Notre Dame WBB overcomes another slow start to finish off Boston College
Twenty-three days after Groundhog Day actually showed up on the calendar, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team continue to observe it, in a sense.
For the fifth time in their past six games, the 19th-ranked Irish found themselves down double digits in the first quarter, this time to a team they waxed by 50 in South Bend last month.
Defense turned out to be Sunday’s antidote at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., as the Irish overcame both themselves and Boston College for 79-55 ACC victory that keeps them in the hunt for a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament (March 6-10 in Greensboro, N.C.).
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Key reserve Nat Marshall, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, made the road trip for Notre Dame (21-6, 11-5 ACC) but missed the game due to an illness.
“She should be back with us this week,” said Irish head coach Niele Ivey, whose team faces ACC heavyweights Virginia Tech and Louisville at home to finish the regular season. “Just didn’t feel well.”
The thinner bench didn’t catch up and bite the Irish, but it the reduced numbers provided some anxious moments as starting forward Kylee Watson and seldom-used backup forward Becky Obinma each finished the game with four fouls, and ND’s other frontcourt player — senior Maddy Westbeld — picked up her third at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter.
But by then the 21-11 shortfall at the end of the first quarter was a distant memory and the Irish were rolling, no matter who rotated in.
Notre Dame missed 20 of its first 25 shots from the field and its first 12 3-pointers of the game, against the nation’s No. 342 team (out of 351 in Division I) in field goal-percentage defense, no less. But the Irish outscored the Eagles (11-18, 3-13) by an 18-4 count in the second quarter, then took command starting the third quarter on an 11-2 run.
BC, which lost its 10th straight game, didn’t make its first and only field goal of the second period until Dontavia Waggoner’s layup at the buzzer.
Waggoner would go on to finish with 25 points and 15 rebounds, both game-highs.
“It’s something we’ve definitely been talking about, something we’ve got to fix within our team,” junior guard Sonia Citron said of ND’s chronic early struggles, “because we can’t keep starting slow like that. We were talking about positive energy and bringing each other up, so when the game starts we’re ready to go.
“And also, relying on our defense to fuel our offense, not the other way around. I think that’s really important, because we play our best when we’re getting stops and we’re running in transition. If we’re relying on our shots to go in to fuel us, that’s just not going to work.”
The Irish dominated in transition, with an 18-0 advantage in fastbreak points and scoring 26 points off 22 Boston College turnovers.
Four Notre Dame players scored in double figures, led by freshman Hannah Hidalgo with 19. She also had seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, one — incredibly — on a 2-1 BC fastbreak.
The 5-foot-6 point guard, on a rare week when she’s not the reigning ACC Rookie of the Week, is now 20 points away from breaking Ta’Niya Latson’s freshman ACC scoring record, with 640 this season.
With 132 steals, she’s two away from moving into the No. 2 rung on the ACC all-time list for steals in a season for any class. Virginia’s Donna Holt holds the league record, getting 164 as a junior in the 1987 season.
Westbeld scored 16 of her 18 in the second half on Sunday, to go along with six rebounds. She was 7-of-7 from the field after halftime and sank both of her 3-pointers during Notre Dame’s early third-quarter getaway spurt.
Citron also saved her best for the second half with 12 of her 16 points after the break. She also contributed seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Anna DeWolfe added 11 points and sophomore KK Bransford played a variety of roles and continued to find significant ways to contribute.
On Sunday, it was nine points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals for the 5-11 Swiss Army knife of sorts.
“She does whatever we need to help us win,” Ivey said. “She’s been giving us an incredible spark off the bench, so extremely happy with her play. She’s so smart and she makes the right plays. And to me I feel like she’s gaining confidence game by game.”
Eighth-ranked Virginia Tech (23-4, 14-2) on Sunday locked up at least a share of the ACC regular-season title as well as the No. 1 seed for the league tournament by beating North Carolina.
The Hokies visit the Irish on Thursday night (7 EST, ESPN). Notre Dame will enter that game in a four-way tie for third in the ACC standings, thanks in part to upset losses suffered Sunday by NC State at Duke (69-58), and Louisville at home to Virginia (73-58). The top four seeds earn a double-bye in the ACC Tournament.
“Super tough stretch,” Ivey said, “but excited to be at home. … I just want to build each game, feel like we’re getting better and just grateful that we’re healthy and excited that we’re going to be back home for the next two.”
NOTRE DAME 79, BOSTON COLLEGE 55: Box Score
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