Whereas Niele Ivey and her workers are in overdrive making an attempt to transform the staff’s offense beneath a decent deadline, her protection is shopping for her a while.
Prime-seeded and Tenth-ranked Notre Dame (25-4) wanted it Friday afternoon to beat 19 turnovers in a 66-60 victory over No. 8 seed North Carolina State (20-11) in ND’s first sport of the Atlantic Coast Convention Match in Greensboro, N.C.
The Irish had earned a double-bye into the quarterfinals.
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One of many nation’s prime level guards, Olivia Miles, stays on the sidelines with a knee harm and gained’t be suited up for Saturday’s midday (ET) semifinal sport towards fourth-seeded Louisville (22-10) or Sunday’s championship sport if the Irish get there.
A lot of the burden falls on two-guard Sonia Citron, the staff’s main scorer at 14.5 factors a sport coming into Friday however not the distributor that Miles is with 192 assists in 28 video games.
There are a number of transferring elements within the rebuild.
“I’ve tried to essentially alter the offense with Sony to run the purpose, as a result of she’s additionally a scorer,” Ivey, the newly anointed ACC coach of the 12 months mentioned. “So, simply looking for methods along with her being on the level to additionally get her photographs”
Thankfully, Ivey has so much to work with, as a result of the 6-foot-1 sophomore has a number of sport.
She scored in a wide range of methods towards the Wolfpack, the three-time defending ACC Match champs coming off a rout of Syracuse in Thursday’s second-round sport. They couldn’t cease Citron, who completed with a season-high 28 factors, 11 of these approaching 15 free throw makes an attempt. She added 9 rebounds, 5 assists and a pair steals in 38 minutes.
“She’s an incredible participant,” North Carolina State coach Wes Moore mentioned, “an incredible scorer. It’s arduous to beat her to her spots … and she or he’s received the size to get her shot off over individuals.”
She carried the Irish within the first half with 11 factors and it wasn’t till late within the second quarter that the Irish did sufficient offensively to forge a 25-22 lead. That was due to the combination of an intense man-to-man and zone defenses that restricted NC State to 4 factors within the quarter.
Yep, 10 minutes, 4 factors.
“We have had a number of challenges, a number of adversity, however one factor I find out about my staff is that we’re powerful,” Ivey mentioned. “I believe that was on full show at the moment.”
It didn’t harm that the Wolfpack have been lacking one among its stars, too.
Diamond Johnson, a second staff All-ACC guard averaging a team-high 12.3 factors together with 4.2 rebounds, took this week off, hoping a foul ankle heals sufficient for her to play within the NCAA Match.
Johnson hit the Irish with 20 factors, together with some late clutch photographs, within the Wolfpack’s 69-65 win over the Irish on Jan. 29 in Raleigh, N.C.
In Friday’s assembly, the halftime changes Ivey made created some separation.
Lauren Ebo, ND’s 6-4 grad pupil middle who was out with an harm within the Jan. 29 loss to the Wolfpack, went scoreless within the first half, however completed with eight. She had a bucket on a layup 18 seconds into the second half. She had one other 46 seconds later because the Irish made their intentions clear.
A minute later it was 6-4 junior Kylee Watson, additionally scoreless within the first half, hitting a brief jumper on an help by Maddy Westbeld to offer the Irish a 33-24 lead lower than three minutes into the second half. The Irish bench shrunk a bit extra when 6-5 junior Nat Marshall, averaging 10 minutes a sport, took an inadvertent elbow to the attention from teammate Cass Prosper and didn’t return. Ivey didn’t suppose it was critical, however wasn’t certain of her standing heading into Saturday’s sport.
“I’m asking individuals to be in a number of completely different locations than they have been earlier this season,” Ivey mentioned of transforming the offense. “So I am actually happy with the way in which that they are adjusting, as a result of we’re all adjusting on the fly. And that is simply credit score to them being locked in.”
Due to that shutdown protection, the Irish stayed in management when the offense hit some clunky spurts. The rash of turnovers within the second half did subside considerably after the Irish dedicated a dozen within the first half.
For the sport, the Wolfpack shot 36.7% from the sphere, together with simply 2-for-15 (13.3%) from the 3-point line, and had 13 turnovers, their common. The Irish have been at 44% from each the sphere and 3-point line.
It was 55-41 with 6:54 to play, however NC State wasn’t accomplished and chipped away on the deficit.
By the four-minute mark that they had lower it to 6, however the Irish made sufficient free throws — 15-for-20 within the quarter and 18-for-24 for the sport — to at the least keep on prime if not utterly in management. Citron had 12 factors over the ultimate 10 minutes.
After a sluggish begin, Westbeld completed with 15 factors, 4 above her common, however that was it for the Irish in double digits.
Citron, coming off a 27-point efficiency towards Louisville, stays the offensive story.
“I do know Sony is able to doing no matter I ask,” Ivey mentioned. “That is what I do know. Now, I did not suppose it was gonna need to be her (enjoying) the purpose. …
“She’s essentially the most unselfish participant I believe I’ve ever been round. She’s simply so coachable. She loves this staff. And he or she’s enjoying for this staff. So she’s like, ‘No matter you want from me coach, I am gonna do it.’ So when you might have anyone unselfish like that, issues like this occur, but it surely’s only a credit score to her as an individual and participant.”
Louisville and the Irish might be assembly for the third time since Feb. 16.
The Irish gained that sport by a bucket in extra time in South Bend, and by three final Sunday in Louisville.
Friday, Louisville crushed Wake Forest, which was enjoying its third sport of the match, 74-48, to succeed in Saturday’s semifinal.
NOTRE DAME 66, NC STATE 60: Field Rating
SCORES/SCHEDULE
AT GREENSBORO, N.C.
(All Occasions EST)
FIRST ROUND
Wednesday
(12) Wake Forest 68, (13) Virginia 57
(10) Clemson 71, (15) Pitt 53
(11) Boston Faculty 62, (14) Georgia Tech 57
SECOND ROUND
Thursday
(12) Wake Forest 65, (5) Florida State 54
(8) NC State 83, (9) Syracuse 58
(7) North Carolina 78, (10) Clemson 68
(6) Miami 84, (11) Boston Faculty 69
QUARTERFINALS
Friday
(4) Louisville 74, (12) Wake Forest 48
(1) Notre Dame 66, (8) NC State 60
(2) Duke (24-5) 44, (7) North Carolina 40
(3) Virginia Tech (24-4) vs. (6) Miami (19-11), 8 p.m., ACC Community
SEMIFINALS
Saturday
(4) Louisville (22-10) vs. (1) Notre Dame (25-4), Midday, ACC Community
(2) Duke (25-5) vs. Va.Tech/Miami 2:30 p.m., ACC Community
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m., ESPN
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