Notre Dame Women's Basketball On The Road To Face #20 NC State
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Notre Dame Women’s basketball is back on the road on Sunday afternoon at No. 20 North Carolina State. The Fighting Irish downed Florida State 70-47 Thursday night for their fifth consecutive victory.
Where: Raleigh, NC – Reynolds Coliseum
When: Sunday, Jan. 29 – 3:00 PM EST
Network: ESPN – Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonnelli
Radio: ND Radio Network, 99.9 FM WQLQ in South Bend – Sean Stires PBP
Let's take a look at today’s matchup:
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (17-2, 8-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Niele Ivey (51-21 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)
Notre Dame improved to 9-1 at home this season with Thursday’s 70-47 win over No. 24 Florida State. The Irish trailed 12-7 after the first quarter and 23-22 at halftime before steamrolling the Seminoles in the second half.
Sonia Citron led the Irish in scoring for a second consecutive game with 19 points. She was 6 for 11 from the floor with a pair of 3-points, while also pulling down eight of Notre Dame’s 55 rebounds. Lauren Ebo had 12 points and 10 boards for her third double-double in her first start of the season and KK Bransford scored 15 points for her second straight double figure scoring game.
Projected Irish Starting Lineup
G Olivia Miles- 5-10, Soph. - 15.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 7.1 APG
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 13.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.1 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 18 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 10.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 29 BLK
F Lauren Ebo – 6-4, Grad. -
NC STATE WOLFPACK (15-5, 5-4 ACC)
Head Coach: Wes Moore (237-74 in 10th season at school, 795-243 in 34th year overall)
Wes Moore has led the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament six times in his previous nine seasons, including five straight appearances. Last year’s trip to the Elite Eight is the deepest they’ve gone in the tournament under Moore. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the program’s lone Final Four appearance in 1998.
Junior Diamond Johnson is the only Wolfpack player averaging double figures in scoring with her mark of 12.8 points per game. Johnson has a team-best three-point shooting percentage of .409 to rank 44th nationally. She's shot 50+ percent from distance in eight games this season and attempted at least three triples in each of those contests.
The Wolfpack has scored 30+ bench points in 10 games this season, most recently doing so against Miami with just three bench players available at the start of the game. The team averages 27.1 bench points per game.
Projected Starting Lineup
F Mimi Collins - Stats – 7.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG
G Diamond Johnson - Stats – 12.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.7 APG
W Jakia Brown-Turner - Stats – 8.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.9 APG
G Madison Hayes – Stats – 7.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 18 BLK
C Camille Hobby- Stats – 8.9, 4.5 RPG, 11 BLK
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Sunday's game marks the 12th overall meeting between NC State and Notre Dame. NC State is 1-3 when hosting the Fighting Irish on its home court. The Wolfpack's only home win in the series with the Fighting Irish was when the team upset then second-ranked Notre Dame on Dec. 29, 2016.
The Wolfpack ended Notre Dame’s season with a 66-63 comeback win over the Irish in the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Irish beat the No. 3 ranked Wolfpack 69-66 in the regular season at Purcell Pavilion last February.
NC State has scored 70+ points in 11 of its 15 wins this season and limited its opponents to 60 or fewer points in the same number of games. Their five losses have been by an average of 10.6 points.
The matchup features two of the best shooting teams in the ACC. Notre Dame leads the conference at 47% overall, while NC State’s 45% shooting is No. 3 and their 34% 3-point percentage ranks No. 2. But the Irish also boast the No. 1 3-point defense in the ACC, allowing just 34% from long range.
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Irish Breakdown Content
2023 Scholarship Chart
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2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
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