No. 10 Irish finally shake last-place Pitt in another close call
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It’s the fourth quarter and the last-place team in the Atlantic Coast Conference is going toe-to-toe and point-for-point with the No. 10-ranked team in the country.
Who saw that coming?
Well, at least one person did.
Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey.
“That's what I expect,” the third-year coach said. “I know every night we're gonna get everyone's best game and we're their Super Bowl. That's the expectation.That's what we inherited here at Notre Dame.”
An Irish offense that was fairly pedestrian for three quarters surged over the final 10 minutes (9-for-13 from the field, 2-for-2 on 3s), just in time to overtake 8-16 Pittsburgh (1-12 Atlantic Coast Conference), 69-63, in front of a Purcell Pavilion crowd clearly smaller than the announced 4,716.
Notre Dame improved to 19-4 and 10-3 in the ACC, with Syracuse (16-9, 7-7) visiting Purcell on Sunday at 4 p.m. (EST, ACC Network).
Thursday night was game four without 6-foot-4 grad student center Lauren Ebo (lower right leg injury). And the Irish, who have gone 2-2 without her, appear to desperately miss her 10 points, seven rebounds and defensive presence in the lane.
Her absence has shrunk the roster and it’s showing — the Irish were outscored 36-8 in bench points by Pitt.
The good news was that Ebo was out of a walking boot and in her comfy UGGs on the sideline Thursday. Ivey hasn’t provided details of the injury, but has been calling it day-to-day since day one.
“There’s definitely progress,“ Ivey said.
Through three quarters against a primarily Panther zone defense, the Irish shot 35% from the field and 21% (4-for-19) from the 3-point line. Even the foul shooting was stunningly shaky. The Irish came in at 72.4% from the line and were just 13-for-24 (54.2%) for the game.
They survived because of their aggressive, energetic attack of the boards. They outrebounded Pittsburgh 41-27, including 18-6 on the offensive side.
That led to 25 second-chance points to eight for the Panthers.
One of the keys to that stat was early-enrollee Cass Prosper, a 6-2 guard whose minutes are growing.
Though her shot is still a work in progress — she entered the game shooting just 25.9% from the field and 25% from the 3-point line (6-for-24) — she has shown no hesitation to join the fray in the paint in a search for rebounds.
She was averaging 3.4 rebounds and 15.4 minutes through 11 games coming in, but had six, five offensive, against Pitt in 22:16 of playing time. She also accounted for all Irish bench points with her eight (3-for-6 from field).
“She's just a sponge, she's trying to learn,” Ivey said of Prosper’s progress. “I think our team does a great job of making her feel comfortable. She watches a lot of film … I feel like she's really improving.”
She could eventually be the answer to another scoring option until Ebo returns, and possibly beyond.
But against Pitt, the big three took over the final quarter.
Sonia Citron led the Irish with eight points in the final quarter and had 20 for the game on 7-for-15 shooting – 3-for-8 on 3s. Point guard Olivia Miles is a 50% shooter but struggled mightily for most of the game, going 4-for-14 and 1-for-8 from the arc. She finished with 11, but it was her passing that was most impactful down the stretch with seven assists (for a total of 13) coming in the final quarter.
Junior Maddy Westbeld delivered eight of her 17 points (7-for-13) in the final 10 minutes and totaled 10 rebounds, half of those on the offensive end.
Pitt, coming off its only conference win, 60-51 over struggling Virginia on Sunday, led by a point early in the final quarter, tied it with eight minutes to play and trailed by just three with 3:29 to go.
“It's like ‘Alright, they made their run. It's time for us to take over the game,’” Ivey said about the finish. “So that's kind of my message no matter what … It's just about having a lot of composure and not allowing certain circumstances that happen in the game dictate what we do. We have to always do what we do.”
A charging foul on Miles gave Pitt some hope, but a creative scoop shot by Maliyah Johnson rolled off the rim and Citron — on an assist from Miles — stung Pitt on the next possession when found alone from the wing for a 3-pointer with 2:28 to play.
“I’m relying on (Olivia and Sonia) a lot,” Ivey said. “Obviously, they’re playing heavy minutes (Miles 40 and Citron 37:41 Thursday), and it’s a big load that they’re carrying. I’m really proud of them.”
Notre Dame’s lead never dipped below five over the final 2:28, despite going 2-for-4 from the free-throw line.
“Sticking to what we know really helped us,” Miles said.
Pittsburgh’s Dayshanette Harris caused trouble the entire game for the Irish. The 5-7 senior went 6-for-8 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line for 20 points, 12 over her average.
Gabby Hutcherson, averaging five points a game, had 10. Eight Panthers broke into the scoring column.
Pitt wound up at 44% for the game and 35.7% from 3, both five percentage points over its averages.
“I felt like, late-game, the last two and a half minutes, we managed the game,” Ivey said.
“I do feel like we're growing. We have different lineups, and I felt like down the stretch we really grew tonight.”
NOTRE DAME 69, PITTSBURGH 63: Box Score
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