ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 3, 2023

Niele Ivey

Maddy Westbeld

Lauren Ebo

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Postgame Press Conference

Notre Dame 66, NC State 60

NIELE IVEY: I'm just so proud of this team. This was just an amazing victory, amazing win under the circumstances. We've had a lot of challenges, a lot of adversity, but one thing I know about my team is that we are tough, and I think that was on full display today. Again, just so much toughness.

Credit to our seniors. Credit to the team just being ready. I think Sonia Citron, to me, is arguably one of the best players in the country. She's led two games back to back today, running the point, being the best defender, having 28 points, a completely different position. Just can't speak enough about her.

Just a team effort collectively, and these two stars I have up here, Ebo and Maddy, they really got us going. Really happy that we finally got Ebo today, and I thought Maddy was huge. She made some big baskets, big timely baskets.

Another thing I'm really proud of is our defense in the second quarter. We held them to four points, and I'm really proud of that.

But again, just excited and grateful to advance, and looking forward to our matchup tomorrow.

Q. Coach, these last two games you've had to ask Sonia to meet the team. You haven't had to ask her to do that with Olivia these past few years. Did you know she was capable of it?

NIELE IVEY: I know Sonia is capable of doing whatever I ask. That's what I do know. Now, I didn't think it was going to be running the point, being the point guard and the general. But she's the most unselfish player I think I've ever been around. She's so coachable, she loves this team, and she's playing for this team. So she's like, whatever you need from me, Coach, I'm going to do it. When you have somebody unselfish like that, things like this happen. But a credit to her as a person and a player.

Q. Coach, what does it mean to have struggled against this team the last two match-ups and then beat them here in their backyard without Mabrey and Miles in this matchup?

NIELE IVEY: It means everything. Obviously we talked about being hungry for more this year. We were one possession away of going to the Elite 8 and lost to them. So it's a crazy matchup, an unbelievable matchup for women's basketball. We knew that coming in, and unfortunately we didn't play very well here at NC State this year, so we had another opportunity.

This one I'll take. This is a big one, and we're excited about that. But again, hats off to NC State, incredible team, and it's always a battle when we play.

Q. Maddy, you had seven in a row right before halftime that kind of got you going offensively, and then, Lauren, you guys came out of the second half or the halftime with a pretty aggressive edge. I think you scored on five straight possessions. I wondered if you could both describe those two sequences and how important they proved to be.

MADDY WESTBELD: I think starting the game, I personally started a little slow so I was letting the game come to me. And then, yeah, I hit one shot, and then my teammates -- Ebo set a great screen for me. But yeah, I think coming out into the second half, we really tried to come out with that fire on defense, and I think that's what fueled us on offense. So us getting those easy buckets was just us getting stops on defense, and that fueled us.

LAUREN EBO: I mean, yeah, you said it all. I think I always -- whenever we're in the huddles, I always say let's focus on the defense and that will turn into offense. Whenever I'm not going offensively, I focus on getting stops on defense and helping my team out in other ways.

Q. Coach, talk about Cass and this matchup and how much she was able to contribute in the second matchup of the season against NC State, and have you actually thought about facing Louisville for the third time in three weeks and what that looks like now?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, well, proud of Cass. She's grown up in front of our eyes. She's 17, so she makes mistakes sometimes, but the way she makes up for it is her effort, her athleticism. She makes an impact. She loves playing defense, and, again, her size just really bothers smaller defenders. She's another one, very coachable, always working on her game, and she's joined our team and has been the perfect addition because of her character. We're blessed that we have her again.

And I think your second question, playing against Louisville third time is going to be tough, but we're excited that we're still playing.

Q. Marshall took a friendly fire elbow on a rebound and had ice on her head in the first half. Was she concussed, and do you think she'll be able to play, or is that another body you'll be down?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, I'm not sure, so hopefully some good news later. But her eye started swelling up a little bit. She said she was fine, so it's just unfortunate, but we'll see.

Q. Coach, it felt like in the first quarter, the offense was a little disjointed, and second half by the time the third quarter rolled around, you were rolling and flowing. Did you have to make any tactical decisions there or did the team come together as the game went on?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, I tried to really adjust the offense with Soni running the point because she's also a scorer, so just trying to find ways with her being at the point to also get her a shot honestly. I'm always trying to go to Ebo or going to Maddy, and sometimes it just depends on the strategy, and when we have three bigs there's a size advantage.

So I feel like the game kind of dictates what we do, and it took a little bit -- I think, just from people being in different spots, they're getting comfortable running different spots. I'm asking people to be a lot of different places that they weren't earlier this season. So I'm really proud of the way they're adjusting because we are all adjusting on the fly, and that's just credit to them being locked in.

Q. On the defensive end you went to zone a little bit in the first half. Is zone for you more of a responsive thing where you're saying, okay, we have the three bigs, we want to protect the paint, or is that something you plan on using before the game starts?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, it's always something in the bag, something that we're working on. Again, like you said, three bigs. Sometimes it's foul trouble, we're trying to protect our players, and then when they bring in more shooters, we'll go man. It's just scout oriented, and it's something that again, hopefully playing them back to back, it allows us to get our wind back instead of playing man-to-man the whole game. But it's been effective, and then when they start hitting some threes, we got out of it. So it's also something I feel can help take our opponent's rhythm, take their rhythm away, so we like to do it for that reason, as well.

Q. Maddy or Lauren, what are some things that you felt that you did well today and helped your team as a collective to get this W tonight?

LAUREN EBO: I think I always just try to step up as a leader and be a voice. I know offensively first half I wasn't present, I guess, scoring-wise, but just trying to be a leader. And obviously with my fouls, I've got to clean that up. Being a senior, can't have those mental lapses, but just trying to be a leader and help the team as much as I can.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, I would say just coming out playing with heart, especially on the defensive end. We're not going to hit shots all the time, and so we have to rely on something. And great teams always fall back on defense, so that's what I tried to set the tone with my team and just let that fuel us on the offensive end.