Notre Dame Downs NC State To Claim ACC Tournament Championship
Greensboro, N.C. - No. 14 Notre Dame went into Sunday’s ACC Championship game against No. 10 NC State shorthanded and looking for its first conference title since 2019. The Fighting Irish (26-6) walked away with the program’s sixth ACC title in hand and a pocket full of resolve after a 55-51 win over the Wolfpack (27-6)..
Hannah Hidalgo scored a game-high 22 points, her 26th game with 20-plus points this season, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after winning Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors for her play during the regular season.
Sonia Citron started out hot by hitting her first three shots, including a 3, to score Notre Dame’s first seven points. Hidalgo nailed a three and a driving layup for the next five points of the game. Citron scored 10 of her 11 points in the first half. Her only second half point came on a free throw with :23 seconds to play to give Notre Dame a 54-51 lead. It was part of a 12-2 run to close the game. She played all 40 minutes for the Irish.
Nat Marshall, who was making her first career shot in her 72nd career game, scored her first bucket with 2:12 to go in the first half but cut her chin on a collision with Aziaha James and went to the lockerrom to get the cut bandaged.
Marshall was one of just six Irish players to take the floor in the game. She was playing in place of Kylee Watson, who injured her knee in Saturday’s semifinal win over Virginia Tech. KK Bransford was the only player to come off the Irish bench. The sophomore guard scored four points.
NC State hit a pair of first quarter 3-pointers, but made just one the rest of the game after hitting 7 of 14 long range shots in a win over Notre Dame on Feb. 15. The Wolfpack was just 3 for 17 from 3-point range on Sunday, while the Irish made 8 of 17 from beyond the arc.
Hidalgo capped the first half with her second 3 to give the Irish 28-22 lead at the break. NC State forward River Baldwin sparked the Wolfpack offense by scoring 8 points in first five minutes of the third quarter. The 6-5 grad student was 4 of 5 for 10 points in the quarter to help NC State outscore the Irish 21-13 in the third to put the Irish down 43-41 going into the fourth.
Notre Dame made 2 of its first 8 shots in the fourth and trailed 49-46 at the 4:53 media timeout. Maddy Westbeld stepped up down the stretch with 8 points in the final frame. She hit a pair of 3-pointers, with her last shot tying the game 49-49 with 3:43 to play. It was the sixth of seven ties in the game. Citron’s free throw put Notre Dame up 55-51 with :23 seconds left and then Hidalgo hit 1 of 2 at the line with :10 seconds to go for the final point of the game.
The Fighting Irish won all three of their ACC Tournament games to run their winning streak to eight games. Their last five wins have come against ranked opponents. They will wait a week until the March 17 NCAA selection show to find out their tournament fate. They are expected to host first-round NCAA games thanks to their late season run.
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