Notre Dame vs Ole Miss 2nd Round NCAA Tournament Running Diary

The Irish are set to face the No. 7 seed in the Albany 1 regional Ole Miss Running Rebels, who arrive in South Bend with a 24-8 record under head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools, so the game will be played without any sort of context from previous matchups. 

As is the key with all games involving the basketball team at this point, Notre Dame has to get great play from their big 3, Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron, and Maddy Westbeld. They are they engine that makes this thing go and it helps lift players like Anna DeWolfe, Nat Marshall, and Becky Obinma. Should be a raucous crowd in Purcell Pavilion for this one. 

1st quarter tip: Jump ball immediately following the jump ball. Not sure I’ve ever seen that. 

1st quarter, 8:05 left: Notre Dame starts the game going up 5-2 as the camera shows all of the Irish injured players on the bench. It occurs to me that a tournament team consisting of Notre Dame’s injury list would be pretty formidable. 

1st quarter, 6:00 mins left: Notre Dame up 10-4, Nat Marshall, Sonia Citron, and KK Bransford picked up some cheap fouls in that they were not bad calls, but they are soft and puts the team in a bad situation both in total team fouls and individually. This team cannot get into foul trouble, and those are all key players who, if they pick up a second soon, things get dicey. 

1st quarter, 3:53 left: Hannah Hidalgo seeks out tough shots inside. Fortunately, she’s very good in traffic and often draws fouls. This time an and 1 that gives Notre Dame a 13-6 lead. 

1st quarter, 3:23 left: Irish up 15-6 and already in the bonus. Game being called tight early, Notre Dame benefiting now, but something to monitor going forward. 

1st quarter, 1:30 left: Just like that KK Bransford picks up her second foul on a rebound attempt (a call that was frankly unbecoming and a stain on the sport) and she has to sit. Anna DeWolfe then gets on the scoreboard with a transition 3 to give the Irish a 18-9 lead into a timeout. Ole Miss wanted a charge during the break, but come on, this is big girl basketball.

End first quarter: Notre Dame 21, Ole Miss 9. Notre Dame finishes the first quarter on a 6-0 run with Westbeld hitting a three and Hidalgo stripping Ole Miss. Notre Dame is doing well from beyond the stripe but, more importantly, limiting the Rebels to 25% shooting, which is just a good strategy. 

2nd quarter, 7 mins left: Irish up 30-14, the vibes on offense are immaculate. Westbeld pull up jumper, DeWolfe runner in the lane, Citron cutting layup, Bransford inside layup. Notre Dame will be tough to beat getting offensive play like this.

2nd quarter, 4:52 left: Notre Dame up 33-14 following another Westbeld catch and shoot three. Notre Dame is shooting 58% from the floor, 57% from three and holding their opponent to 26% from the field. Belatedly putting it in keys to victory. 

End first half: Notre Dame 43- Ole Miss 26. To their credit, Ole Miss hit three straight shots to prevent themselves from getting completely run out of the gym and even then they remain down by 17 after a Westbeld put back just before the 1st half buzzer. Maddy has 14, Hidalgo 9, and Citron 9. The Irish also have 11 from Marshall, Dewolfe, and Bransford which makes things very difficult for any opponent when the big 3 are playing well. 

3rd quarter, 7:06: Notre Dame 52, Ole Miss 28. Maddy Westbeld showing the full arsenal in this one. Runners, pull-up J’s, turnaround jumpers, catch and shoot 3’s. Books will be written, stories will be told. 

3rd quarter, 4:52 left: Notre Dame 52, Ole Miss 33. Rare bit of sloppiness leads to some poor possessions, Ole Miss cutting the lead to under 20. Also time to be on the lookout for some reffing towards a close game behavior from the guy with the white hair. He’s getting loose with the whistle. We are monitoring the situation. 

3rd quarter, 2:25 left: Notre Dame 55, Ole Miss 38. Things have really slopped up the last five minutes or so, but Ole Miss was unable to make a sustained push to threaten the Irish. The Notre Dame zone continues to give them all kinds of problems.

End 3rd quarter: Notre Dame 61, Ole Miss 42. A Hidalgo layup, Citron steal to a gorgeous hit ahead to another Hidalgo layup, and a Westbeld jumper took the lead from 15 back to 21 after Ole Miss had a chance to cut it to 13, before an Ole Miss jumper before the 3rd quarter ended lead to the final margin. A couple solid possessions to start the fourth on offense should wrap this one up for the ladies. 

4th quarter, 7:13 left: Notre Dame needed a couple solid possessions to start the 4th and did not get it! As such, it is a 14-point lead at 63-49, and Niele Ivey calls a timeout. To be clear, this hasn’t been a great half by any stretch, similar to the opening-round game. Missed opportunities, sloppy turnovers and they currently have 20 total points in the second half. Gotta clean it up quick or things could get tiiiiight. 

4th quarter, 4:08 left: Two pretty big plays from Anna DeWolfe with Notre Dame continuing to struggle bus offensively. First, she hits a transition pull-up jumper to make the lead 15, then tipped out an outlet pass to Hidalgo for an easy layup. Lead back to 17 and the Irish back in control. 

End of game: Notre Dame 71, Ole Miss 56. The second half was a bit yucky, but this is why they play two halves. The Irish will play Oregon State on Friday at 2:30 ET in Albany for a chance at most likely South Carolina in the Elite 8.

Thanks for playing, everyone. We’ll be out with a Dimes with Dara recap show sometime this week, so be on the lookout. Till then, keep getting them buckets! 

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