GREENSBORO, N.C. — Notre Dame got its revenge.
On Friday, the top-seeded Irish (25-4) faced No. 8 seed NC State (20-11) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. Notre Dame saw the Wolfpack on Jan. 29 in Raleigh and fell, 69-65. This time was different, as Notre Dame is moving on to the semifinals after a 66-60 victory. The Irish snapped a 10-game ACC Tournament win streak that NC State had going, and the Wolfpack had won the previous three ACC titles.
For the second straight game, Sonia Citron paved the way for the Irish. She put up a season-high 28 points after scoring 27 at Louisville on Sunday. She is the first Notre Dame player to post 25+ points in back-to-back games since Arike Ogunbowale did so in February 2018.
The scoring ebbed and flowed a bit for the Irish, who ultimately shot 44 percent on the day. Not unlike many games this year, Notre Dame started off a bit slow. NC State had an 18-14 advantage through 10 minutes. The second quarter was Notre Dame’s best defensive quarter of the year. The Irish held NC State to just 4 points. The previous mark was 6, which was set against both Virginia Tech and Syracuse.
At the 2:48 point in the second quarter, Maddy Westbeld achieved a personal milestone. A put-back bucket gave the junior her 1,000th career point. She scored the last 7 points of the quarter on a 7-0 Irish run to give them the 25-22 advantage at the break.
The second half was largely Notre Dame’s. Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey’s squad went 8-for-13 from the floor (61.5 percent). The group led by 14 midway through the final frame. NC State crawled back a bit in the final minutes, but the effort was not enough.
In addition to missing starters Miles and Dara Mabrey, forward Nat Marshall was hit in the face and knocked out of the game after playing fewer than 2 minutes. It was a largely six-person rotation for Ivey, with freshman Cassandre Prosper serving as the sole bench player to play extensive minutes. In addition to Citron, Westbeld ended up with 15 points. She hit three treys, tying a career high.
Notre Dame’s next challenge is a familiar foe in Louisville. It will be the third time the teams have seen each other since Feb. 16. The Irish are 2-0 in those matchups. Tomorrow’s game tips off at noon ET on the ACC Network.