Notre Dame WBB starts strong, finishes with poise to advance to ACC semis

In the midst of fourth-seeded Notre Dame putting on a first-half defensive clinic at the expense of 5 seed Louisville on Friday, the ACC Network broadcast crew started gushing and waxing about deep of an NCAA Tourney run the Irish might make.

Next year.

The sixth straight win by the 14th-ranked ND women’s basketball squad was a reminder that this season is still very much about this year’s team and its suddenly rising ceiling, even with some frenetic and sloppy moments on Friday, late in its 77-68 ACC Tournament quarterfinal dismissal of the 24th-ranked Cardinals in Greensboro, N.C.

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“This league is so tough, just being able to come out here, play with grit,” ND coach Niele Ivey offered. “Had an incredible first half, extended that lead, and then withstood Louisville's incredible second half. Just amazing. I'm so proud of our performance, and I'm really proud of the way that we're growing together.”

If nothing else, the Irish (24-6) get a chance to enhance their NCAA Tourney résumé Saturday, when they meet top-seeded Virginia Tech (24-6) in the conference tourney semis at noon EST. But it’s reasonable to project Notre Dame probably earned on Friday first- and second-round home games in the NCAA Tourney by locking up at least a No. 4 regional seed.

Also of interest is being perceived as a better No. 4 seed and drawing away from a potential Sweet 16 matchup with No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina, which steamrolled Notre Dame in the season opener (100-71 in Paris). The latest ESPN bracketology projects ND as a 4 seed but now out of South Carolina’s regional and on a collision course instead with Ohio State.

The Hokies wore down ninth-seeded Miami, 55-47, Friday without All-America center and three-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley. The 6-6 senior suffered a knee injury in the Hokies’ season finale at Virginia on Sunday.

Hokies coach Kenny Brooks told the Virginia Tech Sports Network Kitley won’t play in the ACC Tournament and will be re-evaluated for the NCAA Tourney. The Irish upset the Hokies, with Kitley by a 71-58 count Feb. 29 in South Bend.

“Definitely the challenge is getting fresh and recovery,” Ivey said of Saturday’s semifinal matchup. “I have an incredible performance team, and we're prepared and ready to do what's necessary for the team.

“My players are smart. They have great habits. We've established a great routine here. We're going to get back after we watch a little bit of the game and do a lot of recovery and watch film and take care of our bodies. But that's something we've been preparing for all season.”

Seventeen second-half Irish fouls and Cal transfer Jada Curry’s second-half offensive takeover nearly made that prep for naught. With Curry scoring 23 of her 26 points after halftime — including 15 in the fourth quarter — the Cardinals (24-9) knocked a 22-point third-quarter deficit down to three points with 30 seconds left in the game.

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That came on a layup by Olivia Cochran, but the Cardinals opted to foul the ACC’s best free-throw shooter, ND junior guard Sonia Citron, three seconds later. And she canned both attempts.

On Louisville’s ensuing possession, Curry drove the lane against Irish sophomore guard KK Bransford but turned the ball over against Bransford’s tight pressure with 20 seconds left. It was the Cardinals’ 20th miscue of the game, a total that included two shot-clock violations.

“Believe me, it's my job to get it fixed, but I can't play for them,” said a still-agitated Louisville coach Jeff Walz, who was ejected less than two seconds after that miscue after drawing his second technical foul of the game.

“I can't pass-fake. I can't ball-fake,” he continued. “You can't stare where you want to throw it, then throw it. Good teams are going to step in front and steal it.

“Until we get to the point where it really matters — see, this is where NIL could really improve our game because see, if I could fine like, say, $500 a turnover, I'll guarantee you we wouldn't turn that thing over one time. They'd care.”

Citron was fouled with 18.3 seconds left and Bransford less than two seconds later. The four converted free throws pushed the lead back to nine.

Citron got 10 of her team-high 26 points at the free-throw line. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo got 11 of her 21 points there and got to the line 14 times after attempting 15 free throws against Louisville Sunday in a more comfortable 74-58 Irish victory in the regular-season finale in South Bend.

Hidalgo also contributed six rebounds, six assists and two steals.Senior forward Maddy Westbeld added 13 points and six boards.

“I think we've been in these moments a lot this season and we've learned and grown from those moments,” Ivey said. “We've made mistakes before, and I feel like what we've learned this season came into play today.

“One of my timeouts, that's all I put on the board, is poise. They were going to make their run. We knew that. They're a very physical, very aggressive team, and I thought in the fourth quarter we finally got some stops, put some stops together, and then offensively we gained our composure and had really great poise down the stretch.”

Louisville, in turn, lost its poise repeatedly against a smothering combination of man and zone defenses in the first half. The Cardinals shot just 20.7 percent and committed 13 of their turnovers in their lowest-scoring first half of the season, with the Irish ahead 34-17 at the break.

But the Cardinals rallied behind Curry, who finished just four points short of her career high, set in a Cal uniform.

“Last year with the mistakes that we make, we would have just let it snowball and turn into not what we want,” Citron said, “but I think we did a good job of — we did make mistakes, but after it's OK. Just come back together. We're good.”

NOTRE DAME 77, LOUISVILLE 68: Box Score