Anna DeWolfe – Syndication Server

Notre Dame’s season ends after falling to Oregon State in Sweet 16

Another year, another elimination in the regional semifinals.

With injuries stripping Notre Dame of its depth, it seemed like only a matter of time before that caught up. It didn’t happen during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but Albany Regional 1 posed tougher competition and thus increased the likelihood of the issue being exposed. Oregon State was the team to do it, beating the Irish in the Sweet 16, 70-65.

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A game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes was destined to come down to the end. The Irish (27-7) were in front, 59-57, with less than three minutes to play when Donovyn Hunter hit a 3 to give the Beavers (28-7) the lead for good. One possession later, Lily Hansford made another 3 off an offensive rebound, putting the Beavers up four.

The teams continued to trade free throws and layups until the Irish called a timeout down, 67-63, with 26.1 seconds left. Their final hopes were snuffed when Talia von Oelhoffen blocked a [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] 3 and promptly made two free throws after being fouled. At that point, the deficit was too big with too little time left for the Irish.

The Irish scored 26 points off 27 Beavers turnovers, but that was canceled out by losing the rebounding battle, 42-24. The Beavers also exploited the Irish’s lack of available size by winning the battle for points in the paint, 40-28. Also, three Beavers scored 14 points off the bench while [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag], the Irish’s lone reserve in this game, was kept out of the scoring column.

As expected, Raegan Beers was a problem as she scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Beavers. Also a problem was Timea Gardiner, who also achieved a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Hunter scored 11 points, and van Oelhoffen dished out a game-high nine assists in addition to her clutch block of Citron.

Citron led all scorers with 22 points and also had the most rebounds for the Irish with seven. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 19 points but picked up three of her four fouls in the first half, possibly affecting what the Irish could do on defense in the middle. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] had 12 points in her final college game.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] tied her season low with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. She might have become disconcerted when she was ordered to have her nose ring removed before the start of the second quarter and missed the first four minutes of that quarter while having the issue taken care of.

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Notre Dame goes back to Sweet 16 with second-round win over Ole Miss

Make your plans for Good Friday.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Never mind that it was a Monday afternoon. Notre Dame fans packed Purcell Pavilion in droves one final time this season to see the Irish play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Ole Miss. The Irish didn’t want to let their fans down, and they accomplished that with a 71-56 win that placed them in their third straight Sweet 16. They next will play Oregon State in the semifinals of Albany Regional 1 on Good Friday.

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There never really was a moment in which the Irish (28-6) were seriously threatened by the Rebels (24-9). Once [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] hit back-to-back 3s to end the scoring in the first quarter, they never led by less than double digits. They had good looks both inside and out on offense, and their defense not only forced the Rebels to make mistakes but unnerved them into unforced errors. The result was a lead that grew by as much as 23.

In what could have been her final game in South Bend, Westbeld made it count with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and the game’s only two blocks, both coming in the first quarter. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was just behind Westbeld with 19 points, and she also collected four steals.[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] advanced her reputation as perhaps the Irish’s best all-around player, achieving a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with a game-high six assists.

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Notre Dame knocks out Kent State to begin NCAA Tournament

One down, five to go.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A No. 2 seed never had lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame had no intention of becoming the first team to do that as it battled Kent State at Purcell Pavilion. With most of the crowd backing them, the Irish held a comfortable lead almost the entire game and advanced to the second round with an 81-67 victory.

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Unlike last year’s first-round game against Southern Utah that pretty much was decided from the opening tip, the Irish (27-6) allowed the Golden Flashes (21-11) to score the first basket of this game and even keep the lead for the first three-and-a-half minutes. But the Irish were finished with generosity after that and proceeded to score 18 unanswered points with sound offense and forcing tough shots on defense.

The Irish mostly coasted from there, leading by as much as 21. There was a brief scare in the fourth quarter when the Flashes cut that lead to 12, but it was a passing threat at best. This wasn’t going to be anything but an Irish victory, especially with them scoring 23 points off 16 Flashes turnovers.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was by far the Irish’s best player with a game-high 29 points. Several of her buckets came on passes from [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who achieved a double-double in her first NCAA Tournament game of 14 points and 11 assists despite shooting only 5 of 14 from the field. She also had six steals, five of them coming in the third quarter.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, providing an early offensive spark along with Citron. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] flirted with her own double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

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Niele Ivey, Sonia Citron, Anna DeWolfe speak after Notre Dame win

Notre Dame undoubtedly feels good about making the ACC Tournament championship game after beating Virginia Tech, 82-53. But it also understandably is anxious for any sort of good news surrounding [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag], who injured her left knee in the third quarter of the semifinal win. She was last seen on crutches, and nobody knows what that means right now except the injury-riddled Irish were just dealt another blow.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] spoke about the game afterwards and reiterated that she didn’t have any updates about Watson. Accompanying her at the postgame news conference were [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag], the Irish’s best player for the day with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag], who scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

Given the unknown status of Watson, they need to be given credit that they still were able to talk about the dominant performance they had just displayed. Here is most of what they had to say:

Notre Dame beats Virginia Tech but loses Watson in ACC Tournament semi

This latest victory might have been costly.

Notre Dame faced the ACC Tournament’s top seed in Virginia Tech for its semifinal game. With the Hokies missing injured conference player of the year Elizabeth Kitley and the Irish having beaten them a week ago with her, everything trended in their direction. But the Irish suffered their own bad injury luck during their dominant 82-53 victory that put them in the tournament championship game.

The Irish (25-6) led almost the entire game, and any hope the Hokies (24-7) had were dashed when the Irish scored 20 unanswered points between the second and third quarters. However, the high the Irish were on was dampened when [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] went down with a left knee injury and had to be helped back to the locker room. While she did put some weight on the knee and eventually returned to the Irish’s bench with crutches, both the team and fans undoubtedly will hold their collective breath as they await word on her condition.

While the Hokies were able to cut the deficit to 15 after Watson went out, the Irish found yet another wind despite taking another hit to their depth. Before it was over, they went back up by as much as 32. The Hokies simply had no answers for the Irish no matter who was or wasn’t on the court.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was the Irish’s best player on the afternoon by virtue of leading them with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 18 points and blocked three shots. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had 15 points and six assists, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] got 12 of her 14 points on four 3-pointers.

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Notre Dame starts slowly, then dominates Boston College in second half

That was scary for a little bit.

Slow starts by Notre Dame have to be a concern for [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]. But what ultimately matters is how the Irish finish, and they did that in a big way against Boston College. After it seemed early on like the Eagles might pull off a big upset, the Irish roared back and rolled to a 79-55 victory.

The Irish, who were without [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] because of an illness, struggled badly in the first quarter, shooting only 4 of 18 from the field and allowing the Eagles to go up by as much as 11. The second quarter was different as the Eagles didn’t make a field goal until the final seconds, and the Irish took advantage.

But even though they outscored the Eagles, 18-4, in the quarter to take a four-point halftime lead, the Irish still didn’t look impressive, especially since they missed all 11 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Irish came out for the second half looking more like the team we’ve seen all year. They outscored the Eagles, 50-30, for the rest of the game as the talent gap between the two programs became obvious. That scoring output helped by the fact that they shot 64.5% from the floor.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had an extremely balanced game of 19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers that got the second half going for the Irish. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] had a 16-point, seven-rebound outing, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 11.

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Notre Dame overcomes slow start to dominate Clemson

Better to get going late than not at all.

Notre Dame is in the final easy stretch of the season. That includes senior night, which was held Thursday even with two home games left. A lowly Clemson team came to Purcell Pavilion and briefly threatened to put a damper on the festivities. But everything worked out in the form a 74-47 Irish win.

The Irish (20-6, 10-5) saw the Tigers (11-16, 4-11) jump to a 10-point lead in the first quarter before rallying to tie game and end the quarter trailing by only two. Everything settled down after that as the Irish outscored their guests, 43-18, over the next two quarters. Whatever the reason for the Irish finding themselves, they played much better on both ends of the floor for the rest of the game, leading to the blowout victory.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half, making each of her first five shots and all four of her free throws. She also had a game-high four steals, three of which came in the first half.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 12 points, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] had 12 off the bench.

Despite shooting only 4 of 14 from the field, birthday girl [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] scored 10 points, dished out eight assists and got four steals. [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] did not have a field goal off the bench but recorded a game-high four blocks.

