Notre Dame Knocks Out Defending ACC Champion NC State

Notre Dame women’s basketball was faced with a task it had not encountered in its last 61 games on Friday at the ACC Tournament – win a game without Olivia Miles in the starting lineup. The Irish First Team All-ACC guard was sidelined by a knee injury, but with Miles out, Sonia Citron more than picked up the slack at the No. 1 seeded Fighting Irish (25-4) ousted three-time defending conference tournament champion with a 66-60 win over NC State (20-11).

Citron was one point from tying her career high with 28 points in her encore performance after scoring 27 in last Sunday’s win over Louisville. Citron and Miles entered the day with a combined 28.8 points per game this season.

Points were at a premium in a first half that saw six ties and five lead changes. The Wolfpack led 18-14 after a first quarter that saw the two teams combine to hit 14 of 26 shots from the field. But the pace plodded to a crawl in a second quarter as the two teams combined for 15 total points.

Maddy Westbeld was the game’s offensive force in the final 2:48 of the first half. Westbeld was scoreless through the midway point of the second quarter, but she scored the final seven points of the frame, including a 3-pointer with :09 seconds to go before halftime to put Notre Dame on top 25-22 at the intermission.

Kylee Watson and Lauren Ebo were both scoreless in the first half. Both were part of Niele Ivey’s starting lineup and they played extensive minutes together in a first half that saw the Irish struggle to score down low.

The front court duo came together in the second half, though. They combined for eight points, four apiece, in the first 5:24 of the third quarter to help the Irish to a 36-28 lead. Ebo finished with eight points while Watson scored five on combined 5 for 7 shooting in the game’s final 20 minutes.

Notre Dame led 57-46 with 4:38 to play, but the Wolfpack quickly sliced their deficit to just six points after a long ball from Jakia Brown-Turner that was followed by a steal and two free throws after a layup attempt by Aziah James, who shared the NC State team lead with Soniya Rivers with 14 points.

The two teams each attempted just two free throws in the first half, but they were a combined 32 for 40 in the second half, with the Irish making 9 of 10 charity shots in the fourth quarter. The Irish went without a field goal for the final 4:58 of the game, but hit all nine of their fourth quarter free throws over the final 3:49 to seal the victory.

The win sends Notre Dame to a Saturday semifinal matchup with No. 4 seed Louisville. It will be the third meeting between the two rivals in a span of the 16 days.

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