Notre Dame's Niele Ivey gushes after holding off NC State to claim ACC Tournament Championship

On Sunday, Notre Dame secured its first ACC Tournament title since 2019. After the Fighting Irish’s 55-51 win over No. 10 NC State, head coach Niele Ivey raved about her team’s performance.

“I’m at a lack of words. It’s everything that I dreamt of,” Ivey said. “I’m so proud of this group. I’m so appreciative of the support. I’m so happy.”

Notre Dame had to scratch and claw for the win. The team lost 6-foot-4 junior Kylee Watson in the semifinals on Saturday after she went down with an injury. The loss gave the Fighting Irish even more motivation ahead of the ACC Championship.

“It just shows the resilience of our team,” Ivey said. “They have so much grit, so much pride, so much passion. They play for me and I’m so grateful to be able to mentor them and coach them. They get a lot of heart.

“Everyone’s stepped up. I’m so proud of [Natalija Marshall] stepping up, KK [Bransford] stepping up. It’s just phenomenal. Just phenomenal young women.”

Nobody stepped up for Notre Dame more than freshman Hannah Hidalgo, who exploded for a game-high 22 points, six rebounds and six assists while shooting 8-20 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld also added a combined 27 points.

For her efforts, Hidalgo was named the 2024 ACC Tournament MVP. Hidalgo averaged 19.3 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in the Fighting Irish’s three-game tournament run.

Notre Dame was impressive at every stop. The Fighting Irish entered the ACC Tournament as the No. 4 seed and defeated five-seed Louisville and one-seed Virginia Tech to reach the finals.

Notre Dame stuns fans in blowout win over Virginia Tech

Notre Dame did more than simply defeat the Virginia Tech Hokies, they dominated them, walking away with an 82-53 triumph. In the win, the Fighting Irish shot 52% from the field and a jaw-dropping 64% from beyond the arc.

“Today was just an incredible display, to be honest,” Ivey said. “I thought we were clicking on all cylinders. I thought they started the game with such confidence and grit and toughness.”

Four players for Notre Dame scored double figures, highlighted by Citron’s 19 points and seven rebounds. The win was Notre Dame’s seventh in a row. Niele Ivey couldn’t be prouder of her team.

“Our motivation, our focus just shifted the last couple weeks,” Ivey said. “We had a couple tough losses, learned from those losses and got back to work. This team has been committed to our vision and our goal the entire season, but sometimes losses kind of bring light to things that we need to get better at, and that’s what we did.”