| GAME 12 | No. 3 Notre Dame (9-2) vs Loyola MD (5-4) |
|---|---|
| WHEN: | Sunday, Dec. 22 | 12 p.m. |
| WHERE | South Bend, Ind. | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center |
| WATCH: | ACCNX |
| LISTEN: | Notre Dame Radio Network |
| SOCIAL: | @NDWBB | #GOIRISH |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — After staving off a UVA comeback on Thursday night, No. 19 Notre Dame (13-3, 4-2) will head to Wake Forest (4-14, 0-6) for a Sunday afternoon clash. Like the Cavaliers, the Demon Deacons will be desperate for a win and provide another road test for the Irish as they try to make their way through the gauntlet that is ACC women’s basketball.
The matchup will pit the ACC’s top scoring offense in Notre Dame (85.0 points per game) against the ACC’s worst in Wake Forest (59.7 ppg).
Second-year Wake head coach Megan Gebbia relies heavily on her guard play. Elise Williams is the only Deac averaging double figures (10.7), and she’s also the second-leading rebounder. The senior guard has a notable presence on the defensive end of the floor as well with 29 steals on the year. Kaia Harrison sits at 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on the year along with 23 steals. She ranks sixth in the conference with an 84.3 mark from the charity stripe, too.
As for Notre Dame’s recent performances, the Irish are riding a three-game win streak into Western North Carolina. Sonia Citron is playing her best basketball of the year and scored her 1,000th point on Thursday night. She finished with 28 points, which led the team, was her highest tally of the year, and was just a point shy of her career-high. Citron also went a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line and now owns the conference’s top percentage from the line (95.8) in ACC play.
Hannah Hidalgo checked off a few milestones of her own in Charlottesville. The freshman phenom who is also in the national player of the year conversationsnow has 91 steals on the season and has already broken the freshman record of 90 previously held by Skylar Diggins. Hidalgo did it in just 16 games. Diggins had 39 steals through 16 games as a rookie.
In addition to Citron and Hidalgo, senior Maddy Westbeld continues to be as consistent as can be. She had 14 points and 9 rebounds against UVA. She’s averaging 14 and 9.5 per game this year, and Thursday was her seventh game with at least 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Notre Dame is 11-0 all-time against Wake Forest and won last year’s meeting in South Bend by 39 points. Sunday’s game can be streamed on ACCNX and tips off at 2 p.m.