Tag: Sonia Citron

Notre Dame player honored by USBWA for fifth time in six weeks

Yes, the Irish are that good.

(This story has been updated to include additional information.)

At this rate, it will be shocking if the USBWA isn’t honoring a Notre Dame player almost every week for the rest of the season. The Irish have been that good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was one of five players to earn weekly national honors by the organization for the week ending Dec. 15. She previously earned them for the week ending Nov. 24.

Through six weeks of the season, Notre Dame has had one of its players honored by the USBWA every week except for one. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] have earned national honors once, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was honored as the nation’s top freshman once. The only thing the Irish haven’t won is the weekly team honor, but it would not be surprising if they did so before season’s end.

This hardly is a surprise given that Hidalgo already was named the ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for this past week. She also was the AP national player of the week. What probably stood out the most among voters was finishing two assists shy of a triple-double against UConn:

You know more awards will be coming for her very soon.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball cruises to record-setting win against Eastern Michigan

Notre Dame flew by the Eagles with ease.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team had a bit of a slow start on offense against the Easter Michigan Eagles.

Fortunately for the Fighting Irish (9-2, 1-0), so did the Eagles (1-6). Notre Dame did finally settle in with its second basket with 7:18 left in the first quarter — and once the shots started falling, they never stopped. The Irish would have a 15-0 run before EMU finally got a point. Notre Dame would go on to win 118-49.

The Irish rocketed out to a 33-9 lead and essentially had the game in hand once the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the first quarter. Notre Dame would lead 61-20 at halftime.

Not that there was any real doubt, even in the first few minutes when the score was 2-0 in favor of the Irish. Even as the Irish’s first few shots didn’t fall, it was clear Notre Dame was in command of the game — unless the Eagles got on an early run, the Irish would be fine.

Of course, it was Notre Dame that then had the early run. And the mid-game run. And the late run.

The Irish crossed the century mark with more than six minutes remaining in the game. Eastern Michigan had yet to reach 40 points, and the Eagles of course finished with just 49.

Notre Dame set a team record with 17 made three-point shots during the contest — breaking the old record of 15. The Irish scored the fifth-most points in team history.

Fighting Irish guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led all scorers with 27 points while fellow guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] had 17 and forward [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] had 15. Guard [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was also in double figures with 11.

King also had 15 rebounds for a double-double.

[autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] was a huge story for the Irish — the guard came off the bench and had 23 points, including 7-of-9 from three-point land. Guard [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] had 20 off the bench.

Next up for Notre Dame, after a brief break for final exams, will be a visit from Loyola Maryland at noon EST on Dec. 22.

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Fourth different Notre Dame player this season earns weekly honor

Congrats, Sonia!

If you want to you know exactly how talented Notre Dame is this season, simply look at the roster. A Notre Dame player has been received a weekly honor from the USBWA for the fourth time this season. A different player has won it each time.

This time, it was [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] earning the honor. She began the week with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven steals in the Irish’s overtime win over Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge. She followed that with her first double-double of the season (25 points, 11 rebounds) to help the Irish beat Syracuse in their ACC opener.

Citron joins [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] as the third Irish player this season to be named one of five national players of the week by the USBWA. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] also has a freshman of the week honor.

The Irish have another big test coming up Thursday against UConn, and the Huskies might be in trouble if Citron has another game like this one:

Best of luck to the Irish against a quality opponent they have beaten in each of the past two seasons.

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Notre Dame breaks two-game losing streak with overtime win over Texas

Back on track in a big way.

Notre Dame and Texas was billed as a game to watch in this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge, and it definitely lived up to the hype. The problem with that was the Irish needed to sweat it out to try and overcome its disastrous two games in the Cayman Islands Classic.

The Irish took all they could handle from the Longhorns, but it was enough to get them back on track. They’ll head into their ACC opener against Syracuse coming off an 80-70 overtime victory.

The Irish (6-2) were in control for much of the game after the first quarter, but the Longhorns (7-1) came alive to begin the fourth, and the teams engaged in a back-and-forth throughout that frame.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] broke a tie with what appeared to be the game-winning layup in the final seconds, but [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] fouled Rori Harmon with one second left and the Irish in the penalty. Harmon hit both free throws to tie it back up. The Irish called a timeout to set up a game-winning shot, but [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]’s corner 3 missed everything, necessitating free basketball.

Kyla Oldacre scored the first basket of overtime 15 seconds in, but that proved to account for the Longhorns’ final points of the game as they missed their final 10 shots. Four of those misses came from Madison Booker, who wasted a 20-point effort.

The Irish were happy to take advantage as their overtime showing was highlighted by 3s from Hidalgo and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag]. The Longhorns couldn’t answer as they simply had run out of gas:

Hidalgo scored a season-high 30 points. Miles and Citron both scored 18 with Citron collecting a career-high seven steals. King achieved a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball remains perfect with win over Lafayette

Another day, another victory.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is hurting right now. That’s evidenced by the fact that it had only six rotational players available against Lafayette. But the Irish are so talented that they barely had to break a sweat in a 91-55 victory.

