Notre Dame WBB gets chippy with Clemson in spicing up Senior Night victory
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was more angry stares and muttered threats exchanged than anything physical to the point it might ignite into something resulting in ejections.
But 19th-ranked Notre Dame embraced the feistiness that spiced up Senior Night at Purcell Pavilion and rode it the last quarter and a half to finish off Clemson, 74-47, on Thursday — a night in which two of the teams it’s chasing in the ACC standings — Syracuse and NC State — succumbed to upsets.
More Content
► WBB: Notre Dame WBB finds firepower in reserve as Irish pass road test at Duke
► MBB: Notre Dame MBB shows killer instinct in blowout win at Louisville
► Chat Transcript: Squaring Notre Dame football's title dreams with new playoff format
► Report: NBC changes its voice on Notre Dame football broadcasts
► The Heat Index: One more name to watch at running back in 2025 class
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Irish (20-6, 10-5 ACC) set the stage to have that to happen to them as well, falling behind in the first quarter by double digits for the fourth time in five games. But they turned up the defense and were up by 10 by halftime.
And they were leading by 15 at the 5:33 mark of the third quarter, when things got a little physical, a lot verbal, and Clemson guard Ruby Whitehorn picked up a technical foul.
“I guess Hannah [Hidalgo] is [always] pretty feisty as it is,” offered Notre Dame forward Maddy Westbeld, one of six seniors honored Thursday night and one of three who have remaining eligibility next season. “But that was one of the first like, chippy back-and-forth things that we've experienced.
“I think for the rest of the game we kind of felt that energy, that chippy energy. But it’s just a testament to how close we are and how tight-knit and how loyal we are to each other. So, it was good. Made the rest of the game fun.”
The only mark perhaps they missed collectively were the free nachos that were promised to the 5,596 fans in attendance if the team could reach the 88-point mark.
What they did achieve was offensive balance — with five players scoring in double figures — and a sixth, forward Kylee Watson, missing that distinction by a single point. Defensively, they held Clemson (11-16, 4-11) to its second-lowest point total and shooting percentage (.317) of the season, only bested by No. 1 South Carolina’s defense on both counts in a 109-40 drubbing in mid-November.
The Irish defense forced 21 turnovers, which included 15 steals, ND blocked 10 shots, four in the first half by pseudo-senior Nat Marshall.
“Confidence is huge,” Marshall said of her re-emergence from a recent quiet stretch. “Confidence from my teammates, from my coaches and just within myself — like not thinking about the last play, just ‘next play’ mentality. And we knew we were really good with our scout. We knew exactly what Clemson wanted to do offensively.”
Hidalgo, the nation’s leader in steals at 5.0 per game, added three more to her school-record total (128), but the nation’s third-leading scorer was more of a facilitator on Thursday night, with a modest 10 points but eight assists.
Junior Sonia Citron celebrated her first game in a normal-sized knee brace after wearing one that looked big enough to be assigned its own area code since returning from a knee sprain on Jan. 7 that sidelined her for 7 ½ weeks.
She led the Irish scoring with 16 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from 3 and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Also in her stat line were four rebounds, five assists and four steals in just 20 minutes of play, prompted by foul trouble in the second half.
“I think that she's just adjusting to that,” ND coach Niele Ivey said of the smaller brace, “because that's different when her knee is strong. Everything is solid. It’s just having to adjust to having something on your leg, and I think she's done a phenomenal job of coming back and then also just getting stronger. So, I think she's doing great and she looks great.
“I thought she took great shots. I thought she was solid defensively. I thought she just made the right plays. She's so efficient, so smooth. She’s a special player. So, I was really happy with her performance.”
Happy too was Ivey with Westbeld’s 10th double-double of the season (13 points, 12 rebounds), grad senior Anna DeWolfe’s 12 points and sophomore KK Bransford’s 10 in her second straight game of making a significant contribution.
DeWolfe, Pepperdine grad transfer Becky Obinma and Stanford grad transfer Jenna Brown, who has yet to play this season due to injury, are the only players on the Notre Dame roster with expiring eligibility.
“They're all really close,” Ivey said of the senior class, including those who can and/or will return. “They all have different personalities, but they're all really loyal, and really great character young women. They're strong.
“They're powerful and they really love each other. That's more of an intangible thing. They're obviously all talented, but their hearts are pure. And I'm grateful to have such an incredible, incredible group of strong women.”
They and the underclassmen will head to Boston College (11-17, 3-12) for a Sunday matchup as one of six teams just behind ACC leader Virginia Tech in the league standings that has either four of five conference losses and are jockeying for higher seeding and a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
The Irish host two of the teams ahead of them in the standings next week to close out the regular season — No. 8 Virginia Tech (22-4, 13-2) next Thursday night, and No. 20 Louisville (22-6, 11-4) on Sunday, March 3.
“We really wanted to feel like we're gaining momentum from our matchup against Duke on Monday (a 70-62 victory),” Ivey said. “So, super proud of the group and just really thankful for our seniors.”
NOTRE DAME 74, BOSTON COLLEGE 47: Box Score
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @cbowles01.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports