NC State deals Notre Dame heartbreaking defeat in NCAA Tournament

This one hurts.

Notre Dame had top-seeded NC State on the ropes in the Sweet 16 of the Bridgeport Regional in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the Irish were mere seconds away from defeating the Wolfpack for the second time this season and getting back to the Elite Eight. Instead, the tables turned at the worst possible time, and the Irish will head home after losing a 66-63 heartbreaker.

The Irish (24-9) took the lead in the second quarter, during which they had a 26-14 scoring advantage over the Wolfpack (32-3). They led by as much as 10 without falling behind and still had a four-point advantage with 1:45 to go. That lead was cut to 66-63, and the game was about to be tied but for Elissa Cunane’s first missed free throw of the game. Maya Dodson got the rebound, and the Irish called a timeout hoping to milk the clock with 35 seconds left.

Out of the timeout, the worst possible thing happened, and it surely will haunt Dara Mabrey forever. Raina Perez picked the senior clean at the center-court logo and broke free for a wide-open layup with nobody in front of her, giving the Wolfpack the slimmest of leads. The Irish called their last timeout to set up a game-winning basket, but Maddy Westbeld missed a 3-pointer, and Perez got the rebound and was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining. Perez made two free throws, and the stunned Irish could only watch the Wolfpack celebrate their incredible come-from-behind victory.

As predicted, Cunane was the Wolfpack’s most productive player with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but it was the defense that will be remembered most in this game. Kai Crutchfield had three of her four steals in the fourth quarter, and two of those led to four of her 14 points. Perez also had four steals, none bigger than the last one.

Olivia Miles nearly carried the Irish on her back to the finish line as she led all scorers with 21 points. Westbeld scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds and three steals. However, she also committed five of the Irish’s 16 turnovers.

This one will sting for the Irish for a while, especially after being outscored, 20-10, in the fourth quarter. At the same time, this was the season in which Niele Ivey was able to establish herself as the right person to lead the program going forward. Most of the team will be back next season, and only more progress can result. The Irish are back, and they’re not going away.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame dominates Oklahoma from start to advance to Sweet 16

That was a whooping.

The second-round NCAA Tournament game between Notre Dame and Oklahoma was competitive for about two-and-a-half minutes. After that, any semblance of a level playing field in this contest completely evaporated. That’s because the Irish began a complete embarrassment of the Sooners on their home floor. Their 108-64 win set a program NCAA Tournament record for offensive output and set up a meeting with top-seeded NC State in the Sweet 16.

After the Irish (24-8) found themselves down, 7-5, to the Sooners (25-9), they had absolutely nothing to worry about. Led by four 3-pointers from Dara Mabrey, they scored 20 unanswered points and never were threatened again. Their 35 first-quarter points were their most in any quarter this season. Helped by Sooners 28 turnovers, they continued to pour it on throughout, reminding everyone yet again that this program has emerged from the doldrums.

Mabrey finished with seven 3-pointers and a game-high 29 points. Sonia Citron wasn’t far behind with 25, and she made all 11 of her free throws. Maya Dodson scored 20 on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, and Maddy Westbeld flirted with a double-double as she totaled 13 points and nine rebounds. Also coming close to a double-double was Olivia Miles, who scored nine points and had 12 assists.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Notre Dame in NCAA Tournament: Stream, injury report and broadcast

Here’s how you can check out the action between the Oklahoma Sooners and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the NCAA Tournament.

After a strong performance against IUPUI in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Oklahoma Women’s basketball team will face a tough test from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. With four players averaging double-figures in points, the Sooners will have to be on guard to slow down the Irish offense.

The Sooners got fantastic performances from Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson, who each scored 20 points in the opening round win over IUPUI. This is the furthest the Sooners have advanced in the NCAA Tournament since 2017. If they can knock off Notre Dame tonight at the Lloyd Noble Center, they’ll advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.

For Notre Dame, they knocked off UMass in the opening round of the tournament behind Olivia Miles triple double. Like Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk, it was the first win for Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey in her tenure with the Irish.

How to Watch

Date: March 21
Time: 5 p.m. CDT
TV Channel: ESPN2
Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here)

Injury Report

Oklahoma

Skylar Vann: probable (leg)

Notre Dame

N/A

Players to watch

Oklahoma

Madi Williams: 18.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals per game.

Taylor Robertson: 17.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals per game.

Skylar Vann: 11.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists per game, 1.5 steals per game

Notre Dame

Olivia Miles: 13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.8 steals per game.

Maya Dodson: 12.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 2.7 blocks per game.

Maddy Westbeld: 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals per game.

Sonia Citron: 11.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists per game.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Notre Dame beats Massachusetts in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Irish have past their first tournament test.

If Notre Dame had lost to Massachusetts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, no one would have been surprised. After all, two No. 5 seeds already had fallen, so it would have been forgivable not to bat an eye at seeing it happen again. But it didn’t happen this time, and the Irish are into the second round after an 89-78 win in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Irish (23-8) got off to a fast start, going up by as much as 17 in the first half. The Minutewomen (26-7) cut that lead by more than half going into the break when Sam Breen hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot. When the lead was whittled down to six in the third quarter, another No. 12 seed looked like it was on its way to victory. Instead, the Irish went on an 11-0 run, and that was all she wrote for the Minutewomen.

