What to know about Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech in ACC Tournament
Notre Dame already passed its first rematch test. Can the Irish ace another?
Fourth-seeded Notre Dame defeated No. 5 seed Louisville, 77-68, on Friday just five days after taking down the Cardinals in the regular season finale this past Sunday. Saturday, they’ll be tasked with beating No. 1 seed Virginia Tech in the semifinals nine days after taking care of the Hokies, 71-58, in the two teams’ penultimate regular season matchup.
Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s semis.
No. 14 Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech
- Teams: No. 14 Notre Dame (24-6, 13-5 ACC) and No. 11 Virginia Tech (25-8, 14-4)
- Head coaches: Niele Ivey (85-31, fourth year at Notre Dame); Kenny Brooks (179-80, 8th year at Virginia Tech; 516-202 overall, 22nd year)
- Date: March 9, 2024
- Location: Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, N.C.)
- Time: Noon ET
- Television: ACC Network
- TV broadcasters: Pam Ward and Kelly Gramlich
- Radio: 99.9 WQLQ-FM in South Bend
- Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires and Karen Keyes
Matchup notables
• Virginia Tech beat No. 9 seed Miami, 55-47, Friday afternoon. The Hokies advanced without ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley, who’s out for the entirety of the tournament with a leg injury. Kitley suffered the injury against Virginia on Sunday. “Her health and her safety is the main concern of ours over any kind of game,” Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks said. “We are going to sit her this weekend and then re-evaluate next week.”
• The Hokies struggling with a team that lost more ACC regular season games than it won in the Hurricanes is a sign of just how difficult life is without her. It’s only going to get tough against a Notre Dame team that has been playing its nest defense of the season in the last few weeks. The Irish shut Kitley down to the tune of 12 points and 9 rebounds in South Bend. Now they can key in on Hokies point guard Georgia Amoore, who had 27 of Virginia Tech’s 55 points against the Canes.
• Freshman center Clara Strack stepped up with Kitley out and scored 10 points with 5 rebounds. The 6-5 Buffalo native hadn’t reached double digits in points since Dec. 6 in a blowout win over Long Island University.
• Give Miami its due. The Hurricanes beat No. 1 seed Indiana in the NCAA Tournament last year, in Bloomington to boot. No wins are easy this time of year. No opponent can be overlooked. Not even Virginia Tech without Kitley. Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey is surely going to let her team know it cannot let its guard down. A Saturday evening flight to South Bend could be awaiting the Irish if they do.
• For Notre Dame, it’ll be about ratcheting up defensive intensity as it has during its current six-game winning streak and staying active offensively to ignite the transition game. When the Irish speed things up and stay in control, opponents generally don’t like to play at their pace. They can’t play with Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld when the game is going fast. Dictating tempo is the key.
