SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was more like hitting the reset button than a clear redefinition of who and what the No. 3 Notre Dame women’s basketball team could be heading into the first phase of postseason basketball — the upcoming ACC Tournament.
But at the very least the Irish showed Sunday they’re more than capable of following a homework assignment in a 72-59 bullying of No. 25 Louisville in the regular-season finale at Purcell Pavilion.
It was all about defense.
And a sell-out crowd that included ND head football coach Marcus Freeman and his team as well as scads of former Irish women’s basketball players that were too numerous to introduce individually looked on as ND held a previously surging Cardinal team to 30% shooting from the field, its third-worst showing of the year and worst in 2 ½ months.
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“I felt like we played to our standard today,” said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, whose Irish (25-4, 16-2) avoided the program’s first three-game losing streak since late in the 2020-21 season, with the third setback in that sequence coming against Louisville.
What the Irish gained Sunday, besides defensive normalcy — if not progress — was a share of the ACC regular-season title with NC State, and the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament that tips off in Greensboro, N.C., on Wednesday.
Notre Dame, and the other three top four seeds, earned a double-bye into Friday’s quarterfinals. The Irish will play one of three teams in the 5 p.m. timeslot on ESPN2 — 7 seed Cal (24-7), 10 seed Virginia (16-14) or 15 seed either Pitt (13-18).
The bottom three teams in the 18-team ACC standings are excluded from the bracket.
“Defense and consistency,” Ivey said when asked what the points of emphasis for her team will be in defending the 2024 ACC Tourney title. “We have to rely on our defense, always, every game, and then be consistent with the way that we play.
“Our offense is going to come, but we’ve got to focus on our defense. So, it's going to be the same message, knowing with the week that we just went through, they realized that you have to rely on your defense and not solely focus on your offense.”
The Irish defense got shredded in the two previous games, a 104-95 double-overtime loss to NC State last Sunday and an 86-81 home loss to Florida State on Thursday night. That same Florida State team, with no missing pieces, that Louisville took down by double digits in mid-February.
The Cardinals (20-0, 13-5) started the day in a four-way tie for third place in the ACC standings but fell to the No. 6 seed for the ACC Tournament with the loss to ND and tiebreakers. If these two teams meet for a third time this season — ND won on the road 89-71 on Feb. 2 ahead of the Cards’ 5-1 surge — they’ll do so in Saturday’s semis.
And perhaps they’ll see a rejuvenated Hannah Hidalgo if that happens. Purcell Pavilion saw a semblance of that on Sunday.
The 5-6 sophomore guard and reigning first-All American showed signs of perhaps shaking her prolonged shooting slump with a 6-for-14 day — making both 3s — and a game-high 20 points. But more importantly, she pushed back on the frustration that was coming with the slump and forced shots and contributed big against Louisville in other ways.
Her nine rebounds were the second-most of any player in the game, with teammate Liatu King grabbling 11. And Hidalgo's six assists were a game high and only four short of what Louisville amassed as a team.
And despite not recording a steal, a rarity for the nation’s No. 4 player in that statistical category, Hidalgo and the other Irish guards helped hold Louisville leading scorer, freshman Tajianna Roberts, to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field with three turnovers.
“I think changing my mindset,” Hidalgo said of the difference in her game after shooting collectively .318 from the field and .200 from the 3-point arc over the previous five games, “knowing that I need to do whatever it takes to win, honestly. And you know, I can't win a national championship by myself. I’ve got to get my teammates involved.”
And involved they were. Olivia Miles finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. And the Irish got to significant bench performances from Liza Karlen and Kate Koval. The grad senior Karlen had seven points and five rebounds and took two charges during his 18 minutes on the floor.
Freshman Koval had eight points and two rebounds.
Meanwhile, Louisville post Olivia Cochran was 1-of-8 from the field and scored seven points.
“At this point in the season, everything's in. It's not really about X's and O's,” Ivey said. “It's more about heart, determination, pride.”
Senior guard Sonia Citron continues to show the way, even though quietly sometimes. She took just five shots Sunday, but hit three and scored nine points to go with five rebounds and stellar defense.
“She's able to keep a straight face through everything, whether she's having a good game or a bad game,” Hidalgo offered. “So, just her mentality is something that I have to strive for, because it's like just, poker face. Whether things are high or things are low, she's always the same. She's very consistent. And that's something that's great to have on a team.”
Perhaps the Irish should run more offense through Citron, considering she’s shooting .613 from the field cumulatively over the last eight games, but her five field goal attempts matched a season low.
“She's the glue,” Ivey acknowledged, “so we know exactly what we're going to get every night no matter what.”
Ivey knows she needs more of that from more people on the roster going forward, but on Sunday she at least got progress and some momentum back.
“They made their run, but we made our own runs,” Ivey said, “but just collectively, I'm really proud. I'm hoping that we can utilize this win and take that into next week, because next week is 0-0, so this is a new season. And we're excited to be in March.”
ACC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(All Times Eastern)
At Greensboro, N.C.
FIRST ROUND
Wednesday
No. 12 Boston College (15-16) vs. Syracuse (12-17), 1 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 10 Virginia (16-14) vs. Pittsburgh (13-18), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 11 Stanford (16-13) vs. Clemson (13-16), 6:30 p.m. (ACCN)
SECOND ROUND
Thursday
No. 5 North Carolina (25-6) vs. BC/Stanford, 11 a.m. (ACCN)
No. 8 Virginia Tech (18-11) vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech (21-9), 1:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 7 Cal (24-7) vs. Virginia/Pitt, 5 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 6 Louisville (20-9) vs. Stanford/Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
QUARTERFINALS
Friday
No. 4 Florida State (23-7) vs. UNC/BC/Stanford, 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
No. 1 NC State (24-5) vs. Va. Tech/Ga. Tech, 1:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 2 Notre Dame (25-4) vs. Cal/Va./Pitt, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 3 Duke (23-7) vs. Louisville/Stanford/Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
SEMIFINALS
Saturday
FSU bracket winner vs. NC State bracket winner, Noon (ESPN2)
ND bracket winner vs. Duke bracket winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
FINAL
Sunday
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
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