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Notre Dame wins double-overtime thriller over Florida State

Perfect tuneup for watching the Super Bowl later.

In the event the Super Bowl later in the day turned out to be boring, Notre Dame and Florida State would have had you covered. Two teams stacked with talent and close to each other in the ACC standings battled it out and gave everything they had.

It was a shame one team had to lose. Fortunately for the Irish, they won this epic double-overtime contest, 98-94.

The Irish (18-5, 8-4) had chances to win the game in both regulation and the first overtime, but [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] missed a couple of potential game-winners. In between, [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] made a defensive stop to keep the Seminoles (17-8, 8-5) from winning in regulation, even with little time left.

Ultimately, this game came down to the basics. With the scored tied at 94, Seminoles star Ta’Niya Latson, who scored a season-high 34 points, missed a shot out of a timeout with little time left on the shot clock. Hidalgo got the rebound, and the Irish got a timeout with 5.9 seconds left in double overtime.

Latson tried to intercept the subsequent inbound pass but fouled Sonia Citron instead. Citron, the ACC leader in free-throw percentage in conference games, calmly knocked down two shots from the charity stripe, giving the Irish a lead with 4.5 seconds remaining.

The Seminoles called their last timeout, but they never got another shot off. Watson stole the subsequent inbound pass, and Hidalgo recovered it before being fouled and icing the game with two of her own free throws. It was a win the Irish absolutely needed with NC State coming to South Bend on Thursday.

Hidalgo had a nice all-around game with 27 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] wasn’t far behind in the scoring column with a season-high 24 points, including six 3-pointers.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] showed off her two-way skills with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four steals. Citron flirted with a double-double thanks to 18 points and eight boards.

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Notre Dame pulls away from Pittsburgh

The Irish celebrate winning by winning.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame’s first home game since beating UConn was a celebratory one. Not only did the Irish celebrate their biggest win of the season, but it was a day to honor cancer survivors during their annual Think Pink Game. The only way to make it better was with a another win, and they got it to the tune of 78-53 over Pittsburgh.

Even though the Irish are the better team, the Panthers hung around for much of the first half. In the final few minutes before halftime, the Irish extended a two-point lead to 14.

The Panthers countered by cutting that lead to nine going into the locker room, but they shot only 2 of 18 from the field in the third quarter. The Irish took full advantage of that with their lead only growing from there.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was held to only a single free throw first quarter but bounced back to score 22 points while also contributing five assists and three steals. Before Hidalgo got cooking in the second quarter and beyond, [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] picked up the slack, scoring nine of her 15 points in the first quarter. She completed the double-double with 14 rebounds.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] also scored 15 points and got three of her own steals. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] added 10 points.

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Notre Dame has Citron again but not Westbeld in loss to North Carolina

A lost weekend for Notre Dame basketball.

Notre Dame’s [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] returned to the starting lineup against North Carolina after missing nine games with a knee sprain. However, her return was canceled out by the absence of [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who was being evaluated for a concussion after being injured in the Irish’s last game at Pittsburgh. With the Irish down to six rotational players, they lost to the Tar Heels, 61-57, who won their first game in South Bend in six tries.

Except for most of the third quarter in which the Irish led by as much as seven, the Tar Heels showed from the beginning that they were the better team during this particular evening at Purcell Pavilion. They made more plays when it really mattered and took advantage of having more available depth. While neither team shot well, the Heels held the advantage there (38.7% from the field for them and 31.1% for the Irish), and that made the big difference.

After tying the game at 55 with 3:41 left on a pair of Citron free throws, the Irish didn’t score again until the outcome already was decided. They still had a chance with time running out and trailing by only three, but [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag]’s layup attempt was blocked by Maria Gakdeng, forcing the Irish to foul Deja Kelly.

Even when Kelly missed both free throws, Gakdeng got the offensive rebound, and the ball got to Indya Nivar, who was fouled and split her ensuing two free throws for the last of her team-leading 16 points, putting the Heels up four. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was fouled on the subsequent possession and missed two free throws. Lexi Donarski then finished the Irish off with two free throws of her own, bringing her total to 13 points.

The Irish wasted 18 points from Citron and a double-double from Hidalgo (17 points, 11 rebounds). [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] scored 12 points.

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