Notre Dame Women's Basketball Vies For Top ACC Seed In Regular Season Finale At Louisville

The Fighting Irish close the regular season with a chance to earn the No. 1 in this week’s ACC Tournament

Notre Dame rides a five-game winning streak into Sunday’s regular season finale at Louisville. The Irish swept their first three repeat foes – Boston College, Syracuse and Pittsburgh – this season. They’re looking to sweep the Cardinals as well.

Where: Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
When: Sunday, Feb. 26 – Noon EST
Network: ESPN – Pam Ward (Play-by-Play), Stephanie White (Analyst)
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 (23-4, 14-3 ACC)

Head Coach: Niele Ivey (57-22 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)

Notre Dame is coming off a 76-53 win over Georgia Tech in Thursday’s regular season home finale. The Irish missed their first five shots and fell behind 8-0, but promptly went on an 8-0 run to tie the game after a timeout and rolled to the win by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 43-26 in the second half.

ACC Player of the Year candidate Olivia Miles led the Irish with 13 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Miles was one of five Fighting Irish players to reach double figures.

Kylee Watson continued her recent run of strong play. The junior forward had 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. She has been in double figures in three of Notre Dame’s last four games.

“I’ve been focusing a lot on my mental game,” Watson said after the win. “That comes from getting more shots up and a lot of working on being better at self talk. Being surrounded by the girls that I’m so close with really helps me too.”

Watson is averaging 7.0 points per game this season, but she is averaging 13.2 points during her current four-game tear. Her 20 points against Louisville last week is one off the career high 21 she scored against McNeese last season when she played for Oregon.

Projected Irish Starting Lineup

G Olivia Miles- 5-10, Soph. - 14.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 7.0 APG
G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 7.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 26 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 11.0 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 35 BLK
G KK Bransford – 5-11, Fr. - 8.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (21-9, 12-5 ACC)

Head Coach: Jeff Walz (422-118 in 16th season at Louisville/Overall)

Louisville started ACC play with just a 5-4 mark, but the Cardinals have won seven of their last eight games heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Irish. The lone loss came on Feb. 16 in Notre Dame’s 78-76 overtime win at Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish won the game when Olivia Miles hit a buzzer beater after an inbound play at the end of the OT period.

Louisville followed that with a 62-52 win over Boston College and then a 71-57 home win over Miami this past Thursday night. Hailey Van Lith led three Cardinals with 25 points thanks to four of UL’s six 3-pointers in the game. Van Lith is Louisville’s leading scorer at 19.0 points per game. She scored that exact total in the Feb. 16 meeting with the Irish. 

Projected Starting Lineup

F Nyla Harris - Stats – 4.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 11 BLK
F Olivia Cochran - Stats – 7.8 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 17 BLK
G Mykasa Robinson - Stats – 5.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.9 APG
G Hailey Van Lith – Stats – 19.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.4 APG
G Norika Konno - Stats – 2.6, 1.2 RPG, 1.2 APG

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Seeding at this week’s ACC Tournament is on the line in Sunday’s regular-season finale. The top-4 seeds in the tournament receive a double bye and will not play their first game of the tournament until Friday, March 3 in Greensboro, NC.

Notre Dame and Duke enter Sunday tied for first place with matching 14-3 conference records. The Blue Devils host North Carolina Sunday and, like Notre Dame vs Louisville, that game also tips-off at Noon EST.

Notre Dame is guaranteed to be no worse than the No. 2 seed, because they beat current third place Virginia Tech (13-4 ACC) during the regular season. If Notre Dame wins and Duke loses to the Tar Heels, the Irish will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament. If they both win or both lose, Notre Dame would be the No. 2 seed.

Louisville and Florida State are right behind Virginia Tech at 12-5. The Cardinals beat the Seminoles in the regular season, so if Louisville beats Notre Dame and FSU loses to Clemson, Louisville would claim the No. 4 seed.

Notre Dame’s Feb. 16 win over Louisville snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cardinals. Notre Dame’s last previous win in the series came in the championship game of the 2019 ACC Tournament. The Irish now look to beat the Cardinals twice in the same season since that same 2018-2019 campaign when the also beat UL during the regular season.

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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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