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Ivey, Hidalgo, Citron, Westbeld speak after winning ACC tourney title

When the story about the 2023-24 Notre Dame women’s basketball season is written, Hannah Hidalgo’s name will be the first one to come up. But the reality is sonia citron and Maddy Westbeld were just as important, and all three showed it by being …

When the story about the 2023-24 Notre Dame women’s basketball season is written, [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]’s name will be the first one to come up. But the reality is [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] were just as important, and all three showed it by being named to the ACC All-Tournament First Team with Hidalgo winning MVP honors. What else was there to do after the Irish beat NC State, 55-51, for the ACC Tournament title.

To the surprise of no one, all three players accompanied [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to her postgame news conference that was long-awaited after the Irish spent a lot of time celebrating their latest honor. It’s amazing that they were able to gather their thoughts for the assembled media, but they know this is part of what they need to do after games. Of course, enough time had passed by then that had had time to assemble their thoughts.

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.

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Niele Ivey, Sonia Citron, Anna DeWolfe speak after Notre Dame win

Notre Dame undoubtedly feels good about making the ACC Tournament championship game after beating Virginia Tech, 82-53. But it also understandably is anxious for any sort of good news surrounding [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag], who injured her left knee in the third quarter of the semifinal win. She was last seen on crutches, and nobody knows what that means right now except the injury-riddled Irish were just dealt another blow.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] spoke about the game afterwards and reiterated that she didn’t have any updates about Watson. Accompanying her at the postgame news conference were [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag], the Irish’s best player for the day with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag], who scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

Given the unknown status of Watson, they need to be given credit that they still were able to talk about the dominant performance they had just displayed. Here is most of what they had to say:

Notre Dame beats Virginia Tech but loses Watson in ACC Tournament semi

This latest victory might have been costly.

Notre Dame faced the ACC Tournament’s top seed in Virginia Tech for its semifinal game. With the Hokies missing injured conference player of the year Elizabeth Kitley and the Irish having beaten them a week ago with her, everything trended in their direction. But the Irish suffered their own bad injury luck during their dominant 82-53 victory that put them in the tournament championship game.

The Irish (25-6) led almost the entire game, and any hope the Hokies (24-7) had were dashed when the Irish scored 20 unanswered points between the second and third quarters. However, the high the Irish were on was dampened when [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] went down with a left knee injury and had to be helped back to the locker room. While she did put some weight on the knee and eventually returned to the Irish’s bench with crutches, both the team and fans undoubtedly will hold their collective breath as they await word on her condition.

While the Hokies were able to cut the deficit to 15 after Watson went out, the Irish found yet another wind despite taking another hit to their depth. Before it was over, they went back up by as much as 32. The Hokies simply had no answers for the Irish no matter who was or wasn’t on the court.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was the Irish’s best player on the afternoon by virtue of leading them with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 18 points and blocked three shots. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had 15 points and six assists, and [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] got 12 of her 14 points on four 3-pointers.

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Notre Dame projected as No. 4 seed or better in all bracketologies

The Irish might not be done playing at home yet this year.

In beating both Virginia Tech and Louisville last week, Notre Dame did what it needed to do to move up bracketologists’ projections. Every available bracketology now projects the Irish to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN, CBS Sports and Her Hoop Stats all have the Irish as a No. 4 seed in their latest updates. College Sports Madness projects them as a No. 3.

Connor Groel, the women’s bracketologist for CBS Sports, wrote the following about the Irish in his latest update:

“It’s been a terrific close to the season from Notre Dame, who now have a chance to perhaps even jump to a No. 3 seed, equaling last season’s result despite [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] having missed the entire year. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] exceeded all expectations and was named both ACC Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is playing some of her best basketball as of late.”

With the Irish one of the four ACC Tournament semifinalists, they have another chance to make their case. Hopefully, they won’t need to with the case possibly already having been made.

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Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks talks Notre Dame ahead of rematch

See what the next opposing coach had to say about the Irish.

After Notre Dame defeated Louisville in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Virginia Tech beat Miami, 55-47. That sets a semifinal rematch between the Irish and top-seeded Hokies after the teams met in South Bend only a week ago. The Irish won that game, so the Hokies will be out for revenge.

The big question surrounding the Hokies is the health of three-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who was injured in the Hokies’ regular-season finale at Virginia and didn’t play Friday. In fact, she won’t play at all in this tournament.

Hokies coach Kenny Brooks was asked about the upcoming rematch in his postgame news conference and said the following:

“Bruh, can I just enjoy this one for a second? Notre Dame is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. We experienced it last week, their physicality – they’re a little bit different than they were last year. They’re tenacious on the defensive end, obviously with the addition of (Hannah) Hidalgo.

They got off to a great start today. And bless his heart, I’m in my locker room, and I think we’re on like a three, four, five-second delay in watching the game and what happens, and Jeff Walz gets thrown out. He gets thrown out, and two seconds later, boom, my door flies open, and it’s Jeff Walz.

