 6:40 left in the half, but Ogunbowale made a three-pointer and Mabrey added a pair of three-pointers as the Irish built a 44-24 lead with 4:23 until halftime.

The Irish led 55-32 at halftime thanks a 13-of-16 shooting performance (81%) and 18 points from Ogunbowale, 14 by Shepard and 12 by Mabrey, all in the second quarter with the help of a three-for-three performance from beyond the arc. Mabrey was playing with a taped shooting hand injured in the 74-72 loss to Louisville in the ACC tournament championship game on March 4.