The Clemson women’s basketball team has faced a harsh slate of conference play in February, recently topped off by back-to-back losses to Notre Dame last Friday and Miami on Sunday.
In a tough road game against the then-ranked No. 21 Fighting Irish, the Tigers (11-18) were overpowered with a final score of 74-47.
The Tigers marched into South Bend, Indiana, fully aware that they needed to play their best ball if they were going to pull off the upset. Coming off a third straight loss to the likes of Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Miami, breaking the streak on the road against a ranked opponent required something special.
Sophomore Ruby Whitehorn’s double-double and Amar Robinson’s 14 points were Clemson’s highlights of the evening, but Notre Dame’s bench outscored the Tigers’ bench 14-2, contributing to the loss for Clemson.
The Tigers seemed up to the task at first, shooting 50% from three and 44% from the field to find themselves in the lead through the first 10 minutes of the game. Notre Dame quickly found the luck of the Irish as they went on a tear to bring the lead back in their favor, outscoring Clemson 21-9 to enter halftime with a 37-27 lead.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the second half did not see the ball fall in favor of them. Clemson went 1-for-6 from three and 4-for-15 from the field, as the Irish hit on 10 of 21 from the field to push the game out of reach with special assistance in the form of a double-double from Maddy Westbeld and eight assists from Hannah Hidalgo.
Clemson returned home to Littlejohn Coliseum for Sunday’s matchup against the Hurricanes for a quick turnaround with little to no recovery for the team. The Tigers fought hard, staying evenly matched throughout the game as the score was tied up six times, and the lead exchanged 12, but Miami pulled away in the final quarter to solidify its victory.
Robinson led for the Tigers once again with 20 points, pulling in two offensive rebounds and one defensive rebound. The team struggled in this area, scoring just five second-chance points compared to the Hurricanes’ 15. Defensively, Clemson was working overtime with 15 points off of turnovers, while Miami managed 11.
Sunday was the Tigers’ final home game, marking the end of an era for several graduates, as they will next face Wake Forest and Florida State on the road this Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
