Tag: Natalija Marshall

Notre Dame loses two rotational players to transfer portal

Notre Dame widely is expected to compete for a Final Four berth during the 2024-25 season.

Notre Dame widely is expected to compete for a Final Four berth during the 2024-25 season. However, a couple of players have chosen to take their talents elsewhere. Forward Natalija Marshall has announced that she will enter the transfer portal:

https://www.instagram.com/natalijamarshall/p/C5meAvQN9Ro/?hl=en

This news dropped only two days after sophomore guard KK Bransford also announced she was entering the transfer portal:

https://www.instagram.com/kkbransford/p/C5dqbVFunv3/?hl=en

Marshall will leave the Irish despite starting their final four games of this past season for the injured [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag]. In three seasons with the Irish, Marshall averaged 4.1 points and 1.3 rebounds a game.

Bransford is out after only two years with the Irish. In her 66 games, she made 19 starts and averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] already is down two players whom she played regularly. That hurts regardless of the talent coming in via the transfer portal and the 2024 recruiting class. Whatever the reason though, this is a sure sign that the new season already is here.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame wins ACC Tournament championship by beating NC State

They earned every bit of this one.

It didn’t matter that Notre Dame had only seven players available for the ACC Tournament championship against NC State. It hasn’t mattered all season how ravaged the Irish have been by injuries. They’ve proven time and again just how good they are. Now, they have hardware after beating the Wolfpack, 55-51, to win their sixth ACC Tournament title.

A game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter. When the Irish (26-6) saw the Wolfpack (27-6) go up six with over seven minutes left, they cracked down with defensive pressure, and just enough offense took over from there. Over the final 6:44, they went on a 12-2 run, allowing the Wolfpack only one field goal over their final nine attempts.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] tied the game with a pair of 3-pointers, and tournament MVP [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] made a couple of go-ahead shots in a 56-second span. A final defensive stop was book-ended by single free throws apiece from [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and Hidalgo. The Irish huddled in celebration as the final seconds ticked down.

Hidalgo led all scorers with 22 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Westbeld scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half with eight of them coming in the fourth quarter. Citron had 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals. [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag], starting for the injured [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag], blocked three shots.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame guts out tough victory against Pittsburgh

The Irish needed everything to win this game.

Notre Dame starting its ACC schedule 0-2 really would have thrown the season off the rails. For a while, it looked like Pittsburgh might actually inflict that pain upon an Irish team ravaged by injuries. However, the Irish made sure that didn’t happen and emerged victorious over the Panthers, 71-66.

The Irish (10-2, 1-1) jumped out to a 26-6 lead in the first quarter and scored the game’s first 12 points. But the points stopped coming so frequently, and the Panthers (6-9, 0-2), led by Liatu King’s career-high 34 points and 13 rebounds, outscored the Irish, 36-19, in the second and third quarters. It did not help that in the latter of those quarters, [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] fouled out, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag]’s lip was badly cut, forcing her to the bench with 17 points and six rebounds.

The fourth quarter proved to be [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]’s time. She matched her first-quarter total of 11 points after being held to single basket in between, bringing her total scoring output to 24. She and the rest of her remaining teammates turned what had become a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 1:48 left. The Irish held serve from there to escape the Steel City with the win.

Also helping Hidalgo was [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag], who scored most of her 11 points on three 3-pointers. That total was one off Hidalgo’s four 3s.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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).

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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 crushes Lafayette ahead of layoff

Another night at the office for the Irish in nonconference play.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame won’t play again until after final exams at the university are completed next week. That meant a strong performance Wednesday against Lafayette was a must. There was no problem with that whatsoever as the Irish cruised to a wire-to-wire 96-42 victory in which each of their dressed players scored.

While the Irish (7-1) played well in the first half, it wasn’t enough to completely fend off the Leopards (4-5). Although a loss was unlikely even at that point, it still would have been for the Irish take a stranglehold on the game. They did just that in the third quarter, clamping down on defense and outscoring the Leopards, 28-8. Even with the fourth quarter merely a formality on this night, they continued to lay down the hammer and had a 30-11 scoring advantage.

By the time it was over, the Leopards had a whole bunch of goose eggs, if not slightly better, on their side of the stats sheet. The Irish did not allow any field goals off turnovers, fast breaks or second chances. Most impressively, they didn’t let the Leopards get to the free-throw line until the fourth quarter.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had another huge game with 26 points and padded her national steals lead with six takeaways. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 17 points and 19 rebounds. [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] scored 14, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] had 10 points to go with three of her own steals.

[autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] came off the bench to score 12 and grab eight boards as well as lead the Irish with six assists.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89