SOUTH BEND, Ind. — There was no singular moment when the lights came on, fully and almost blinding, in the last stretch of the regular season for the 17th-ranked Notre Dame women’s basketball team.
The transformation from a team intermittently finding itself to one that might make a deep run in the postseason after all, included a recent practice in which coach Niele Ivey had her team play dodgeball.
There were also heart-to-heart talks. There was exhaustive film study. There were team meetings. And the culmination of all that spilled out onto the court — again — in impressive fashion as the Irish pummeled No. 22 Louisville, 74-58, Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
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A Purcell Pavilion sellout crowd of 9,149 looked on as Notre Dame (23-6, 13-5) encored its double-digit takedown of No. 5 Virginia Tech on Thursday night by rallying from seven points down at halftime.
Switching to a zone defense and concocting an 18-1 third-quarter run, the Irish smothered Louisville to nudge the Cardinals (22-8, 12-6) out for the No. 4 seed and final double-bye of next week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Irish, who finished in a three-way tie for second place in the final ACC Standings. The last four in the winning streak were by 13 points or more, with the run starting after a 59-43 cratering against NC State on Feb. 15.
“After our loss to NC State, we battled together,” Ivey said. “We found a way to come together. We acknowledged what we needed to get better at individually and as a team, and they did that and responded, knowing that at this point, it was like two weeks left and we don't have forever.”
And now suddenly the Irish will find themselves in the thick of the mix for a No. 4 seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which comes with home games for the first and second rounds for teams seeded fourth or better.
“I mean, we've had such a tough schedule,” Ivey said of ND’s case for more home games. “And we've gotten a lot of great wins on the road. I think our résumé should at least put us in the conversation, but that's not up to us.
“So, we're just praying we can come back here in front of our fans, but regardless of what happens I'm just happy I get to go to battle with this team.”
Their next battle comes in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal Friday at 11 a.m., likely against fifth-seeded Louisville. The Cardinals have a second-round game Thursday morning against either Boston College or Clemson that they’ll have to clear before setting up a rematch.
The winner of ND's quarterfinal game likely gets top seed Virginia Tech in Saturday’s semis. Notre Dame probably needs to win at least one game in the ACC Tourney to keep its strong argument for a No. 4 seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
They sure looked the part in the second half Sunday against Louisville, a team that had beaten Notre Dame in Louisville, 73-66, back on Feb. 8. Especially on defense.
After the Cardinals shot 53 percent in the first half and took a 36-29 lead at the half with a 9-2 run to end the second quarter, ND’s zone held Louisville to 6-of-28 shooting in the second half (21.4 percent), including 2-of-10 from the arc.
“I feel like the last two minutes of the second quarter, they got downhill with ease,” Ivey said of why she switched to the zone when she did, “and so I felt like, ‘All right, I’ve got to throw something else at them, try to get some more help within our with our zone.’
“Just changing the defense maybe could throw them off a couple possessions, and it worked. … We got great stops and we rebounded and we got a chance to get out in transition. And it was electric.”
And the energizer again, was freshman Hannah Hidalgo with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals. Twelve of Hidalgo’s points came from the free-throw line, to which she made 15 trips and was knocked to the floor hard ahead of several of those.
“Louisville’s a physical team,” Hidalgo said, “and so we kind of expect that and we prepare for that. But you know, we have a great trainer, so we'll be OK. She'll take care of us.”
Added junior guard Sonia Citron, ‘I feel like you feel a lot less sore when you win.”
And Citron was certainly instrumental with 17 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocked shots.
Senior forward Maddy Westbeld accrued her 12th double-double of the season — 11 points and 11 rebounds — to go along with two blocks and two steals. And senior forward Kylee Watson stopped up for 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, with four rebounds and a seismic blocked shot that revved up her teammates and the Purcell Pavilion crowd.
“Wow. Amazing. Might have been the best block I've ever seen,” Ivey said. “She was so locked in defensively. The last game I thought that Louisville did a great job on the boards, but our posts stepped up tonight.
“They did a great job of defending their posts. They were intentional about their defense, and I thought her block just ignited us. It was awesome.”
Notre Dame shot 50% for the game as a team and held Louisville under 40% (.379). So disjointed was the Cardinal offense, they were held to a season-low six assists to go with 17 turnovers. The 58 points were the fewest scored in a game by the Cardinals since putting up 57, 14 months ago against Wake Forest.
“I think a lot changed [at halftime],” Citron said, “but I would say the most important thing was we were just getting stops and getting out in transition. I think that our team is great in transition, and that's when we're fully able to play our game.
“So, when Hannah's getting steals and when we're boxing out, getting boards, getting stops, we can just push out. And I think that's what really gave us that energy and that push.”
Ivey started her postgame press conference by sending condolences to the family of Notre Dame sophomore fencing team member Spencer Vermeule, who died in an auto accident on Saturday in nearby Elkhart County.
“My heart and prayers go out to them, Spencer and his family,” Ivey said. “It puts things into perspective as far as just life and how short it is, and we get a chance to do what we love and have this opportunity.
“That’s what's been in the back of my mind, just being grateful and appreciative of life. And so, I just really want to start off with giving them love and prayers on behalf of our program.”
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