Tag: Maddy Westbeld

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:

Notre Dame blown out by Louisville in ACC Tournament semifinals

Not much to say about this one. OK, a lot, actually, and not in a good way.

With [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] unavailable for the ACC Tournament, it seemed like only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped for Notre Dame. Drop it did against Louisville in the semifinals, and it was not pretty.

After both teams struggled for much of the first quarter, the Cardinals started to pull away and never looked back. Faced with a stifling opposing defense, the Irish set a tournament record for offensive futility by a top seed in a 64-38 loss.

The Irish (25-5) defeated the Cardinals (23-10) twice during the regular season, including the finale to clinch the outright ACC regular-season title, and neither win came easily. So it seemed only natural for the third time to be the charm for the Cardinals, who previously had won six straight in the series. Their defense was unforgiving to the point where the Irish finished with more turnovers (22) than field goals (16). In fact, they didn’t allow the Irish to reach double figures in scoring for the first three quarters.

Hailey Van Lith scored 13 of her game-high 15 points for the Cardinals in the second half and had three steals. Olivia Cochran had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and also grabbed eight rebounds. Chrislyn Carr scored all 10 of her points in the second half, and Mykasa Robinson totaled 10 points and eight boards.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] was the Irish’s leading scorer but had only nine points, which was a perfect indication of how the afternoon went. The only other game in recent program history that featured such dominance by the opponent was when these same Cardinals jumped out to a 54-15 halftime lead last year at Purcell Pavilion. A loss to this team even with Miles on the floor might have seemed possible, but the Cardinals took complete advantage of her absence. The Irish lacked direction without their floor general, and it showed.

So now, the Irish have over a week to see if Miles can play in the NCAA Tournament. If her availability remains questionable by the time the selection committee releases its bracket, that could hurt their seeding to the point where they won’t get to host the first two rounds. There are a lot of questions surrounding this team right now, and it couldn’t be happening at a worse time. It really shows how sports all are about timing.

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

Hear from the winners of the ACC Tournament quarterfinal against NC State.

Despite having the ACC Tournament’s top seed, Notre Dame was dealt a tough hand for its quarterfinal. It had to face an NC State program that had won the last two matchups, and Olivia Miles was sidelined with a knee injury, probably for the entire weekend. Rather than panic, the Irish merely adjusted, and they won, 66-60. That earned them the right to face another tough squad in Louisville in the semifinals.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] showed why she was named ACC Coach of the Year by keeping her players prepared even though they were missing their best asset. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag]’s 3 near the end of the first half gave the Irish a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, and she achieved a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] enjoyed a balanced afternoon with eight points, six rebounds, a steal and an assist.

All three women spoke to the media afterwards, and here’s what they had to say:

Notre Dame beats NC State in ACC Tournament opener without Miles

No Olivia, no problem.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] didn’t play in Notre Dame’s ACC Tournament opener against NC State. It appears unlikely she will play the entire weekend, which definitely decreases the Irish’s chances of cutting down the nets. Still, the Irish have to try to get there, and they took a big step by beating the three-time defending tournament champion Wolfpack, 66-60. They now advance to the semifinals against Louisville, which beat Wake Forest earlier in the day.

The Irish (25-4) had lost their previous two against the Wolfpack (20-11), and that skid had a possibility of hitting three for much of the first half as they just couldn’t do a lot of what they wanted to. A [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] 3 in the final seconds gave the Irish a three-point halftime lead. They slowly built their lead from there, going up by as much as 14 in the fourth quarter. They needed almost all of those points, too, because they didn’t make a field goal in the final five minutes, and the Wolfpack got within five with 23 seconds to go.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] set a season high in leading all scorers with 28 points and rounded out her line with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Westbeld completed a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards.

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ACC honors galore for Notre Dame

So many Irish folks won awards that we had to make a listicle out of this story.

When you win the outright ACC regular-season championship, as Notre Dame did, many conference honors are sure to come. That’s exactly what happened when the ACC unveiled its annual honors. The best part is the honors weren’t limited to those who are on the court every game.

All of this is happening ahead of the ACC Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. Having earned one of the top four seeds, the Irish received an automatic berth to the quarterfinals, which will take place Friday. As the top seed, they will play the winner of the second-round game between Syracuse and an NC State program that has given them problems over the past year.

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology has the Irish holding steady as the No. 3 seed in the quadrant featuring undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina. Should the Gamecocks draw the Irish in the Elite Eight in that scenario, they’ll have to deal with these heavy hitters that have made the Irish such a force this season:

Notre Dame wallops Georgia Tech on senior night

Nice showing in the season’s final home game.

Senior night for Notre Dame began with honoring [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] and the injured [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag]. Once the game tipped off though, the script started to flip. Georgia Tech scored eight unanswered points out of the gate, prompting [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to take an early timeout. Fortunately, things more or less corrected themselves from there, and the Irish won, 76-53.

The Irish (23-4, 14-3) had trouble holding off the Yellow Jackets (13-15, 4-13) for a bit, only taking a six-point lead into halftime. That changed in the third quarter as the Irish opened it with a 14-4 run. The Yellow Jackets never seriously threatened after that, only getting as close as 14 early in the fourth quarter. In short, it was a typical Irish victory for the final regular-season game at Purcell Pavilion this season.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] led all scorers with 13 points. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] completed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] also scored 12, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] contributed 11 points and a game-high five assists. Ebo had eight points in her final regular-season home game, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] scored 10 off the bench.

