That was ugly and close, but the outcome was desirable.
Except for the result, Notre Dame probably will want to forget its game against Clemson. The shooting left a lot to be desired, and the Tigers were a feisty group eager to snag another home victory against a ranked opponent after doing it against Virginia Tech this season. Yet somehow, the Irish hung on long enough to escape with a 57-54 victory.
The Irish (15-2, 6-1) struggled from the field all night, often missing open shots. While the Tigers (12-8, 3-5) weren’t much better, they took advantage of their opportunities more in the first half, leading by as much as nine. All signs pointed to the Irish dropping a game that a team of their stature should not. Then, they made four unanswered layups at the beginning of the third quarter to go up seven, and they mostly controlled the game from there.
Despite playing a better second half, the Irish nearly let the game get away. With [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] at the free-throw line in the final seconds and her team up three, she only needed to make one to all but assure victory. Instead, she missed both, and Daisha Bradford got the rebound. Bradford fired a prayer at the buzzer to try and send the game to overtime, but the shot wasn’t that close, and the Irish could exhale.
Both the Irish and Tigers made only 18 field goals, but the Irish attempted eight more shots, resulting a final field-goal percentage of .353. They also shot only 4 of 17 from 3-point range and were 11 of 17 from the charity stripe. You better believe [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] will emphasize shooting during the next practice.
[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was everything for the Irish once again. She had a line of 20 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals. Westbeld had 15 points and six boards, and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] grabbed a game-high nine boards.
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