It was a historic game for Olivia Miles, who achieved the second triple-double of her collegiate career: 12 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists. She joins Skylar Diggins and Jackie Young as the only players in program history with two triple-doubles. While she also had six turnovers, no one will remember that.

Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. The Irish also got 18 points apiece from Dara Mabrey and Maya Dodson.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame earns four selections on ACC All-Academic Team

Whatever Notre Dame does for the rest of the season, it can say there are some bright players in its program.

Whatever Notre Dame does for the rest of the season, it can say there are some bright players in its program. The ACC has released its All-Academic Team, and four Irish players made the cut. The Notre Dame players who shine best in the classroom while also performing at a high level on the court are Destinee Walker, Anaya Peoples, Dara Mabrey and Maddy Westbeld. This is Notre Dame’s best showing on the ACC All-Academic Team since entering the conference.

Mabrey and Walker are on this team for the third time, while this is the debut for Westbeld and Peoples. Players qualify for the list by achieving a 3.0 GPA for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative GPA throughout their academic career. Seeing how most collegiate athletes leave their competitive playing careers behind upon leaving school, this is a nice thing to put on a resume. Being able to balance your academic and athletic sides so well should be the goal for anyone who chooses to play sports in college.

Notre Dame’s Westbeld Wins ACC Rookie of the Year

Notre Dame has their first women’s basketball rookie of the year since 2015.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Welcome to an elite club in Notre Dame women’s basketball history, Maddy Westbeld. The freshman forward out of Kettering, Ohio, won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award, as voted upon by the head coaches.

She becomes just the second player in program history to win Rookie of the Year in the ACC, joining Brianna Turner, who did so in 2015. She also is just the sixth overall Notre Dame player to win Rookie of the Year in any conference since the program’s birth in 1977.

Westbeld’s awards haul didn’t stop there. Notre Dame’s leading scorer and rebounder also collected First Team All-ACC honors as voted upon by the Blue-Ribbon media panel and a Second-Team nod from the Head Coaches Panel. Westbeld also naturally landed on the ACC All-Freshman list.

Amongst ACC freshmen, Westbeld ranked first in scoring, second in rebounding, second in steals, fourth in assists and fourth in blocks. No other freshman in the league ranked in the top-four in all the above-mentioned categories.

Not only does Westbeld’s 14.9 points per game top all ACC rookies and leads the Irish, but also ranks 12th among all Division-I freshmen. In addition, her scoring average would rank third all-time amongst freshmen in Notre Dame history. The two ND greats in front of her being Shari Matvey (17.6 ppg) and Beth (Morgan) Cunningham (17.9 ppg).

You can also dub Maddy Miss Do It All because she’s the only freshman in the country averaging at least 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists & 1.4 steals. Overall, she’s just 1-of-9 Division-I players achieving the feat, and the only one from a Power-Five school.

Furthermore, Westbeld ranks fifth among Division I freshmen in the Points+Rebounds+Assists/Game category at 25.3.

Westbeld has tallied three double-doubles on the year, including two over the last week of the regular season. She’s raised her rebounding average to 7.8, which would rank fifth all-time in Notre Dame freshman history.

Westbeld and the rest of the Fighting Irish return to action in the second round of the ACC Tournament against Clemson, taking place Thursday, March 4, at 8:30 p.m. EST on RSN.

Previous Notre Dame Rookie of the Year winners:

ACC
Brianna Turner (2015)

Big East
Jewell Loyd (2013)
Jacqueline Batteast (2002)
Alicia Ratay (2000)

Midwestern Collegiate Conference
Beth Morgan (1994)

Notre Dame women’s basketball falls in ACC opener

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team fell in their ACC opener on Sunday. Details and highlights here.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team got off to a rough start in ACC play, falling to Georgia Tech 82-67 Sunday at Purcell Pavilion.

Maddy Westbeld led the way for Notre Dame with a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Yellow Jackets swarm.

Lotta-Maj Lahtinen led Georgia Tech with 19 points and eight rebounds.

The game started well for Notre Dame; the Irish led 18-15 after one quarter. But Georgia Tech’s offense was relentless the rest of the way: It put up 20, 26 and 21 points in the final three quarters, respectively.

Georgia Tech accomplished all of that despite committing 10 more turnovers than the host Irish.

Notre Dame falls to 2-3 on the season and 0-1 in ACC play. Georgia Tech moves to 4-1 overall after winning its conference opener.

Notre Dame returns to action on Thursday when it plays host to Virginia Tech in another ACC matchup.

Notre Dame’s Maddy Westbeld Named ACC Rookie of the Week

Notre Dame freshman Maddy Westbeld is off to a nice start in her collegiate career.

Notre Dame freshman Maddy Westbeld is off to a nice start in her collegiate career. The ACC can see that after naming her the conference Rookie of the Week. It’s a bright spot for an Irish team off to a 2-2 start.

In the Irish’s most recent games against Michigan and IUPUI, Westbeld averaged 20 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and two steals. She also was 55.2 percent from the field on 16-of-29 shooting. In the fourth quarter of the Irish’s loss to the Wolverines, she scored 12 of her team’s 20 points.

Westbeld is the ACC freshman scoring leader at 17.5 points a game. That’s also good enough to lead the Irish by 3.2 points. Nationally, she is one of three freshmen with over 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists a game. In fact, her 6.8 rebounding average also leads Notre Dame.

The Irish already have wrapped up their nonconference schedule. They have a week off between games before tipping off ACC play Dec. 13 against Georgia Tech.