Notre Dame, NC State Set For Top-20 Showdown

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — If a matchup between No. 6 NC State and No. 16 Notre Dame sounds familiar, well that’s because it is. 

On Thursday, the Irish will host the Wolfpack at Purcell Pavilion. It is the second consecutive meeting at Purcell Pavilion where both teams are ranked in the top 20. Last time, in a January 2022 meeting, the Wolfpack came in at No. 3 and were upset by No. 20 Notre Dame, 69-66. The Irish now hope to make it two in a row at home. 

Three members of the current roster played in that game: Sonia Citron, Olivia Miles and Maddy Westbeld. This year, Citron is posting 16.4 points per game and is pacing the league with a 94.4 clip from the charity stripe in conference play. Westbeld is one of just four ACC players averaging at least 13 points and 9 boards per game. 

The Wolfpack will get their first taste of freshman phenom Hannah Hidalgo, who leads the ACC in scoring (25.1 ppg) and the nation in steals (5.1 spg). She continues to shatter both program and conference records, and her name peppers numerous national watchlists. Most recently, Hidalgo was named to the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year Midseason Team. 

NC State has a few stars of its own on both ends of the floor. The Wolfpack will score in transition and in bunches, and they are led by Aziaha James and Madison Hayes from deep. The two average 1.8 treys per game a piece. Saniya Rivers, who was also named to the Naismith Midseason Team this week, averages 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game. 

The Wolfpack scoring defense ranks second in the ACC, allowing 59.4 points per game. They’re allowing opponents to hit just 28.7 percent of their shots from behind the arc, which also ranks second in the conference. 

Thursday’s game will air on the ACC Network and tip off at 6 p.m. Notre Dame is 9-4 all-time against NC State and 3-1 in South Bend.