SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Irish will see you on Friday.
On Sunday, No. 17 Notre Dame (23-6, 13-5) avenged a loss earlier this season and downed No. 22 Louisville (23-8, 12-6), 74-58. It is the Irish’s second-straight ranked win and helped the group secure a double-bye for the upcoming ACC Tournament.
“The crowd, the energy, the way this team is gelling right now is just phenomenal,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said after the game. “I’m so proud of the way we’ve fought through adversity. We’ve stuck together, and we’re peaking at the right time.”
Unsurprisingly, Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals. Three others had at least 10 points: Sonia Citron (17), Maddy Westbeld (11) and Kylee Watson (10). Westbeld also had 11 rebounds, notching her 12th double-double of the season.
While the offense was clicking overall, the big story was on the opposite end of the court. It was another defensive masterclass for the Irish, who have not allowed more than 62 points to any opponent in the last six games. Sydney Taylor was Louisville’s leading scorer with 11 points. She was the only one in double-figures.
The first frame featured a pair of lead changes and four ties. Notre Dame started with the lead, as Anna DeWolfe grabbed the tip and scored a few seconds in. Notre Dame also ended with the lead. A Citron 3-pointer rattled around and in to close Q1 scoring.
The second quarter featured another lead change and four more ties. The most notable tie was courtesy of a banked-in 3-pointer by Bransford. But the Cardinals took over from there and ended the quarter on a 9-2 run. They shot 58.8 percent in the second quarter.
But out of the locker room, it was all Notre Dame.
The Irish started the second half on a 7-0 run with layups from Westbeld and Watson capped off by a DeWolfe trey. They subsequently went on an 18-1 run and pushed Louisville into an 0-12 shooting stretch. The 20-8 paint-point advantage the Cardinals had at halftime was all but gone by the end of Q3; it was then 20-18. Notre Dame won the third quarter 30-10 and shot 84.6 from the floor (11-13). Hidalgo had 9 points and Citron had 8.
“I think a lot changed after halftime, but I would say the biggest change was we were getting stops and getting out in transition,” Citron said after the game. “We are a great team in transition, and that is when we are fully able to play our game.”
The Irish kept the Cardinals from going on any sort of run to close it out in Q4, and Hidalgo went 3-3 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. She had 18 points in the second half alone. Notre Dame finished the game with 13 steals and 8 blocks. Citron had 4 of the 8. That is a career-high.
As a result of Sunday’s win, Notre Dame will be the No. 4 seed in the 2024 ACC Tournament. The Irish will play Friday and will find out their opponent following Thursday’s games.