Mar. 3—SOUTH BEND — Like adjusting difficulty levels in a video game, No. 17 Notre Dame looked to be on “easy” mode in the second half of Sunday’s 74-58 win over No. 22 Louisville at Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame (23-6, 13-5) clinched a double-bye in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with the win after entering the day tied with the Cardinals (23-8, 12-6) but slotted as the fifth-seed in the tournament.
The Irish’s win pushes Louisville down to the No. 5 seed and bumps Notre Dame up to the No. 4 spot. They could meet for a third time this season in the quarterfinals Friday.
“As far as this game, tremendous to just have two incredible matchups back-to-back,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said about Notre Dame’s wins this week over No. 5 Virginia Tech and now the 22nd-ranked Cardinals. “The crowd, sold-out arena, the energy, the way this team has been bonding and jelling right now is just phenomenal and I’m so proud of this group.”
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Ivey said. “We’ve put ourselves in a great position going into the ACC Tournament.”
Ivey’s squad went into halftime down 36-29 at Louisville’s largest lead of the game. The Irish allowed the Cardinals to shoot 16-of-30 in the opening half and were outscored in the paint 20-8. Notre Dame continued to match buckets, but the frontcourt scoring came too easy for the Cardinals for the Irish to keep up.
The tide changed when Notre Dame crunched down defensively and ran out to a 7-0 swing out of the locker room. DeWolfe capped the run with a right-wing 3-pointer to even the score at 36 just two minutes into the third quarter.
Louisville had lost the paint advantage and Notre Dame’s defense squeezed tighter. Forcing misses and taking a larger share of rebounds, the Irish unleashed their most explosive weapon in getting out in transition.
An Irish 19-1 run followed an even score of 41-all and it helped the sellout crowd in South Bend awaken to force the pressure. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo, who was double-teamed most of the opening half but finished with a team-high 26 points, was the catalyst of keeping the momentum mounting.
“I feel like the last two minutes of the second quarter they really got downhill with ease,” Ivey said on the change for the Irish to partly abandon the man defense for a zone configuration in the second half. “I felt like we gotta throw something else at them, try to get some more help. Our zone is just built on help and so I thought just changing the defense would throw them off a couple possessions and it worked.”
Sonia Citron, who scored 17 points and picked up three blocks, agreed.
“I think a lot changed but the most important thing was that we were just getting stops and getting out in transition,” Citron said. “I think our team is great in transition and that’s when we’re able to play out game.”
Outscoring Louisville 30-10 in the third quarter, Notre Dame paved the way to another impressive win to end the season. Currently projected as a No. 5 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, Sunday’s win should continue to put the pressure on whether or not the Irish return to Purcell to host the first two rounds as a possible No. 4 seed.
“Who do you need to talk to because we’ve had such a tough schedule and we’ve gotten a lot of great wins on the road,” Ivey said about her team’s chances to earn a top-four seed in the tournament. “I think our resume should at least put us in the conversation but that’s not up to us so we’re praying that we can come back here in front of our fans.”
Currently, the Irish are 10th in the NET rankings and are 10-3 at home this season. Ivey’s squad boasts home wins over No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 22 Louisville with a road win at No. 10 UConn. Hurting the cause is Notre Dame’s 3-5 record against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 rankings.
The Irish are also 51st in strength of schedule and are 14-6 in games against the top two quadrants.
Notre Dame will take some time off before the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Irish are slated to play Friday and will await Thursday’s winner between the 5th-seeded Cardinals and their game against the No. 12 and No. 13 seeds.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
#22 Louisville — 15 21 10 12 — 58
#17 Notre Dame — 17 12 30 15 — 74
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.