I did thank him for their comeback and making Notre Dame play harder down the stretch, to be able to do that.

They’re playing well. They’re playing extremely well. Hidalgo really makes them go. (Sonia) Citron – I’ve said it before – is one of my favorite players. She just doesn’t get rattled. (Maddy) Westbeld is playing really well right now. They don’t play a lot of people, but the people who play are playing well.

We know it’s going to be a tough task. We’ll get back, and we’ll figure some things out, and we’ll try to see what happens.”

This shows the Hokies won’t take the Irish lightly, so the Irish better be ready to play whether Kitley is available or not. Whatever the case though, it should be a good game.

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Notre Dame survives late Louisville surge to win ACC Tournament opener

A pretty close call, but they’ll play Saturday.

The ACC Tournament is here, and Notre Dame got its first taste of it in the quarterfinals against Louisville. The Irish beat the Cardinals in their regular-season finale Sunday, and now, they had to do it again five days later. It got a little tense towards the end, but the Irish advanced to the semifinals with a 77-68 win.

The Irish (24-6) never trailed in the game and led by as much as 22. Even with the lead cut to 12 going into the fourth quarter, they had to feel good about themselves. But the Cardinals (24-9) chipped away at the lead further with inspired play on both ends, even forcing four Irish players into at least four fouls. They ultimately got to within three with just over half a minute left.

By the time the Cardinals made it a one-possession game though, it was late enough in the game that were forced to foul, and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] made two free throws to put the Irish back up five. A steal by [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] on the next possession finally iced the game, and she and Citron made four more free throws in the final seconds to wrap up the Irish’s scoring. Two of those were prompted by Cardinals coach Jeff Walz picking up his second technical foul, resulting in his ejection.

Citron led all scorers with 26 points, which including make 10 of 11 free throws. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who scored 21 points, shot only 5 of 16 from the field but was 11 of 14 from the charity stripe, and she also had a game-high six assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had 13 points and also joined Hidalgo and the fouled-out [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] in a group whose members grabbed six rebounds apiece.

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Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld make All-ACC Second Team

Two players have made all-conference again.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] are true seasoned leaders for Notre Dame. It only makes sense for them to be recognized by their conference again. Citron and Westbeld have been named to the All-ACC Second Team.

This is the third all-conference selection for Westbeld and her second on the Second Team. So far this season, she is averaging 14.1 points and a career-high 9.4 rebounds a game. She has reached double digits in rebounds 13 times and recorded 12 double-doubles.

After missing time early in the season with injury, Citron has bounced back nicely to play in 20 games and earn her second straight All-ACC selection. She is averaging career highs in scoring (16.3) and assists (2.7). She also has 1.7 steals a game and has tied her career-high of four steals in a game twice this season.

Everyone talks about All-ACC First Team selection [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who also was the conference’s top rookie and defensive player, but she can’t do as much if Citron and Westbeld aren’t around. They’re just as deserving of recogntion no matter how much attention Hidalgo gets.

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Ivey, Hidalgo, Citron, Westbeld speak after Notre Dame win

Hear what the victors had to say about this game.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – There’s no doubt Notre Dame wants to have one or two more games at Purcell Pavilion this season. The Irish have been playing even better lately, most recently with their 74-58 win over Louisville. It all depends on what the NCAA Tournament selection committee thinks of its resume. We’ll save that discussion for another day though.

The discussion right now is this latest victory, which [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] was happy to talk about afterwards. After a win like that though, it wasn’t enough to bring in the usual one or two players. She brought in her three best, and they all deserved it.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] did her usual thing with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 17 points, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Fighting Irish Wire was on hand during this postgame news conference, and here is some of what was said:

Notre Dame clinches ACC Tournament double-bye with win vs. Louisville

Great way to end the regular season.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Hopefully, Notre Dame has not played its final game at Purcell Pavilion this season. That depends on how the selection committee for the NCAA Tournament feels about giving the Irish a top-four seed. Regardless, the Irish continued to make their case in front of a packed house with a 74-58 win over Louisville, giving them a double-bye for this week’s ACC Tournament.

The first half was very much even until the Irish (23-6, 13-5) saw the Cardinals (23-8, 12-6) take their biggest lead at seven going into halftime. The third quarter was a much different story though as the Irish became as red-hot from the field as the Cardinals became ice-cold, though the Irish’s defense also had a hand in that. The shooting numbers in that quarter told the story: 11 of 13 for the Irish, and 2 of 17 for the Cardinals.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a trademark game of 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 17 points, [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] added 10, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards.

With the victory in their final regular-season game, the Irish didn’t need to worry about Wake Forest having to upset NC State. They now get to go straight to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. That extra rest will do wonders for a team that has had depth issues all season. We’ll see how much it pays off.

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