Niele Ivey Talks Key Timeout That Changed Notre Dame’s Fortunes in ACC Tournament

Niele Ivey might have saved the day for Notre Dame after a 14-3 Cal run on Thursday

Mar 7, 2025; Greensboro, NC, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey directs players during the first quarter against California Golden Bears at First Horizon Coliseum. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

Notre Dame entered the quarterfinals of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday with a game it had to feel good about against California. Afterall, it wasn't even a month ago that Notre Dame routed Cal in South Bend, 91-52.

However, in Thursday's ACC Tournament Quarterfinal, a 14-3 third quarter run by Cal gave the Bears a 45-39 advantage over the heavily favored Fighting Irish with just over five minutes to play in the quarter.

That forced Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey to call a timeout which proved to be a turning point for the contest.

Mar 7, 2025; Greensboro, NC, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Liza Karlen (32) passes the ball during the fourth quarter against California Golden Bears at First Horizon Coliseum. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

Notre Dame responded with a 16-5 run to end the third quarter and suddenly hold a 55-50 advantage instead of being down by six as it was just moments earlier.

So what did Ivey make of the timeout after the game?

“Cal was going on a run, so I was trying to cut the momentum and just kind of recenter, refocus, talk about our defense knowing we needed to get stops and with those stops coming down on the floor and getting better shots and getting to the rim,” Ivey said. “We talked about getting downhill. We ran a couple actions that were very successful, so kind of went back to that.”

Cal was able to get Notre Dame's lead back down to three early in the fourth quarter, but never closer. Notre Dame outscored the Bears 18-14 in the final frame to win 73-64. Hannah Hidalgo had a huge game, scoring 25 points and leading all scorers.

The Fighting Irish also forced 28 Cal turnovers while committing just 13 itself on Friday.

Notre Dame takes on No. 3 Duke in the ACC Tournament Semi-Finals on Saturday. The Irish beat the Blue Devils.

THE STEAL, THE DIME, THE BUCKET 🫨

📺 ESPN 2#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/bmd6QweYvq

— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) March 7, 2025

In one meeting this season Notre Dame got the best of Duke 65-49 on Feb. 17 in South Bend.

Notre Dame and Duke are scheduled to tip-off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and can be seen on ESPN2.

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