Notre Dame Women's Basketball Visits Pittsburgh

Notre Dame Women’s basketball looks for its fourth consecutive win when it faces Pittsburgh on the road Sunday afternoon. The Fighting Irish are fresh off an overtime win over Louisville Thursday night.

Where: Pittsburgh, Pa. – Peterson Events Center
When: Sunday, Feb. 19 – 2:00 PM EST
Network: ACC Network Extra
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 (21-4, 12-3 ACC)

Head Coach: Niele Ivey (55-22 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)

Notre Dame notched its most emotional win of the season with Thursday’s 78-76 overtime win over Louisville. Olivia Miles drained the game-winning shot as time expired after a perfectly executed inbound play.

Miles just missed her fourth career double-double. She finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Her efforts helped Notre Dame end a six-game losing streak to Louisville. Notre Dame’s last previous win over the Cardinals was on March 10, 2019 in the ACC Tournament.

Kylee Watson played a nearly flawless game, finishing with 20 points (one off her career high) while going 8 for 8 from the field. Watson also took the inbound pass from Sonia Citron on the game’s final play and held the screen as she handed off to Miles to help Miles hit the decisive shot. Combined with her 15 points last Sunday against Syracuse, Watson’s 35 points in the last two games is her best two-game production of the season. She is a combined 13 for 16 from the field and 9 for 14 at the free throw line.

Projected Irish Starting Lineup

G Olivia Miles- 5-10, Soph. - 15.0 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 7.2 APG
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.1 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 24 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 10.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 35 BLK
G KK Bransford – 5-11, Fr. - 8.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG

PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (10-16, 3-12 ACC)

Head Coach: Lance White (42-95 in 5th season at school/overall)

Since starting ACC play 0-11, Pittsburgh is on a role of late. The Panthers became the last team in the conference to get its first conference win of the season when they beat Virginia 60-51 on Feb. 5. That was four days before pushing Notre Dame before losing 69-63 at Purcell Pavilion.

Pitt has won its last two games since the loss to the Fighting Irish and has now won three of its last four games. The Panthers toppled Georgia Tech 85-79 in double overtime last Sunday with Avery Strickland leading five players in double figures. They followed that with a 75-64 win over Boston College this past Thursday.

Projected Starting Lineup

F Maliya Johnson - Stats – 8.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG
F Gabby Hutcherson - Stats – 5.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 23 BLK
G Marley Washenitz - Stats – 3.6 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.6 APG
G Amber Brown – Stats – 9.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.6 APG
G Emy Hayford - Stats – 2.3, 1.6 RPG, 1.8 APG

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Pittsburgh’s starters are starters in name only. Lance White has gone to his bench with great regularity recently. White regularly makes hockey line substitutions early in each half when he sends five players from the bench to the floor to replace the starting five on the court. The result has been record setting bench production.

The Panther bench scored a then program record 37 points against Virginia two weeks ago and that record has since been shattered. They scored 58 points off the bench in last week's OT win over Georgia Tech. Those 58 bench points are the sixth-most scored in a game in the nation this season. They are the second most bench points scored against a Power 5 team and the most scored in a road win by a team in the NCAA so far this season. The Panthers set a program record with four bench players scoring in double figures in that game. They have scored 152 total points off the bench to average 38 points off the bench in their last four games.

The Irish got Lauren Ebo back Thursday night after the forward missed five consecutive games with a lower leg injury. Ebo played two minutes while hitting her lone field goal attempt against Louisville. She pulled down three rebounds as well.

With three games to go in the regular season, Notre Dame is in good shape to at least receive a double bye in the ACC Tournament, which begins the first week of March. The Irish are currently tied with Duke atop the conference standings. The Blue Devils won the head-to-head with the Irish two weeks ago and would be the No. 1 seed if the two teams are tied at the end of the season.

Notre Dame’s three remaining games are against Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Louisville. The Blue Devils’ three remaining games are against Virginia, NC State and North Carolina. The Irish would need to win out and have Duke lose one game in order for Notre Dame to claim the No. 1 seed. The top four seeds all receive double byes.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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