EAST LANSING, Mich. — The No. 24/25 Notre Dame women’s basketball squad (7-1) did its part in the B1G/ACC Challenge, winning a 76-71 battle against the Michigan State Spartans (6-3) inside the Breslin Center on Thursday night. The Fighting Irish improved to 7-1 all-time in the Challenge.
Freshman guard Sonia Citron went off for a career high 29 points, including 21 in the second half. Citron had 13 of the team’s 21 fourth-quarter points. The New York native shot 9-of-12 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Citron also recorded five rebounds and three assists.
It was also a great game for new Irish in Olivia Miles and Nat Marshall, who notched 11 and eight points respectively. Miles even flirted with a triple-double with 11 boards and eight assists, earning her third double-double nonetheless. Dara Mabrey also finished in double figures with 10 points.
The Irish also improved to 24-3 against Big Ten opposition in their last 27 matches (since the start of the 2009-10 season). They also jump to 12-9 all-time against the Spartans.
How It Happened
It took a few minutes for the Irish to get settled in, starting 2-for-9 from the field with four turnovers, falling into a 12-6 hole. Notre Dame then began to click, firing off a 9-0 run, only to be countered by a Spartans 8-0 run. Citron and Mabrey connected from deep in the final 44 seconds to cut the deficit to 23-21 after the opening quarter.
The Notre Dame offense recorded another successful spurt midway through the second, firing off a 9-0 scoring spree in a 1:23 span to go up 34-27. Nat Marshall ignited the fire with four points in the run and six total in the period on 3-for-6 shooting.
Yet the turnover bug struck again, as the Irish coughed up three more over the final 3:24, resulting in zero points in that span as well; thus, Michigan State cut the lead to 36-34 at the half.
Notre Dame started the second half strong with a 9-1 scoring run, holding Michigan State to without a field goal until the 6:12 mark. Still the Spartans rallied, cutting it to a one-possession game (49-47) with 3:21 left in the period.
Citron stepped up in a big way, scoring eight of the team’s final 10 points in the quarter to give the Irish a 55-50 edge heading to the fourth. Entering the final period, Citron was the lone Irish in double figures, already with a career high 16 points.
Citron then scored six of the team’s first eight points in the fourth, building a lead as large as 10 (65-55) with 5:11 remaining. Yet the pesky Spartans just wouldn’t go away, hitting a three with 4:11 left to cut it to 65-60.
Citron hit a clutch three-pointer with 2:27 left, but was countered by a Michigan State trey just a minute later. Up five, Citron then converted from the free-throw line with 1:08 left, pushing the lead back to 72-65. Citron closed her 13-point fourth quarter with two more free throws with 10 seconds left to ice it.
Up Next
The Irish remain on the road for a rivalry matchup in Storrs, Connecticut. Tip against No. 2 UConn is scheduled for Noon ET on Sunday, Dec. 5, airing live on FS1.
— ND —