Tag: KK Bransford

Hidalgo has triple-double in Notre Dame win over Western Michigan

The Irish have one special player.

It’s hard to imagine [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] getting even better as her freshman season goes on. Yet she continues to exceed expectations by building her case as one of the best players in the country, period. She achieved her first career triple-double as Notre Dame demolished Western Michigan, 84-47.

The most danger the Irish (9-1) were in was when the Broncos (5-5) held a 9-4 lead in the first quarter. The Irish completely took over after that and never looked back, outscoring the Broncos in every quarter. Even with only eight players healthy, the Irish clearly were the better team. They held advantages in every statistical category, some of them bigger than others.

Hidalgo’s triple-double consisted of 26 points and career highs in rebounds (11) and assists (10). She also added to her national steals lead by picking up five more. When she checked out in the game’s final minute, she was greeted enthusiastically by her teammates and the Purcell Pavilion crowd.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored most of her 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Maddy Westbeld had 15 points and eight rebounds. Also racking up big numbers in the rebounding department were [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] (12), [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] (nine) and [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] (eight).

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Niele Ivey, Hannah Hidalgo, Kylee Watson speak after Notre Dame win

Here how the Irish felt after their latest win.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sometimes, the calendar dictates that you play a solid game. Notre Dame has final exams next week, and the women’s basketball team won’t play again until those exams are finished. That meant it was time to show Lafayette what it could do, even with injuries shortening the number of healthy bodies to eight. A 96-42 victory meant mission accomplished.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] understandably was in an upbeat mood after the win, and she brought in two of her stars to share in her postgame news conference, although there were a few more players who would have been just as worthy of meeting the media afterwards. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had what’s become a typical night for her of 26 points and six steals. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] scored 14 points (eight in the third quarter) and had five rebounds.

Numerous topics were discussed in the news conference. In fact, Fighting Irish Wire got to ask the first question after Ivey’s opening statement. Here the answers to that and many of the rest of the questions that were asked:

Notre Dame dominates throughout against Chicago State

Not even close to being a contest.

One never wants to say any one opponent serves as a training ground for a better program. But there really is no other way to describe Notre Dame’s game against Chicago State. It never was close in a 113-35 victory.

The Irish (4-1) didn’t surrender a field goal to the Cougars (0-6) until midway through the first quarter. By then, the lead already was become insurmountable, and it officially became that before halftime.

The Irish never allowed more than 10 points a quarter, and they scored 45 points off 32 Cougars turnovers. That only is the tip of the iceberg of how dominant this game was. While the Irish only made five of 20 3-point attempts, the long ball wasn’t needed on this night.

Every Irish player on the floor made it into the scoring column, and that effort was led by [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]’s 23 points in only 18 minutes. [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] had 20 points off the bench, and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] scored 19 while also recording six steals (five other players had at least two steals, and three of those had at least three).

[autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] also contributed mightily off the bench with 16 and 10 points respectively. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] pulled down 16 rebounds.

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Notre Dame victorious over Illinois in Shamrock Classic

Great afternoon in our nation’s capital.

Notre Dame was successful in the Shamrock Classic for the second straight season. This year’s event took place in Washington, and Illinois was the victim this time, 79-68. It also was the Irish’s second straight victory over a Big Ten opponent based in the Land of Lincoln after they beat Northwestern on Wednesday.

The Irish (3-1) never trailed the Illini (2-2), and the outcome never really was in doubt. While the Illini did get within one in the second quarter, the Irish scored nine unanswered points to end the first half. Once the lead grew to double digits in the third quarter, it never went below that. Needless to say, it was a pretty easy game.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 24 points apiece to lead the Irish. Westbeld had a team-high eight rebounds, and Hidalgo finished with eight assists and six steals. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] contributed 11 points off the bench, and six of her seven rebounds were on the offensive end.

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Niele Ivey, Cassandre Prosper speak after win over Northwestern

No updates about Citron yet.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Emotions were running high for Notre Dame after it beat Northwestern, 110-52. Instead of celebrating a victory, the Irish were concerned for the well-being of standout guard [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag], who scored 23 points but suffered an injury late in the third quarter.

When [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] (seven points off the bench) came down to speak with the media after the game, neither knew what was going on with Citron. All they and anyone who follows the Irish knew was that losing Citron for an extended period of time would be devastating. This is a team also wondering when [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] will be healthy enough to rejoin the lineup.

Fortunately, Citron’s injury wasn’t the only topic of discussion during the postgame news conference. Most questions were aimed at Ivey, but Prosper had a couple of questions thrown her way. Here is some of what they had to say about a mixed bag of an evening:

Foul trouble dooms Notre Dame against Maryland in NCAA Tournament

The road has ended for the 2022-23 Irish.

With no [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] or [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag], Notre Dame relied heavily on its frontcourt for the NCAA Tournament. The problem with that is you only can succeed that way when the frontcourt is able to play.

When [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] and [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] both picked up their fourth fouls during the third quarter of the Irish’s Sweet 16 game against Maryland, the bottom fell out of what had been a competitive contest. With [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] forced to preserve Watson and Ebo for when they really might be needed, the Terrapins ended the quarter on a 13-1 run and never looked back in a 76-59 win, ending the Irish’s season.

