Niele Ivey had experienced the excitement of winning championships as a player and an assistant coach, and she had been hoping for the chance to experience it as Notre Dame’s head coach.
On Sunday, she finally got the moment she had been praying for, with confetti falling, players dancing, and the view from atop a ladder as she cut down the net. It was all thanks to a resilient group led by the outstanding freshman who still doesn't look like a rookie.
Outstanding freshman Hannah Hidalgo scored 22 points, including two crucial baskets for the lead at the end, as the 14th-ranked Fighting Irish held off No. 10 North Carolina State 55-51 in Sunday’s championship game at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
This marked the Irish’s first conference tournament title in five years. Notre Dame won the ACC regular-season title last year.
Hidalgo finished with six rebounds and six assists for the fourth-seeded Fighting Irish (26-6), and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Maddy Westbeld added 16 points and seven boards as Notre Dame had just six players after losing leading shot blocker Kylee Watson to a knee injury in Saturday’s semifinals.
“This team is the type of team that does whatever we need to help us win,” Ivey said.
Notre Dame won the ACC Tournament in its first four seasons in the league from 2014-17, lost in the final in 2018, then returned to claim a fifth title in 2019 under Muffet McGraw. But the Irish hadn’t been back since amid the transition to Ivey, a former Notre Dame player who led the program to the 2001 NCAA title and was a McGraw assistant.
Ivey, now 46, took over amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a first-time head coach. Now the fourth-year coach has her first title.
“I’ve been praying for this moment, I’ve been praying for this scenario, this situation,” Ivey said before getting choked up while standing on the midcourt stage for the trophy presentation.
This win came in front of a home-state crowd for N.C. State filled with plenty of red about 80 miles east of the second-seeded Wolfpack’s campus home.
After Madison Hayes’ missed desperation 3, KK Bransford pulled down the rebound to seal the win. As the final seconds ticked away, Hidalgo — a dynamic player named ACC freshman of the year and ranking as one of the nation’s top scorers — ran over to start jumping around in what quickly became a bouncing huddle of celebration as the horn sounded.
River Baldwin had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead N.C. State (27-6), while Aziaha James had 12 points on just 5-for-16 shooting. N.C. State was going for its fourth title in five seasons, the program’s only crowns since 1991.
Hidalgo put the Irish ahead to stay at 53-51, losing James around a screen and attacking Baldwin in the paint for a scooping layup while falling to the ground with 1:28 left. That came moments after she scored a hanging layup over James in a previous tie, and she hit the free throw with 10.5 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.
“The trust they instill in me is just amazing,” Hidalgo said.
In a game where neither team had more than a seven-point lead, there were many errors and it was hard to make shots. However, the Wolfpack made mistakes during two crucial moments. First, Saniya Rivers passed the ball out of bounds with 31.9 seconds left in a two-point game.
After a free throw from Sonia Citron, James missed a good 3-point shot from the right wing. Hidalgo then made a free throw to secure the win for the Irish.
Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said, "We’ve had a lot of close games, they’ve found a way to get it done. Again, a couple of possessions today made the difference. And as a coach, that’s hard because I feel like maybe I could have done things differently to put them in a better position."
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish started the tournament with a win against No. 24 Louisville, then won against 11th-ranked Virginia Tech in the semifinals.
N.C. State: The Wolfpack narrowly defeated Duke in the quarterfinals, then won against Florida State in the semifinals. N.C. State, a top 10 team nationally, had previously won against Notre Dame by 16 points in mid-February but had a low shooting percentage during this game.
UP NEXT
Both teams are waiting to find out their seedings in the NCAA Tournament, which will likely start with them hosting opening-round games.
