What NC State women’s basketball’s win over Notre Dame means for Wolfpack going forward
Notre Dame could have clinched the ACC regular-season title with a win. Conference officials brought the regular-season title trophy to Raleigh and were prepared to host a ceremony.
N.C. State crashed the party — it’s one of the team’s favorite pastimes.
The No. 13 Wolfpack defeated the No. 1 Fighting Irish, 104-95, in double overtime Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum, handing Notre Dame its first loss in ACC play and giving N.C. State an opportunity to share a portion of the regular-season title.
“We never really talked about it,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. “We were focused on just playing for 40 minutes, but (the players) know.”
The Wolfpack must win out and Notre Dame has to lose a second game for the teams to share the title.
N.C. State hosts Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Thursday, and Notre Dame travels to SMU for a noon game next Sunday. The Pack already defeated Wake Forest once this season.
Meanwhile, the Irish finish their regular season slate against Florida State and Louisville at home, two of the top six teams in the league.
Additionally, that scenario would set up N.C. State to earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament with the head-to-head result.
Senior Saniya Rivers said the Pack wasn’t aware of the implications of a win. N.C. State was independently itching for an upset and hoping to continue its bounceback after losing to North Carolina, 66-65, in Chapel Hill.
“It’s day to day, you know. This is a big win, though,” Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore said. “I mean, it kind of compensates a little bit for last week. … Notre Dame’s gotta lose another one. But, we now have the tiebreaker. We gotta make sure these last two games that we stay focused and play at a high level.”
The NCAA Tournament selection committee shared a preview of its top 16 seeds last week. N.C. State was poised to be a No. 2 seed in the Birmingham 2 Regional and No. 8 overall. That means the Wolfpack would host games the first weekend. While it may not move to a No. 1 seed, picking up wins over ranked Georgia Tech and Notre Dame teams help the Pack’s resume as the tournament nears.
Rivers said the Wolfpack’s win over the Irish, despite not having its best defensive performance, also showed the team’s growth from the November version of itself. N.C. State went 4-3 in the first month of the season, losing to South Carolina, TCU and LSU. All three teams are ranked in the Top 25.
Its ACC losses came on the road against California and UNC, both of which were also ranked.
Now, the team seems to be finding itself. It struggled in many games earlier this season, scoring fewer than 70 points in six nonconference games. The Pack is averaging 80.9 points per game in ACC play.
It finished with 100 points for the first time since December 2021, while shooting at a 45.6% clip.
Notre Dame typically holds opponents to 59 points per game this season on 35.4% shooting.
“I feel like at the beginning of the season, some people felt like they had to just do it on their own,” Rivers said. “We have so many pieces, and we’re so versatile. I feel like when we play together, get out in transition, do what we’re supposed to do, we’re gonna win. Tonight, everybody it looked like was all of our starters in double figures. When we play together like that, we’re looking to win every game.”
Other notes from the Wolfpack’s win:
3s don’t fall for the Irish
The Fighting Irish entered Reynolds Coliseum hitting 41.4% of its 3-point shots on the season, and 39.4% during conference play. Though Notre Dame made a few key shots — like Sonia Citron’s 3 to force overtime — it was held far below its season average.
The Irish finished the game 7 of 27 (25.9%).
Olivia Miles ranks No. 3 in the ACC for 3-point percentage, often making more than 43% from outside. Miles went 9 of 23 (39.1%) from the arc, roughly four percentage points lower than what she typically shoots.
Hannah Hidalgo ended the day with an 8-of-26 performance (30.7%). She entered the afternoon making more than 40% of her attempts from outside.
Ivey said she doesn’t think N.C. State’s defense necessarily did anything to stop the Irish at the perimeter. Instead, she thought her team didn’t have the best shot selection.
“I thought we kind of settled. I think if we could have kind of mixed it up more, getting to getting to the rim, getting downhill, getting some more paint touches, maybe that number wouldn’t have been as low as it was,” Ivey said. “They put the work in. They know that they have a lot of freedom within the offense. We just need to have some better shot selection at times in the game.”
Shutting down passing lanes
Notre Dame didn’t move the ball against N.C. State as well as it has this season. The Irish average 18.2 assists per game, ranking No. 1 in the ACC and No. 13 in the country. It also records an assist on 55% of its shots.
On Sunday, Notre Dame finished with 13 assists on 40 made baskets (32.5% assist rate).
Miles, specifically, leads the ACC for assists. She averages 6.2 per game and entered the game with 160 on the season. The Wolfpack held her to three assists and two turnovers in the matchup.
Pack led more often
The game featured 21 ties and 21 lead changes, but the Wolfpack was in control for most of it. N.C. State led the Irish for 33:09, while Notre Dame only led for 7:47.
OT defense steps up
In Moore’s news conference opening statement, he said he was happy about the win but not about the defensive effort. He can, however, be pleased with the late-game execution.
The first overtime period saw the two programs scored eight points each, but the Pack broke away in the second.
N.C. State started the second overtime with a 10-0 run and didn’t allow the Irish to make a shot until the final 27 seconds of play. By that time, the Pack had nearly secured the win.
Packing the paint
Notre Dame outscored the Wolfpack, 60-46, in the lane. However, the differential is slightly misleading.
N.C. State drew 21 fouls and made 24 of 26 free throw attempts. Without the fouls, the Wolfpack’s points in the paint stats likely would’ve been higher. Instead, they came at the line.
However, the team would like to have shut down the paint better and will seek to work on that as the season continues.
