Notre Dame Women's Basketball Looks To Punch Ticket Two Sweet 16 Against Mississippi State
Notre Dame rolled to a convincing 82-56 win over Southern Utah in its first round NCAA Tournament game Friday afternoon. The Irish now face Mississippi State in the first meeting between the two programs since the 2018 national championship game.
Where: Notre Dame, Ind – Purcell Pavilion
When: Friday, March 17 – 3:30 PM EST
Network: ESPN2 – Jenn Hildreth (Play-by-Play), Mike Thibault (Analyst)
Radio: ND Radio Network, 99.9 FM WQLQ in South Bend – Sean Stires (PBP), Karen Keyes (Analyst)
Let's take a look at today’s matchup:
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (26-5, 15-3 ACC)
Head Coach: Niele Ivey (60-24 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)
Notre Dame came storming out of the gates in Friday’s 82-56 win over Southern Utah in its first home NCAA Tournament game in four years. An electric Purcell Pavilion crowd helped spur the Irish to a 16-0 start and they never looked back. Behind eight points from Maddy Westbeld and a combined 6 for 6 shooting from fellow forwards Kylee Watson and Lauren Ebo, the Irish shot 13 for 16 (81%) in the first quarter.
“It started on defense,” said Westbeld, who finished with a game-high 20 points, afterward . “We’ve emphasized getting out and running in transition. Get the rebound and run. We did a really good job at the beginning, and that’s what set the tone early.”
Westbeld was one of four Irish players to score in double figures. Ebo had 14 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, Sonia Citron scored 14 points and dished out six of Notre Dame’s 24 assists and Watson added 12 points while making all six of her shots. The 24 assists are tied for the ninth-most in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.
“The word I’m thinking of is resilience,” Fighting Irish head Niele Ivey said after her first home NCAA game as head coach. “Coming into the season, I talked to the team about our identity. What are people going to say about you? To see where we are now, having faced this adversity, the toughness that we’ve shown over the last month, I’m super proud that our identity is our resilience.”
Projected Irish Starting Lineup
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.4 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 28 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 11.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 37 BLK
G Lauren Ebo – 6-4, Gr. - 9.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 22 BLK
G KK Bransford- 5-11, Fr. - 8.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.3 APG
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (22-10, 9-7 SEC)
Head Coach: Sam Purcell (22-10 in 1st season at school/overall)
Sam Purcell is in his first season as head coach in Starkeville after nine seasons as an assistant at Louisville where he helped the Cardinals to a pair of Final Four appearances and two other trips to the Elite Eight.
Mississippi State is the No. 11 seed in the Greenville 1 Region. The Bulldogs scored at upset Friday night with a convincing 81-66 win over No. 6 seed Creighton to advance to Sunday’s game against the Irish.
Jerlaika Jordan hit four 3-pointers to lead five Bulldogs in double figures with 20 points, while Jessika Carter turned in a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Anastasia Hayes scored 12 points and dished out seven of Mississippi State’s 18 assists.
Hayes is one of three sisters who play for Mississippi State. Aislynn Hayes is a senior who has not played this season. Alasia Hayes is a red shirt sophomore guard who played in 13 games at Notre Dame in Ivey's first season as head coach in 2020-2021. She missed last season due to injury and has played in 13 games this season.
Friday’s win is the second of the tournament for the Bulldogs. They beat Illinois 70-56 in a play-in game on Wednesday.
Projected Starting Lineup
G Jerkaila Jordan - Stats – 12.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 62 BLK
F Jessika Carter - Stats – 15.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.0 APG
G Anastasia Hayes- Stats – 8.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 4.6 APG
G Ahlana Smith – Stats – 9.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.5 APG
G Debreasha Powe- Stats – 8.4, 5.1 RPG, 14 BLK
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Notre Dame and Mississippi State have only met once previously. The Irish prevailed 61-58 in the 2018 national championship game thanks to Arike Ogunbowale’s game-winning shot. It was the Bulldog’s second consecutive loss in a national championship game after falling to South Carolina the previous year. MSU advanced to the Elite Eight in 2019 but this is their first NCAA appearance since.
The Fighting Irish are looking for back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16 since they advanced at least that far in the tournament for 10 straight years from 2010-2019.
Notre Dame is the No. 3 seed and Mississippi State the No. 11 seed in the Greenville 1 Region. The winner advances to face the winner of Sunday night’s No. 2 Maryland – No. 7 Arizona matchup next weekend in Greenville, SC. The top seed in the region, South Carolina, plays No. 8 South Florida Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm EST.
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