Slump busted? How Maddy Westbeld led Notre Dame women's basketball over Miami

Notre Dame sophomore forward Maddy Westbeld hasn’t been the same player she was last year as the ACC Freshman of the Year for some two months now. But Thursday was her birthday. She could do what she wanted to.

And did she ever.

Offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounds. Dart-like dimes. Steals. Three-pointers from all over the top of the key. Westbeld flashed a bit of everything in Notre Dame’s 69-53 victory over Miami at Purcell Pavilion. She finished with 21 points, one shy of a season-high she set against DePaul on Dec. 22. She hadn’t scored more than 12 since then until Thursday.

“The birthday girl, she was awesome today,” head coach Niele Ivey said. “She led us in so many different areas. Her energy was great. She shot the ball so well. I was just super happy for Maddy. She had an incredible game. I couldn’t take her off the floor.”

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Westbeld was on the court for 36 minutes, the most she has played since Nov. 18. She played less than 30 in 13 of 20 games since then. Some of those shorter stints were due to a solid Notre Dame squad blowing out opponents. Still, some could be traced back to subpar performances. She’d be the first to say it hasn’t been smooth sailing for her this season.

“Just in a slump,” Westbeld said, bluntly.

Westbeld was Notre Dame’s top scoring option a season ago for a struggling Irish team. She played the role of superstar, and she was quite good at it in averaging 15.2 points per game. This year has been a different story. Graduate senior center Maya Dodson and freshman sensation Olivia Miles have been options No. 1 and 2. Westbeld’s shot attempts per game has dwindled from 12.3 to 9.8.

That might not seem like much, but two and a half shots per game add up over 20 plus games. Fewer opportunities and less of a rhyhym when it is time to shoot has been reflected in a dip below 12 points per game. It’s not easy for a player to go from top dog to third fiddle at best. The addition of Dodson has also changed the way teams guard Westbeld. Nothing has come easy.

“People are definitely looking for more of the high-low, more of the inside game,” Westbeld said.

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Tough-sledding inside the three-point line? Might as well make the opposition pay from beyond it. That’s what Westbeld did against the Hurricanes, hitting 4-of-5 attempts from three-point range. She set a single-game career high in that regard. She went 2-for-2 from deep Sunday against Florida State, making this two-game stretch the first of the season in which she has hit multiple threes in back-to-back games.

“I’ve definitely been working on that more, especially with Maya on the inside,” Westbeld said. “It’s going to be to our advantage to have threats everywhere, inside-outside. So I’m going to keep working on that.”

Wetsbeld came away with eight rebounds, the most she’s had since Dec. 2. Every facet of her game clicked for the first time in a long time. As for that slump? Maybe it’s over. Maybe it’s not. If anything, this was a huge step forward. The next step is taking it on the road against the No. 3 team in the country Sunday.

Louisville isn’t going to have a birthday bag ready when Westbeld walks into the arena.

“Just catch it, let it fly and do what I know how to do,” Westbeld said. “I need to have confidence in my teammates and know they have confidence in me.”

Postgame notes

• Notre Dame improved to 12-0 at Purcell Pavilion and 5-0 following a loss.

• Freshman combo-guard Sonia Citron scored 15 points for the second-straight game.

• Miles battled turnover issues again, finishing with six. She has had at least four in eight of the last nine games. She had eight assists, though, and seven points.

• Dodson added another triple-double to her game log with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It took 16 games for her to record her first in a Notre Dame uniform, but now she has five in her last eight games.