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Olivia Miles lifts Notre Dame over Louisville at overtime buzzer

Has there been a bigger moment this season? Unlikely.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] only is a sophomore, and she already has the makings of one of the best players in Notre Dame history. Moments like her final act against Louisville only will add to her legend. The Irish had a chance to move back into a tie for first with Duke in the ACC, but the Cardinals did not make it easy at all. Miles made sure her team grabbed that chance when she hit a shot at the buzzer for a 78-76 overtime win, sending Purcell Pavilion into a frenzy.

This game featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, and it was just as thrilling as it sounds. The Irish (21-4, 12-3) bounced back after the Cardinals (19-9, 10-5) held a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] tied it at 68 with 1:13 left in regulation, then made a go-ahead layup roughly half a minute later. Hailey Van Lith then knotted it back up at 70 for the Cardinals, and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag]’s missed layup out of a timeout made overtime necessary.

Overtime didn’t feature a lot of offense, but layups by [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] gave the Irish a four-point lead with 15.1 seconds left. Prosper’s layup came on a foul and appeared to ice the game for the Irish, but she missed her free throw. That allowed Van Lith to get the rebound and easily run back the other way for a layup to cut the lead in half. Miles was trapped upon receiving the subsequent rebound and she lost the ball out of bounds, giving the Cardinals the ball. Olivia Cochran hit a layup out of a timeout to tie it at 76 with 3.8 seconds to go.

The Irish were able to advance the ball after calling a timeout, and that set up perhaps the biggest play of the season. Miles began the play in the backcourt and received a flip from Watson. She then hustled toward the right wing and fired a shot inside the 3-point line that went in. The bucket gave the Irish their first win over the Cardinals since 2019.

Miles finished one assist shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Watson led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting. Citron scored 15 in 44 minutes, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] added 10.

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Notre Dame wins ugly game against cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh

Good thing they don’t give points for style.

If you watched Notre Dame’s game against Pittsburgh and didn’t know the ACC standings, you never would have known the Panthers are in last. A contest that few expected to be close was exactly that almost throughout. It couldn’t have been a pleasant feeling for [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] seeing her top-10 Irish struggle to shake the inferior Panthers. Still, she undoubtedly will take the 69-63 win.

The Irish (19-4, 10-3) led by as much as 11, but you probably would have forgotten that had you watched the game. There were eight lead changes, and the Panthers (8-16, 1-12) in front as late as early in the fourth quarter. The Irish ended up losing the field-goal percentage battle, .440-.431. The possibility of a real letdown after a tough loss against Duke four days earlier was real.

In the end, the Irish made more clutch plays. When [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] hit a 3 to extend their lead to six with two-and-a-half minutes to go, the game pretty much was sealed. While the Panthers had a chance to creep closer, they never did. The result is the Irish breathing a sigh of relief that they didn’t lose back-to-back games at home.

Citron scored 20 points and showcased her defensive skills with three steals and three blocks. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] did the same with 11 points and 13 assists. The Irish as a whole had significant advantages in rebounds (41-27), second-chance points (25-8) and fast-break points (10-1).

Perhaps [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag]’s presence could have allowed the Irish to assert their authority more. Instead, an injury kept her from playing once again. While she could be back soon, the Irish need to learn how to dominate without her or [autotag]Dara Mabrey[/autotag] in the lineup. Otherwise, their NCAA Tournament run could be a short one.

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Niele Ivey, Maddy Westbeld speak after loss to Duke knocks Irish out of first

Read some inside thoughts on the defeat.

SOUTH BEND – The good news for Notre Dame is there’s plenty of time to reclaim first place in the ACC after Duke claimed it.

The bad news is the 57-52 loss the Blue Devils handed the Irish means [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] will have to figure out how to play catch-up. That’s not where a team wants to be with less than a month to go before the ACC Tournament. Alas, the Irish have no choice.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] played the entire game and had 15 points and seven rebounds. But she contributed to the Irish’s 2-of-13 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, missing all three of her shots. In fact, the six points [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] scored in that frame were all the Irish produced. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag] surely could have helped stop the bleeding had she been available, but we’ll never know for sure.

Here is some of what Ivey and Westbeld said about the Irish’s toughest loss this season:

Notre Dame falls to Duke, slips to second in the ACC

The Irish have ceded control of the conference.

SOUTH BEND – It would be a shame not have Notre Dame and Duke battle in next month’s ACC Tournament. After the thrilling battle for first place outright in the conference, the programs deserve to meet again. For the Irish, it would be a matter of getting revenge against the Blue Devils as they lost, 57-52, in front of a raucous crowd at Purcell Pavilion. It was the second loss to a team from the Tar Heel State in as many Sundays for the Irish after dropping a contest to NC State the previous week.

Although the Irish (18-4, 9-3) now are looking up at the Blue Devils (20-3, 10-2) in the ACC, this game was close throughout. The Irish took an eight-point lead late in the first half, but the Blue Devils refused to concede. Using their trademark tough defense and just enough offense, this game was destined to come down to the fourth quarter. That it did, and it wasn’t what the Irish were hoping for.

Neither team could score much in the final frame as during one stretch, they combined to miss 14 straight shots, keeping the score at 51-49 in favor of the Blue Devils. When the offense did somewhat pick up again, it was the Blue Devils that made just enough shots, and they held a 55-52 lead with 15.4 seconds left.

Given a chance to tie the score, the Irish instead turned the ball over when [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] lost it, and it was picked by Reigan Richardson. With the Irish forced to foul to try and extend the game, Elizabeth Balogun made two free throws to ice the game with 5.6 seconds left. That prompted the large crowd at Purcell Pavilion to head for the exits.

Celeste Taylor was the top Blue Devil with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] led the Irish with 15 points and seven rebounds, [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14, and Miles added 11. Miles’ final six were the Irish’s only points in the entire fourth quarter.

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