Following Sunday's heartbreaking double-overtime defeat in Raleigh to NC State, No. 3 Notre Dame women's basketball was back in South Bend for their 10th ranked showdown of the season. The stakes remained high for head coach Niele Ivey's Irish in the regular season's penultimate game, as a win over the visiting No. 24 Florida State Seminoles would clinch a share of the ACC regular season championship, as well as move the team one step closer to locking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday's contest also marked Senior Night, with the program honoring its star-studded senior class prior to tip-off. Headlined by the trio of Sonia Citron, Olivia Miles and Maddy Westbeld, the class of seven helped usher in the Ivey era with a record of 113-35, coupled with March success by qualifying for three consecutive Sweet 16s.
Another key storyline heading into this key February affair would be the battle between the nation's two leading scorers. Ta'Niya Latson, a junior guard from Miami, leads the country averaging over 26 points per game, while playing less than 30 minutes a night. The Naismith Player of the Year candidate, who returned Thursday after absences in FSU's last three outings, has averaged over 21 points per game in each of her three seasons in Tallahassee. Her improved shooting splits of 48/39/82 have guided the Seminoles to the nation's second best scoring offense at over 89 points per game.
The Irish also have a do-it-all guard in the backcourt to pair with Miles, as New Jersey native Hannah Hidalgo has emerged as Notre Dame's leader on both ends of the floor in her second season. Hidalgo, the frontrunner for the Naismith Player of the Year, has compiled averages of nearly 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Throughout the opening period, the Irish deployed a mix of man-to-man and zone defense, throwing the high-powered Seminole attack out of sync as they missed eight of their first nine shots. Westbeld and Hidalgo teamed up to score the first nine points of the evening for Notre Dame, which combined with the stifling defense allowed the Irish to race out a 23-14 advantage after one.
Graduate forward Liatu King, who has served as ND's spark plug all season long, ignited the sold out crowd inside Purcell Pavilion to start the second quarter. King's energetic play on both ends assisted in the Irish opening up a 15-point lead before FSU was forced to take a timeout.
Junior guard Sydney Bowles then canned consecutive treys to kick off a rapid 10-0 Seminole surge, which caused Ivey to burn a timeout of her own with the score sitting at 29-24.
As was the story in Sunday's loss to the Wolfpack, the Notre Dame defense couldn't stop the bleeding, as the Florida State run eventually ballooned to 28-3 with the Garnet and Gold opening up a seven-point edge. Despite the Irish connecting on their final three shots of the half, and limiting Latson to just four points on 1-8 shooting, Florida State entered the intermission holding a 44-40 lead.
Thanks in part to 11 offensive rebounds and seven forced turnovers, the Seminoles took nine more shots than the Irish in the first half. Senior forward Makayla Timpson led FSU with 10 first-half points, while Hidalgo led Notre Dame with 11.
It wasn't an ideal start to the second half on the frontline for Notre Dame, as Westbeld picked up two quick fouls down low to give her four on the night, leading to an extended 13-minute stay on the bench. In her absence, King stepped up again, as she teamed up with Citron to engineer a 7-0 run to give Notre Dame the lead back.
That lead would quickly dissolve however, as Florida State once again responded with a 10-0 surge of their own. After raining down eight triples over the first 20 minutes, the Seminoles couldn't buy one until a quick-trigger wing three from sophomore guard Carla Viegas extended the lead to 10 heading into the fourth. It was the fourth trey of the day for Viegas, the native of Spain who leads the ACC converting on over 45% of her attempts from downtown.
Notre Dame started the fourth on fire, with a 9-0 run bringing them as close as one. Despite her struggles, Latson finally made a big play, converting a tough and-one finish over Miles to push the Seminole lead back to six at the game's final media timeout. The nail in the Irish coffin came with three minutes to play, when Latson finished through contact for her second and-one of the quarter, before rebounding her own free throw miss and laying it back in. A Miles turnover led to another Latson layup, and the Seminoles held their largest lead of the night at 82-70.
Notre Dame would make one final push, but it proved to be too late, as the Seminoles escaped with the 86-81 victory. The triumph was only the second time Florida State has ever bested Notre Dame, and also gave the Irish their first home loss in over a year, spanning all the way back to last Feb. 15, when NC State picked up a 59-43 win.
Latson scored 18 in the second half, including 13 in the fourth to finish with 23 points, nine assists and five rebounds in her return. Timpson added an efficient 22 points, while senior guard O'Mariah Gordon tallied 15 to complement Vargas' 12 for the Seminoles in double-figures.
Hidalgo managed 16 points, but her shooting woes continued as her inability to hit key shots plagued the Irish down the stretch, finishing just 4-18 from the field. Continuing on her weekend heroics, Citron led the team with 21, while Miles tallied 10 points, six assists and four rebounds. King, the Pittsburgh transfer, recorded her 12th double-double on the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Notre Dame, the ACC's best rebounding team, was outworked on the glass with Florida State, who ranked 16th in the ACC in rebounding margin, controlling the battle 43-40.
After completing their second-straight top-20 road win, the surging Seminoles will close out the regular season on Sunday by welcoming No. 17 Duke to Tallahassee. Fourth-year head coach Brooke Wyckoff, who shined in the WNBA after a decorated playing career in Tallahassee, now holds 11 top-25 wins in her tenure leading her alma mater. A win over the Blue Devils could secure the coveted double-bye for Florida State in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
The Irish will close out the regular season this Sunday when they welcome ESPN’s College GameDay and the Louisville Cardinals to town for a matinee top-25 contest. After NC State's win on Thursday, a Notre Dame win can clinch only a share of the ACC crown. In order to capture their first outright title since the 2022-23 season, the Irish will need last-placed SMU to topple NC State on Sunday afternoon.
In what has developed into a tightly contested rivalry between the ACC's two premier programs, Notre Dame mounted a charging comeback to capture the first meeting of the year in Louisville 89-71 back on Feb. 2. Saturday’s regular-season finale is set for a noon tipoff and can be seen nationally on ESPN.
