So much to celebrate.
And now also, so much to worry about.
With their leader down, a raucous crowd of 12,000 in their ear and a talented rival energized by a nine-point halftime lead Sunday afternoon, Notre Dame unearthed enough grit and answers to finish off an outstanding regular season in spectacular fashion with a stunning 68-65 victory over Louisville in the KFC Yum! Center.
Coupled with Duke’s loss to North Carolina on Sunday, the Irish are Atlantic Coast Conference champions for the first time under third-year head coach Niele Ivey and will have the top seed in this week’s ACC Tournament.
In a 24-4 regular season (15-3 ACC) that has featured so many big wins, this one will stand above the rest because it was so unexpected.
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Teams don’t lose a player the caliber of point guard Olivia Miles — their team and statistical leader and one of the country’s best point guards — and barely wobble.
Credit Ivey and the quality of depth she and her staff have built to survive a game that included four ties and seven lead changes.
Miles, the club’s leader in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals, couldn’t return after suffering a right knee injury near the end of the first half. The severity of the injury won’t be known for a day or two as ND’s high NCAA Tournament hopes may hang in the balance, but Ivey was encouraged that the 5-10 sophomore from Phillipsburg, N.J. refused help and limped off the floor on her own with 2:35 remaining in the first half after landing awkwardly trying to make a jump pass.
“Coach always talks about when a sister goes down, we all just have to do a little bit more,” said second-half star Sonia Citron. “With Liv down, our hearts broke, but we came together and we still had a whole half to play. So we played for her the rest of the 20 minutes, and we weren't going to lose.”
They didn’t because of No. 11. Citron, last year’s ACC Freshman of the Year, was good in the first half and fantastic in the second.
She had 10 points at halftime and a season-high 27 by the end.
Her two free throws finally got the Irish the lead at 54-53 with 5:30 to play.
Playing 39 minutes and chasing Louisville’s best player, Hailey Van Lith, she still went 7-for-13 from the field and 3-for-6 on threes, one on a 24-footer with the shot-clock winding down with 3:48 to play for a 60-55 Irish lead. Van Lith had 23, four above her average, but was just 6-for-21 overall and 1-for-6 on threes.
“This was all God and Sonia Citron,” Ivey said with a smile in the post-game Zoom conference.
“Hats off to Soni. The fact that she can come in and guard their best player and run the point for us (and play) for 40 minutes basically was just a testament to the type of player she is. She's one of the best players in the country, not just the ACC, and she just did a phenomenal job.“
Louisville knew the 6-1 Citron had it in her. She averages 14 points a game and had 15 when the Irish beat Louisville on Miles’ off-balanced perimeter shot at the overtime buzzer on Feb. 16.
Citron stepped in and handled most of the point guard duties in the second half and hit four free throws over the final 1:20 — 10-for-12 overall from the line in the second half.
“Obviously, with Liv down, I had to take the point a little bit more, so that's a big adjustment,” Citron said. “But my coaches prepare me for that … So I was ready.
“And I think our team did a great job of just focusing, possession by possession. We've been in that position before. So we knew what we had to do, and it was on defense.”
As it has been all year with this team, defense sets up offense.
Playing against a hot team at home — the Cardinals (21-10, 12-6 ACC) had won six of their previous seven — Notre Dame, with a mix of man and zone, limited Louisville to 34% field goal shooting for the game, 29% from three (4-for-14). For context, Louisville scores at a 45.6 rate for the year and 35.1% from the arc.
It was 33-24 at the halftime break.
There were other stars for the Irish besides Citron, but none you’d expect, and both mature beyond their years.
Freshman KK Bransford’s family from Cincinnati was in the house and got to see a breakout game of sorts from her, considering the circumstances.
Averaging 22 minutes a game and eight points, she played 31 and finished with 14 on a 7-for-11 performance, the highlight a spin move in the lane around a defender to get to the basket for a layup and get the Irish to within 53-52 with 6:21 to play.
The 5-11 guard added three rebounds and a couple of Notre Dame’s 10 assists.
“She has had to be in the fire all season,” Ivey said of Bransford. “She plays multiple positions. She’s so coachable and the team trusts her. I trust her. She came out and had a monster game today. She made baskets exactly at the time we needed her to.
“If it was a drive, offensive rebound or a pull-up, everything she's worked on with her game, and her confidence is just soaring. We really required her to step up and she did.”
They needed her to step up with the Irish bigs struggling to make an impact. Kylee Watson, a 6-4 junior who had 20 in the first meeting with the Cardinals, was just 1-for-3 and had three points. Lauren Ebo, a 6-4 grad student center, had two points and got off just two shots. Maddy Westbeld, a 6-3 junior, had two points in the first half but finished with nine, which left her a point shy of career No. 1,000.
Cass Prosper, an early enrollee and just 17-years old, was clutch in the second half after not scoring in the first.
Her defense produced a couple of steals — she went coast to coast for a bucket after one to get the score to 51-50 with 7:11 to play.
She wound up with four rebounds and 11 points — she came in averaging five — on 3-for-7 from the field and 5-for-7 from the line. Her two free throws with six seconds to play gave the Irish a 68-63 lead and basically locked up a conference title.
The 6-2 guard from Montreal could still be playing high school basketball, but instead joined the Irish. Ivey is elated to have her after losing graduate senior guard Dara Mabrey for the season with a knee injury and now possibly Miles for longer than half a game.
“It just speaks to the caliber of player she is,” Ivey said of Prosper. “She's a gamer. She is a blessing. I did not know this time last year that she would be coming early. And she's exactly what we needed.
“Now we have two guards down, but she stepped in right away after Christmas and has been such a beautiful addition to our team. She's selfless. You know, she plays with her heart. And she's super talented offensively and defensively and for her to be in that type of moment to step up on defense, but also seal the game with her two free throws, just speaks on what type of program-changer she is.”
There are challenges ahead, maybe big ones depending on Miles’ condition, but Sunday afternoon was a time for the Irish to take a breath and enjoy a hard-earned league crown.
“Being ACC champs is just a dream come true,” Ivey said. “Like I said from the beginning, nothing but credit to God and I'm so grateful. I'm so blessed to be able to coach this group and looking forward to the ACC tournament. But we're going to celebrate this for more than two days.”
With the double-bye, the Irish won’t play in Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum until Friday in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament. Notre Dame will play at 2 p.m. EST on ACC Network against the winner of eight-seed NC State (19-10, 9-9) and nine-seed Syracuse (18-11, 9-9).
The long break until the first round of the NCAA Tournament — March 17-18 — could be helpful for Notre Dame, too.
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