The Irish continue their ACC dominance
The Notre Dame women’s basketball team moved up to the #2 ranking in the country this week — but let’s get real here. The Irish have been absolutely dominant during their ACC campaign, and have enough top 5 wins for fans to say… this is the best team in the country.
Niele Ivey has this team firing on all cylinders, and with weapons like Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron, and Olivia Miles — who’s going to stop them? Speaking of Miles… she had herself a big night with 8 threes in Notre Dame’s 88-57 win on the road against Pitt.
From the ND press release:
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — When Olivia Miles said she worked on her deep shot while she was injured, she meant it.
On Thursday, No. 2 Notre Dame (22-2, 13-0) topped Pittsburgh (11-15, 3-10) for the 11th consecutive time, 88-57. Miles was the star of the show with an 8-13 showing from deep, tying the Notre Dame single-game triple record set in 1998 by Sheila McMillen. She finished with a season-high 28 points.
Sonia Citron also posted a standout game going 8-9 from the floor and 4-4 from beyond the arc, ending with 22 points and her third double-double of the year.
Additionally, the Irish hit 14 total 3-pointers, the most they’ve made in a conference game since joining the ACC.
Both teams started the game 5-9 from the floor, but Notre Dame was hitting shots from deep. Pittsburgh closed out the first frame hitting their last four attempts to make it 22-21 after 10. Citron and Miles combined for 5-5 from the floor with three treys.
The second quarter started with a lethal sequence for Notre Dame — a Citron triple, a Citron steal on the other end and a pullup triple for Miles. It continued to rain threes for the Irish captains, who hit a total of six in Q2.
Citron was 7-7 from the floor with a 4-4 showing from deep in the first half along with a team-leading 5 boards. Miles hit her first five shots, all of which were from deep, before missing a trey at the buzzer to send the game to the break with Notre Dame up, 49-33. The Irish still have not trailed at halftime this season.
Notre Dame opened up a 20-point lead early in the third quarter to go up 55-35 and kept building on it with a 10-0 run while Pitt was 1-9 from the floor. The Panthers did not give up and went on a mini 9-0 run of their own, led by forward Khadija Faye, who had a 20-point double-double. The quarter aptly closed on a Miles 3-pointer.
The Irish took control in the final frame with a 19-7 conclusion, including a 10-0 run to end it. Liza Karlen led Notre Dame with 6 points, but it was Miles who hit that coveted triple to tie the record.
Notre Dame has the weekend off before a Monday night clash with No. 13 Duke (20-5, 11-2).
