What to know, how to watch No. 1 Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. No. 13 NC State

The top two teams in the ACC clash Sunday afternoon in a game with important standings implications. This is everything to know about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s top-15 matchup against the NC State Wolfpack.

Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. NC State game info

• Teams: No. 1 Notre Dame (24-2, 15-0 ACC) and No. 13 NC State (21-5, 13-2)
• Head coaches: Niele Ivey (113-34, fifth year at Notre Dame); Wes Moore (852-262 overall in 36 years, 294-93 in 12 years at NC State)
• All-time series: Notre Dame leads, 10-5; the Irish won the last meeting, 55-51, on March 10, 2024
• Date: Feb. 23, 2025
• Location: Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Time: 12 p.m. ET
• Television: ESPN
• Radio: 96.1 FM WSBT in South Bend
• Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires

What to know about Notre Dame

• The Fighting Irish will win the ACC regular season championship with a victory. They’ve rolled right through conference play and have won 19 games in a row overall. During that winning streak, Notre Dame has beaten opponents by an average margin of 28.1 points. ND is coming off a 40-point win at Miami on Thursday.

• Notre Dame’s “electric,” as Niele Ivey likes to say, collection of guards started the season on fire and it’s only gotten better and better as the season has gone along. Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron are averaging 55 points per game. Hidalgo is contributing the biggest chunk of that at 24.6 points per game, but Miles and Citron are threats to go off for 20-plus at any time as well. They both give so much in other areas, such as assisting, rebounding and defense, as does Hidalgo.

• It’s almost impossible for all three of Hidalgo, Miles and Citron to be cold in the same game. Most times, at least two of them are close to the best versions of themselves. Sometimes, it’s all three. That’s why Notre Dame has been virtually unbeatable for months. Of course, graduate senior forward Liatu King averaging a double-double, 11.6 points and 10.7 rebounds, doesn’t go unnoticed. With that core four plus fifth-year senior Maddy Westbeld, the Irish have one of it not the best starting fives in the game.

What to know about NC State

• A four-point second quarter doomed the Wolfpack in their second conference loss of the season two games ago. North Carolina won that second frame 18-4 and the game 66-65. That’s an example that even with NC State basically taking an entire quarter off, the Pack are still dangerous enough to nearly overcome it and beat one of the better teams in the ACC in the Tar Heels on the road.

• The danger starts with senior guard Aziah James, who averages 17.7 points per game. Three other players on the roster average in double figures in scoring.

• Four of NC State’s five losses are to team currently ranked in the AP Top 25. The only loss to a team not appearing in the most recent poll came to Cal on Jan. 9. Notre Dame beat the Bears by 39 on Feb. 9. NC State has four wins against teams that were ranked at the time of tipoff, so the Wolfpack are certainly capable of beating good teams. Especially at home — NC State is a perfect 14-0 at Reynolds Coliseum this season. If Notre Dame is to win a championship Sunday, it has to be the first team to win there in 2024-25.

Quotable: Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey

On the possibility of winning the ACC regular season title Sunday
“The goal is the next 40 minutes and obviously that’s lingering, but our focus is on the next opponent, which is NC State, so we have to play great 40 minutes. It’s a really tough place to play. We let everything else fall where it falls, but our goal is the next 40 minutes, the next game.”

“We’d be happy. Excited. But I don’t wanna think about the record. I think about winning that game. It’ll be fantastic. We would be making history for ourselves, and that’s always something that is really incredible for us. I’m really proud of this group. I have a resilient team and we’re doing something special. Just wanna stay healthy and try to continue to to get better and keep winning.”

By the numbers

The team with the better average has a bolded number in each category.

Stat	Notre Dame	NC State
Scoring offense	86.7	77.2
Scoring defense	59.7	65.2
FG%	.500	.455
3FG%	.414	.332
Opponent 3FG%	.253	.305
FT%	.769	.658
Rebounds	44.0	41.35
Rebound margin	10.6	4.3
Assists	18.2	13.8
Turnover margin	2.96	2.3
Assist/turnover ratio	1.18	1.15
Steals	11.5	6.5
Blocks	5.7	4.3