What to know about Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Virginia Tech
Notre Dame’s win at UConn in late January is by far the Irish’s best win of the season. But beating Virginia Tech on Thursday would be even better.
The Hokies are ranked higher than the Huskies were at the time of tipoff, No. 5 for the former and No. 8 for the latter. And they’re the best team in the ACC. Nobody in the league has been able to beat them since mid-January. Only two teams have done it all season.
Virginia Tech has positioned itself to back up last year’s run to the Final Four with another.
“They play with confidence,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. “They have that inside-outside punch with a great point guard and a great post. And they’re surrounded by great shooters. They average nine threes a game.
“They have that Final Four mentality and experience, and they’re very confident. When you’re led by seniors, and fifth-year seniors, you separate yourselves. It’s going to be a tough battle. I’m just happy we’re here and we’re not in Blacksburg.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. No. 5 Virginia Tech game info
- Teams: No. 17 Notre Dame (21-6, 11-5 ACC) and No. 5 Virginia Tech (23-4, 14-2)
- Head coaches: Niele Ivey (82-31, fourth year at Notre Dame); Kenny Brooks (178-78, 8th year at Virginia Tech; 515-200 overall, 22nd year)
- Date: Feb. 29, 2024
- Location: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN
- TV broadcasters: Dave O’Brien, Stephanie White and Holly Rowe
- Radio: 99.9 WQLQ-FM in South Bend
- Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires
Matchup notables
• Virginia Tech has not beaten Notre Dame since Feb. 20, 2020. The Hokies have only beaten the Irish twice. The Irish hold a 15-2 overall mark against them, including an 8-1 record at Purcell Pavilion.
• Last season, Notre Dame beat then-No. 6 Virginia Tech 63-52 in Blacksburg on Dec. 18, 2022. The Hokies only played six players in the entire game. Notre Dame essentially played seven*, which will be the same case this year. Only four of this year’s seven played in last year’s game, though. The Irish are basically subbing out Olivia Miles, Dara Mabrey and Lauren Ebo for Hannah Hidalgo, Anna DeWolfe and Nat Marshall.
* Marshall appeared in last year’s game but only for four minutes.
• Three of the six Virginia Tech players who played in last year’s matchup are back this year. Two of them, center Elizabeth Kitley and guard Georgia Amoore, are a couple of the best players in the ACC. With Hidalgo struggling a bit for Notre Dame of late, Kitley might be on the fast track toward a conference player of the year title. She’s averaging 23.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. Amoore is averaging 17.9 points and an ACC-best 7.6 assists per game.
• Virginia Tech has not lost since a 63-46 defeat at Duke Jan. 18. The Hokies lost the game before that, 89-81 at Florida State. They’re on a 10-game winning streak since those back-to-back losses. Beating Notre Dame would given them the regular season ACC title outright.