The Irish (27-6) scored 13 unanswered points in the second quarter to take their biggest lead at eight. They remained in front by one at halftime but didn’t lead after that. While they tied the score five times in the third quarter, the smaller lineup they were forced to go to with their bigs in foul trouble ultimately caught up with them.

Diamond Miller and Shyanne Sellers combined to lead the guard-heavy Terrapins (28-6) with 30 of their 45 second-half points. They led by as much as 22 late in the fourth quarter as they punched their ticket to the Elite Eight.

After slow first halves, Miller and Sellers with 18 points apiece, and Sellers also had a game-high eight assists. Lavender Briggs scored 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench. Abby Meyers had 11 points and tied Miller for the team lead in steals with four. That gave Meyers and Miller eight of the Terrapins’ 15 steals.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] lived up to her reputation as the Irish’s all-purpose player with 14 points and seven rebounds, but she also committed four turnovers. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] led the Irish with seven assists but had four turnovers of her own. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored nine points but tied [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] with a team-high five turnovers before fouling out. Ebo fouled out with seven points in her final college game.

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Niele Ivey, Lauren Ebo, Maddy Westbeld speak after Notre Dame win

There was a lot to say after the victory.

SOUTH BEND – Although Notre Dame found itself in a battle with Mississippi State, it gladly will take a 53-48 win. The second-round victory means a trip to the Sweet 16, specifically Greenville Regional 1. One more win, and the Irish could face top-ranked and undefeated South Carolina in the Elite Eight. But for now, it’s all about the happy things.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] is glad that her team was able to get this far after many had doubts because a roster shortened by injuries. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] is basking in the aftermath of 10 points, five blocks and an Irish-tournament record 18 rebounds. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] likely doesn’t care that she didn’t score as much as in her last game, but her own 15 rebounds should allow her to be at peace with her performance.

All three appeared before the assembled media after the emotional Mississippi State contingent did. The Irish aren’t ready to shed tears for the end of the season yet because they still have at least one more game. Here are what Ivey, Ebo and Westbeld said before preparing for the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend:

Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld, Lauren Ebo speak after NCAA Tournament win

What are your thoughts after this win?

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame has to be feeling confident after knocking Southern Utah out of the NCAA Tournament, 82-56, in the first round. The Irish let the Thunderbirds know early and often that this game that was being played in their house would be played on their terms.

Whenever the Thunderbirds showed the slightest chance of coming back – and it was very slight – the Irish doubled down on both ends of the floor. It was such a blowout that little-used [autotag]Sarah Cernugel[/autotag] entered the game near its conclusion. The Purcell Pavilion definitely would have exploded had she made either of her two field-goal attempts, one which came from 3-point range. Alas, she remains scoreless for the season except for her lone basket Dec. 10 against Merrimack.

Cernguel was one of several people [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] talked about in her postgame news conference. She was joined by top scorer [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] (20 points) and dominant veteran big [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] (14 points, 10 rebounds). Here’s what they had to say:

Notre Dame dominates Southern Utah in first-round NCAA Tournament game

Can’t start the tournament any better than that.

SOUTH BEND – It was understandable if anyone was having doubts about Notre Dame after [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was lost for the season. However, those same people might have forgotten one thing: The Irish still have some pretty darn good basketball players. That was on full display in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Southern Utah. In front of a mainly partisan crowd at Purcell Pavilion, the Irish owned the Thunderbirds throughout an 82-56 victory.

This game practically was over from the beginning as the Irish (26-5) rattled off 16 unanswered points at the start. Their offense found easy baskets almost at will, and their defense was as smothering as it’s been all season. The Thunderbirds (23-10) couldn’t respond with anything better than a 7-0 run. While they proved capable of being a tournament team at times, the Irish quickly erased those moments and asserted their authority as a third seed.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] was the Irish’s dominant offensive force, scoring 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] also picked up Miles’ slack with 14 points, six points and three steals. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag], playing in her first tournament game for the Irish but not her collegiate career, showed her experience with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] shot a perfect 6 of 6 for 12 points to go with seven rebounds, [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] finished with nine points and eight boards, and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] grabbed 10 of her own rebounds.

Given all of that, it should be no surprise that the Irish held a 53-25 rebounding advantage and a 50-18 edge in points in the paint, not to mention winning the second-chance points battle, 14-4. It’s unlikely every tournament game will be this easy, especially at the rim, but that didn’t make this win any less of a thrill. It’s why the Irish will play one final home contest this season with a trip to Greenville Regional 1 on the line.

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Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld, Sonia Citron speak after Notre Dame loss

Hear from a team that has to be nervous about the next week.

Even with no games to prepare for, don’t be surprised if [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] doesn’t get much sleep over the next week. Like everyone else, she gained a glimpse of what Notre Dame is like when it doesn’t have [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] in a 64-38 blowout loss to Louisville in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

Now, Ivey has to plan for scenarios in which Miles will and will not be available for the NCAA Tournament. Worse, it’s possible the selection committee will not allow the Irish to host the first two rounds if Miles’ status remains up in the air at the time of the bracket’s release.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] led the hapless Irish with nine points against the Cardinals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored eight and was briefly knocked out with an apparent injury, but she checked back in quickly. Here is what those two players and Ivey said after a game that only can be described as brutal: