By John Brice
Special Contributor
This time, the scene is the Trophy Room inside of the trendy Graduate Hotel on the campus of the University of Connecticut, mere blocks from storied Gampel Pavilion and unbeknownst precursor to one of those games that instantly carves its place in the lore of women’s basketball.
The order is a microcosm of a season; Maddy Westbeld’s getting coffee, preparing to meditate and, maybe a dozen hours later, initiating a game in which she dominates.
Westbeld is Notre Dame’s senior Swiss Army knife; she averages more than 14 points, 9 rebounds per game and can break opponents down from distance, a 37-percent shooter from 3-point range, if foolish enough to leave her open.
She is hours from a career-defining seminal performance, 23 points and 5 boards, to say nothing of a maxed-out 40-minute effort, in what becomes Niele Ivey’s signature win – thus far – as Notre Dame’s head coach, an 82-67 dismantling of Geno Auriemma’s then-No. 8 UConn Huskies.
“On away trips, I go and find a coffee shop somewhere around the city,” said Westbeld, the 6-foot-3 senior from Kettering, Ohio, who only needs to amble to her hotel lobby for this precursor to transcendence. “No matter how early we have shoot-around, I get up and go find a spot and find my grounding. No matter where we are physically, this is something that’s important to me.
“I feel like in every sense, it’s everywhere off the court that’s translated to on the court. I’ve seen it in the consistency of my play, seen it in my leadership and confidence and not just stat sheet. But with my team. My confidence in myself, I feel like I can just be free now. I can play the game I love and play with the people I love.”
Admiration for Westbeld’s game is approaching an all-time high.
Forget, for a moment, her joining with freshman phenom Hannah Hidalgo to score 57 of the Irish’s 82 points in this Google-maps stamp of Notre Dame’s ongoing ascendance under Ivey in the win at Gampel.
Just seven players log minutes for the Irish in this win, 48 hours on the heels of a disappointing home loss to Syracuse, and Westbeld is one of three with every second on the court.
She is ready for this moment because she is unwavering in every other moment of her days, her weeks, her time on Notre Dame’s campus and in Notre Dame’s remarkably storied program.
“I get up and I meditate every morning; it doesn’t have to be that long, but what I really just try to…