Tag: Maddy Westbeld

Maddy Westbeld makes watch list for Women’s College All-Star Game

Way to go, Maddy!

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] still will have college eligibility left after this season, but will she use it? That question has to be burning even more after the 6-foot-3 Notre Dame forward was named to the watch list for the Women’s College All-Star Game, a hotbed for future WNBA players.

Westbeld was one of about 60 players selected, but only 20 will get to participate in the April 6 event in Cleveland. Among the most prominent names on the list are Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley. Westbeld and Kitley are two of 10 ACC players who made the list.

Westbeld is having a great season, averaging career highs in scoring (23.2) and rebounds (15.4). She might often be overlooked because of the phenomenal season [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] has had. But make no mistake about the fact that Westbeld is just as important, giving the Irish an imposing presence down low more than anyone else. She will be key in however this season turns out.

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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 pulls away in third quarter to beat Duke

Notre Dame needed to bounce back after a tough home loss to NC State.

Notre Dame needed to bounce back after a tough home loss to NC State. Doing that against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium wasn’t going to be easy. But the Irish got it going at the right time and ended the Blue Devils’ nine-game home winning streak with a 70-62 victory.

The first two-and-a-half quarters saw five ties and eight lead changes. That’s when the Irish (19-6, 9-5) decided to quit messing around. Trailing by three, they scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter and ultimately outscored the Blue Devils (16-9, 8-6) in that frame, 21-9. The Irish’s lead grew to as much as 15 during the fourth quarter, and they held off a late Devils push for the win.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], held to a season-low 10 points in the defeat to the Wolfpack, bounced back with 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 14 points and came within a rebound of a double-double. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] had 12 points and matched Hidalgo with four steals of her own.

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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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Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld speak after Notre Dame beats Pittsburgh

There was more than basketball to talk about during this game.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame’s 78-53 win over Pittsburgh took on a slightly different tone than usual. While there was the usual happiness over beating an ACC opponent handily, that wasn’t the only thing the Irish were celebrating. This game was the annual Think Pink Game that pays tribute to cancer survivors, and many of them were on hand.

Keeping with the spirit of the day, Niele Ivey and Maddy Westbeld talked about the subject that the game was played in awareness of in addition to answering the usual questions about the game and the team. In fact, some of the questions also were about cancer affecting their personal lives and the community in general. It was the least they could do for a game like this.

Also keeping in the spirit of the dominant win, Ivey and Westbeld were very relaxed and joking during their postgame news conference. Here’s some of what they had to say:

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 upsets UConn in prime-time game on road

It’s rare for a nonconference game to come up in January and even rarer for them to feel so good.

It’s rare for a nonconference game to come up in January and even rarer for them to feel so good. In front of a prime-time TV audience, Notre Dame had the chance to show what it could do against longtime rival UConn.

By the end, people had to question what the Irish couldn’t do. They got the signature win of their season by upsetting the Huskies, 82-67, for the second straight year, this time on their home floor. Halting the Huskies’ 13-game winning streak and spoiling a night in which they honored past national championship teams was not a bad response to the home loss to Syracuse two days earlier.

The Irish (15-4) trailed by 12 early in the second quarter but went into halftime on a 26-5 run that ended with a [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Huskies (17-4) came back to take a three-point lead late in the third quarter, but the Irish scored six unanswered to finish the frame.

The fourth quarter saw the Irish take advantage of poor Huskies shooting (2 of 12 from the field), and they outscored their hosts, 22-10, sending several Huskies fans to the exits early.

Hidalgo was held without a steal for the first time in her collegiate career, but she more than made up for that by scoring 34 points, the most for an Irish freshman, to go with 10 rebounds and six assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] was almost as impressive with 23 points, including three 3s.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 15 points, and [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] added 10 off the bench.

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Photos from Notre Dame’s home loss to Syracuse

The Orange sweep the Irish for the regular season.

Notre Dame lost on the road to Syracuse on New Year’s Eve to begin ACC play. The Irish met the Orange again Thursday, this time in South Bend. The change in venue turned out not to matter. The Orange broke a 51-all tie after the third quarter to outscore the Irish, 28-14, in the fourth, and win, 79-65.

While the Irish (14-4, 5-3) are ranked 15th and the Orange (17-2, 7-1) are 22nd, the Orange have shown twice this season that they have the Irish’s number. If these programs face other again in the ACC Tournament or, God forbid, the NCAA Tournament, we know who has the edge. Unfortunately, it’s not the Irish.

Dyaisha Fair played the entire game for the Orange and led all scorers with 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Alaina Rice scored 19 points, and Georgia Woolley added 12 while coming within a rebound of a double-double. Kyra Wood grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led the Irish with 23 points, four assists and three steals while making all eight of her free throws. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14 points, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Hidalgo and Citron both picked four fouls of their own.

Here are some images from the defeat:

Notre Dame tunes up for tough week with win over Wake Forest

The Irish really will need to step up their game soon.

Notre Dame is preparing for some heavy duty this coming week. A rematch with Syracuse, which it already lost to, and a road game at UConn means good efforts will be absolutely necessary. First though, visiting Wake Forest, the worst team in the ACC was on the schedule. While the Irish won, 75-56, they didn’t always play like the better team.

The Irish (14-3, 5-2) never trailed in the game, and the final score indicated their biggest lead. However, it also never felt like the Demon Deacons (4-15, 0-7) ever really went away despite trailing by double digits the entire second half. With the difference between these teams, the Irish should have been able to leave the Deacons in the dust. That barely felt like the case.

Maybe this sounds like an overly critical analysis, but that’s only because the Irish are held to such a high standard being ranked in a tough conference. Scoring fewer than 20 points in the third and fourth quarters as they did hear won’t cut it against the Orange and Huskies. [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] needs to emphasize that to her players, or they could be in for a rude awakening over these next couple of games.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had another nice game of 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] continued to make up for lost time from earlier the season with 18 points and joining Hidalgo with four rebounds and four assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 10 points and was a rebound short of a double-double. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] also scored 10 coming off the bench.

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