SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Green Bay got physical with top-ranked Notre Dame and gave the Fighting Irish about all they could take.The Phoenix (2-1) rallied from 17 points down midway through the third quarter and narrowed the lead to five points three times in the final 4 minutes before finally falling 71-67 in a Preseason WNIT semifinal Thursday night.The Irish (3-0) shot just 33 percent in the second half and 36 percent for the game. Arike Ogunbowale led the Irish with 18 points but didnt hit another basket after making a 15-foot jumper to extend Notre Dames lead to 17 points.Jessica Lindstrom led the Phoenix with 20 points and 16 rebounds, hitting a 3-pointer to cut Notre Dames lead to 69-64 with 19 seconds left. But Marina Mabrey, who finished with 13 points, hit two free throws to give the Irish a seven-point lead with 16 seconds left.Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw was disappointed with the Irish, saying they were ragged on offense and struggled defensively against Green Bays screens.Theyre so experienced. Theyre poised. Theyre well coached. Theyre disciplined. Offensively they were really hard to guard and defensively they made it really difficult to get the ball in the post, she said.The Irish, who normally dominate inside, had only a 28-24 advantage inside against the Phoenix and Green Bays reserves outscored Notre Dames bench 22-8.The Phoenix shot 64 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game.We changed a little bit of the schematic and tried to put it so we could drive it and spread them out a little more, which helped us, Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth said. But we hit some shots, some big shots.Players on both sides described the game as physical.But I feel like thats just part of the game nowadays, Lindstrom said.McGraw believes having such a tough challenge will help the Irish.Hopefully we learned a lot from it. I thought we made some big plays in the end when we had to. But overall, just really disappointing, she said. We looked like the younger team on the floor, and I think we were. But I think we can play a lot smarter.BIG PICTUREGreen Bay: The Phoenix, the favorites to win the Horizon League, played their first game ever against a No. 1 ranked team and stayed within reach throughout the game as they gave the Irish all they could handle.Notre Dame: The Irish struggled offensively early against the Phoenix, who ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense last season at 52.2 points a game, but managed to pull out the victory despite being held to 36 percent shooting.POLL IMPLICATIONS:Green Bay: The Phoenix were already receiving votes and likely could well move into the rankings with an impressive showing on the road.Notre Dame: The Irish may be hard-pressed to keep the No. 1 ranking after struggling on its home court against an unranked opponent.TIP-INS: The Irish were 0 of 5 from 3-point range in the second half after going 5 of 8 in the first half. ... Green Bay was 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the third quarter. ... The Irish have players from 10 states on their roster. Every player on Green Bay is from Wisconsin. ... The Phoenix dropped to 1-2 all-time against the Irish, with the win coming in 1987.UP NEXTGreen Bay: The Phoenix are knocked out of the Preseason WNIT. Green Bay plays road games against Belmont, Chattanooga and Bradley before returning home to face Drake on Dec. 3.Notre Dame: The Irish will play No. 17 Washington in the Preseason WNIT final at South Bend on Sunday. The Irish then play at Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday.Custom Jason Kidd Jersey . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Custom Mavericks Jersey China . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. 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The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances.An Australian stakes winner who has more recently been Group One-placed in Singapore will be out to continue Tulloch Lodges run of Ballarat Cup day success.Five-year-old Believe Yourself makes her return to Australian racing in Saturdays City of Ballarat Tonks Plate (1200m), having been away for the past two years after starting her career in Sydney with Gerald Ryan.Believe Yourself was sent back to Australia by owner Tomohiro Sekiguchi to continue her career with Gai Waterhouse and her new training partner Adrian Bott after this years Singapore Derby (2000m) in which she ran 10th.Weve had an association with the owner and hes raced a number of horses with the stable, Bott said.He sent that filly up to Singapore early on and did indicate he intended on bringing her back down eventually.Were delighted that shes returned and it would be great to see her get a nice result for him.Believe Yourself is Waterhouse and Botts only runner at Saturdays meeting at which Waterhouse has trained a winner for the past three years.The Offer won the Ballarat Cup in 2013, Carriages won the Magic Millions Clockkwise Classic in 2014 while Waterhouse had three runners last year and won a support race with Show A Star.dddddddddddd.Believe Yourself was fourth in the 2014 Golden Slipper after winning the Sweet Embrace Stakes.She won three of her 12 Singapore starts with her best feature race result a third in this years Group One Patrons Bowl (1600m).Believe Yourself has a good fresh record and is on the second line of betting at $4 having won a recent Cranbourne barrier trial.Were really happy with the way shes come back and it will certainly tell us a lot more with where shes at and the best way forward with her from here, Bott said.No doubt shes a quality mare and hopefully even over the autumn we can see a bit more from her and it would be nice to see her add some further black type to her page in time.Shes certainly forward enough for tomorrows test but looking through her form in Singapore, she certainly seems to excel once shes getting up in trip and out to the mile. 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