Maddy Westbeld gave herself a heck of a birthday present Thursday night.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore forward scored 21 points, with a career-high four 3-pointers made, as 18th-ranked Notre Dame cruised past Miami, 69-53, in the program’s annual Play4Kay Pink Game.
The home Purcell Pavilion crowd looked on as the Notre Dame football team helped honor breast cancer survivors at halftime.
Westbeld, meanwhile, fell just one point short of her season high in points, set Dec. 22 against DePaul. She was 8-of-11 from the field Thursday night and 4-of-5 from the arc against the Hurricanes (12-10, 5-7 ACC), with eight rebounds and two of ND’s 11 steals.
Seven of Miami’s 10 losses this season have come against ranked teams.
Freshman guard Sonia Citron added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Irish (19-5, 10-3), one of only five Power 5 teams still unbeaten at home this season. Grad senior Maya Dodson recorded her sixth double-double in ND’s past nine games — 12 points/10 boards — and added three blocked shots.
The Irish defense was relentless through the first three quarters. Miami scratched out 11 points in each of the first three periods and shot 33 percent from the field for the game. Vaunted Miami freshman Ja’Leah Williams was held scoreless and committed five turnovers in 26 minutes of play.
Kelsey Marshall led the Hurricanes with 18 points.
Next up for Notre Dame is a Sunday road date at No. 3 Louisville (21-2, 12-1) followed by another road test next Thursday night at No. 11 Georgia Tech.
The Cardinals picked up a forfeit win Thursday night over last-place Virginia when mechanical and aircraft staffing issues prevented the Cavaliers from getting to Louisville. The ACC canceled the game, rather than postponing/rescheduling it, and declared it a forfeit.
Tip time is 2 p.m. (EST) for the Irish Sunday in Louisville, and ESPN has the telecast.
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