The Irish (4-0) never trailed the Leopards (1-3) and did just about everything to keep their perfect record intact. Their offense was in sync as it typically is, which led to a program-record 15 3-pointer. Their defense also was smothering as usual. There was nothing to indicate that the Irish would slip up in this game.

All the Leopards could do was try and give a respectable showing to their home crowd, which they said they did on their postgame TV interviews. They should say that though after only scoring one less point than the Irish in the fourth quarter.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led everybody with 29 points and five steals. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was equally lethal with 20 points and seven assists. [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] scored all 12 of her points off the bench on four 3-pointers.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] nearly achieved a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while also accumulating six assists, three steals and three blocks.

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Notre Dame guards projected top-four picks ahead of WNBA draft lottery

This would reflect quite well on the Irish.

Notre Dame guards [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] are headed for the WNBA after this season. At least that’s the expectation. The real question is how high both players will be picked in the draft.

The WNBA draft lottery will take place Sunday. The participants are the Washington Mystics, Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings and Chicago Sky. According to two projects, Miles and Citron both have a chance to be picked by one of those teams in the top four of the draft.

Tankathon has Miles and Citron going back-to-back at third and fourth, which would be an incredible accomplishment for the Irish. ESPN isn’t as optimistic with Miles going fourth and Citron projected as the final pick of the first round. ESPN previously had Miles going fifth and Citron 11th.

First things first though, both players are focused are bringing the Irish a national championship. Having [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and rising freshman [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] with them will make the journey a lot easier.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball clobbers Purdue on road for second win

Make that two blowout wins to start the season.

If an opponent isn’t contending for an ACC or national championship, Notre Dame is likely to run it out of the gym. That’s exactly what happened during the Irish’s first road game of the season against Purdue. Much like with the football team less than two months earlier, this game was never close as the Irish won, 102-58.

The Irish (2-0) scored the game’s first nine points before jumping out to an 18-3 lead and never looking back. Every time the Boilermakers (1-1) got any sort of momentum going, the Irish answered and often expanded their lead. They gave themselves more scoring chances with plays on both ends of the floor and took full advantage.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a trademark night with 28 points and six steals. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] did a tall player’s impression of Hidalgo, scoring 18 points and recording four steals. She also achieved a double-double with 15 rebounds.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] scored 17 points, which included this ridiculous shot from beyond half-court as time expired on the third quarter:

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] added 14 points in her season debut after missing the opener with an injury, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] grabbed 10 rebounds while coming within two-points of a double-double.

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Three Notre Dame players among ESPN’s top 25 in women’s basketball

The Irish have serious talent. No doubt about it.

Notre Dame is expected to contend for a national championship this season. That’s not by accident. There are many talented players on the Irish, and at least one prominent sports media outlet recognizes that, not that others don’t.

ESPN has released its preseason list of the top 25 players in women’s basketball. The Irish were one of seven teams to have more than one player on the list. In all, three Irish players were afforded the honor.

Unsurprisingly, [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] ranks the highest among her teammates at third. Even without having played last season, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] still made the list, clocking in at 13th. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is right behind her at 14th.

To make things even more exciting, the Irish will face every player this season who is ranked alongside Hidalgo in the top five of this list. Those players are JuJu Watkins, the top-ranked player, alongside USC teammate Kiki Iriafen, Paige Bueckers of UConn and Madison Booker of Texas, which also clocked Rori Harmon in at ninth.

There indeed are some fun times in store for the Irish this season.

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Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron named to shooting guard award watch list

Good luck, Soni!

For all the talk about [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], there’s a third Notre Dame guard who often gets lost in the shuffle. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] has made both All-ACC and All-ACC Tournament in two consecutive seasons. She was ACC Rookie of the Year two seasons before Hidalgo arrived.

Now, there’s a possibility she could be honored in a different way this season. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the best female shooting guard in the country. Citron is one of 20 to make this year’s watch list.

Also on the list is defending winner JuJu Watkins of USC, which will face the Irish in nonconference play. If Watkins impresses as she did as a freshman, Citron will have to somehow surpass that level to have a shot at the award. Of course, the Irish will take that version of Citron if only to improve their national championship chances:

Best of luck to Citron in her attempt to dethrone Watkins.

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Three Notre Dame women’s basketball players are on key watch list

Notre Dame has three women on the Naismith Player of the Year list.

Notre Dame has three women’s basketball players on the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Watch List.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame made the announcement Monday that Sonia Citron, Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles are on the watch list.

The 50-player list includes the nation’s top players, and very few teams have more than three players on it.

Citron averaged 17.3 points per game and played 35.8 minutes a game on average. That’s fourth in Notre Dame history and head coach Niele Ivey called her the team’s “glue.”

She was also All-ACC Second Team last season.

Hidalgo is a pre-season AP All-American and last season averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game. She led the country in steals.

Miles, meanwhile, is coming back from a torn ACL. The 2023 ACC Player of the Year runner-up averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game during her junior season.

Feb 24, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) dribbles as Clemson Tigers guard Madi Ott (30) defends in the second half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

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