What Niele Ivey said about Sonia Citron, Notre Dame win vs. Illinois

Notre Dame went to Washington D.C. on Saturday for the second annual Citi Shamrock Classic. The Irish returned home to South Bend with a 79-68 victory over the Illini — and they did it without junior guard Sonia Citron.

Citron injured her right knee in the final minutes of the third quarter in a 110-52 win over Northwestern last Wednesday. She was helped off the floor by two trainers. The injury looked bad — quite frankly, it looked like the worst-case scenario.

Luckily for Notre Dame, it’s not.

Head coach Niele Ivey said Citron has a sprain and will be out for a few weeks. She’ll return soon to help freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo and senior forward Maddy Westbeld. Those were the tone-setters in the Irish’s neutral-site triumph over Illinois. Hidalgo continued her remarkable run to start the season with 24 points, 8 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Westbeld matched her with 24 points of her own in addition to a team-high 8 rebounds.

Here is everything Ivey said after Notre Dame’s win.

Opening statement

“First I want to thank NBC and the Citi Bank Shamrock Classic for allowing us to have this amazing event and for Illinois for accepting the invitation. It was an amazing couple of days. We had an incredible luncheon. Listened to some powerful speakers. Just grateful for this opportunity.

“I’d like to address Sony. She’ll be out for a couple weeks. A sprain. Looking forward to her getting back on the floor in a couple weeks.

“And then just a great crowd. It’s always a blessing to be in a WNBA arena with all the energy here. Bringing college women’s basketball to the D.C. area was really important to us, and I’m hoping that the community really loved what they saw today. I thought it was a great game. Great energy.

“We were led by [Hidalgo and Westbeld]. Extremely proud of this group. Both of them ending with 24 points. Maddy, just doing a phenomenal job coming off two games with a double-double. And today, having 24 points and 8 rebounds, she’s been phenomenal for us and solid.

“And Hannah, another game in double digits. I thought these two really led the pace of this team today. Our defensive energy, offensive energy, it was just fantastic. Excited to get back home and have a day off and ready for two games next week.”

On the messaging to Notre Dame players with Citron’s injury

“The consistency is that we always play for each other. That’s one thing; we’re a very close-knit team. We talk about that all the time. Our core value No. 1 is love. So having another injury, watching Olivia [Miles] come back, it’s definitely hard to go through. We definitely have to pivot. But my message after that of playing for each other is everybody step up. Everybody has to do a little bit more.

“Sony is kind of the heartbeat of our team. So I challenged everybody to do a little bit more, and they rose to the occasion. They rose to that challenge, and everybody gave a little bit more. You could tell the energy was great from the beginning. Even in practice, just having Sony with us, she knows that we’re playing a little bit more for her. Just fighting through adversity. Unfortunately, this group understands what that means going through adversity last year. But my messaging is still the same; we play for each other. But now, it’s everybody going up and doing a little bit more for her.”

On Notre Dame junior point guard Olivia Miles

“She’s doing great. Right now she’s in the process of strengthening her knee and getting on the court. She’s been more active. She’s been more active, getting in practice more. Her timeline is kind of individual. Her timeline is day-to-day, but she’s doing great.”

On the freedom Hidalgo has to go for steals

“She’s got a lot of freedom. She has a lot of freedom. A superstar like that who has that dynamic game and flashy game, you got to let her go. And so that’s what I do. But she understands there are times when I have to reel her in and make sure we get a little more cohesive defensively. But that’s what she does. She pressures the ball. She’s feisty. And that’s always been her super power from her entire life. I just love it. It’s contagious. Everyone just kind of feeds off that energy.”

On rebounding and the hustle of sophomore KK Bransford

“I was really proud of that stat. We had 14 offensive rebounds. That’s something we talked about a lot, doing a better job of getting second and third-chance opportunities. Everyone stepped up in that category. I thought Natalija Marshall in particular did a great, great job. It just gives us more opportunities. I’m really proud of that said. That was something that we stressed coming into the season, rebounding more and definitely offensive rebounding more.

“To speak on KK, I thought she’s done a phenomenal job. She’s coming back from injury. She’s had some amazing practices being on the practice squad. So for her to be able to step up, she gives us an incredible offensive and defensive spark. She’s very smart. I can put her in multiple positions. Sometimes she’s a point guard. She’s a point forward. But just doing whatever we need. She’s a serviceable player. She does so many things well. Really proud of her and happy she’s back healthy.”