Citron makes this one look smooth for Notre Dame
GREENSBORO, N.C. — When tropical fruit Smoothies are the post-game drink of choice inside the Notre Dame women’s basketball locker room, there is no choice for junior guard Sonia Citron.
Citron is rolling with a large “Bahama Mama” drink every time.
“It’s so good,” she said.
Citron was in full “Bahama Mama” mode early Friday afternoon inside Greensboro Coliseum following No. 4 seed Notre Dame’s Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal victory (77-68) over league nemesis and No. 5 Louisville.
Notre Dame stayed for the first half of the semifinal between No. 1 seed Virginia Tech (remember them?) and No. 9 Miami (Fla.) before leaving to prepare for Saturday’s semifinal (Noon, ACC Network) against the Hokies. That the Irish were headed to their hotel and not headed home for the start of spring break, that they enjoyed those postgame Smoothies was due in large part to Citron, who scored a team-high 26 points with three rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes.
Citron got the Irish going to start with a pair of wing 3s, then made sure the Irish weren’t going home late by going to the free throw line time and again in what became a close contest. Knowing the Cardinals were going to make a run (they did), knowing they were going to foul (they did), Citron connected on all seven of her attempts in the fourth quarter and was 10-of-11 for the game.
Citron scored 11 points in the final 10 minutes. That’s a big reason the shake tasted so good. Close game, Citron wanted the ball. Wanted to get fouled. Wanted that pressure. Wanted the game in her capable, confident hands.
“Free throws are something I’m confident in,” said a second team all-league selection Citron, whose team-best .908 percentage from the line would lead the league except she didn’t meet the minimum per game attempts qualifications. “Just knowing, before they even foul me, I’m going to knock them down.”
Able to jump to an early lead (the Irish never trailed and led for a staggering 37:13) that eventually ballooned to 22 points in the first minute of the third quarter, Notre Dame (24-6) made the plays needed to hold on and move on. As Louisville, specifically guard Jayda Curry (23 of 26 points in the second half) chipped away at the Notre Dame lead — it went from 22 all the way to three in 17:49 minutes — the Irish just kept at it.
They were going to turn it over. They were going to run some good offense. They were going to figure a way out. Last season, there would be too many deadends. But the Irish kept playing, kept working and found their through.
Close game? What close game? The Irish had this one.
“We’ve been in these moments a lot this season,” Ivey said. “What we’ve learned this season came into play today.”
So much so that in one of the timeouts Ivey needed late, she huddled the Irish and wrote one word on her board. Poise.
“Poise was a big part of the fourth quarter,” Ivey said.
Feeling that vibe from these Irish?
As was Citron, whose expression on and off the court rarely (OK, never) changes. She sat at the post-game press conference dais with teammate Maddy Westbeld to her left and Ivey to her right with a similar expression. As in, none. You couldn’t tell if the Irish had won or lost. You couldn’t tell if she had played well or struggled. You couldn’t tell.
She plays the same way. Whether up big or down, the 6-foot-1 native of Eastchester, New York makes sure to keep from riding an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes, that’s tough. It was tough during stretches Friday of the second half. A blowout became a game again. With pressure. With intrigue. With everything.
It all would be new to the Irish if it wasn’t all old news. Playing South Carolina to start, winning at Connecticut and at Tennessee this winter and beating Virginia Tech at home last week and being in so many high-leverage moments made Friday possible.
“All those games prepared us for this game,” Citron said. “Just let the mistakes go and keep playing.”
That’s tournament basketball. You either weather it or wilt. The Irish weathered it.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking,” Citron said. “They were bound to go on their run, so staying cool and collected and knowing that everything’s OK. We’re good.”
When the pressure was on Notre Dame, so was the poise. Ivey agreed that last year’s team would’ve found a way to lose this one. Not go 12-for-16 (.750 percent) from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Not make the gotta-have bucket, either from Hannah Hildalgo or Kylee Watson, whose only two baskets were huge.
Yeah, last year’s Irish walk out of this building losers. This year’s Irish? Different group. Different mindset. Different result in a grinder of a game that featured 45 fouls and 57 free throws.
“I’m really proud of the way that we’re growing together,” said Ivey, who watched her team win its sixth straight game and seventh of the last eight. “March is crazy.
“We are really just gelling at the right time.”
There’s a vibe about this group, one that says they want to stay the whole weekend. Why not keep playing? Why not win this whole thing?
The halftime show of “Simon Sez” (if you know, you know), was more entertaining/competitive than what we saw on the court in the first two quarters. The Coliseum was host in early February to the Ringling Bros. Circus, and you could tell. Some of the backstage areas of the old building smelled a lot like a barnyard.
So did Louisville’s effort, at least early.
The earliest start time to a Notre Dame game this season — the Irish played four times and won four times with noon starts — had the look and feel of one of those early minor-league baseball games for the South Bend Cubs back at Four Winds Field.
You know those. They start at 10:30 a.m. and feature thousands of kids from South Bend-area elementary schools. They load up on candy and caffeine and make a lot of noise, especially early. That was Greensboro Coliseum before 11 a.m. on Friday for a group of kids happy to be out of school for part of the day.
“Are you guys excited to be here?!?”
The energetic sections on both levels didn’t always know what team to cheer for but figured out early that Notre Dame was a solid choice. Most of the kids were long gone before this one ended. They probably figured Notre Dame would get this one, so it was best for the school bus to beat traffic.
Get it Notre Dame did. One down, two to go.
The Irish will raise their Smoothies to that.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.