Irish suffer potential blow in win over Northwestern
SOUTH BEND — A home-opening, party-hearty atmosphere, complete with a blowout win, abruptly turned stone-cold silent Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion.
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame women's basketball star junior guard, suffered what appeared to be a lower-body injury under the Northwestern basket with 1:01 remaining in the third quarter during the home team's 110-52 whipping of the Wildcats.
Afterward, ND coach Niele Ivey said she didn't see the play clearly and wasn't sure exactly what happened or the nature of Citron's injury.
Sophomore Cass Prosper said she accidentally collided with Citron on the play, but wasn't sure whether that contributed to the injury.
A limping Citron, after a couple minutes prone on the floor, was assisted from the court by two team staffers and never returned to the bench area.
Ivey said it's far too early for a prognosis on Citron, but voiced concern, calling the win in front of an announced crowd of 7,065 “bittersweet.”
Citron scored a game-high 23 points in 28 minutes before being hurt.
Freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo added 21 points, six steals — she now has 21 in just three games — six rebounds and five assists for the No. 16 Irish (2-1).
Maddy Westbeld collected a doubledouble with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as ND won its 29th straight home opener.
Melannie Daley and Hailey Weaver scored 11 points apiece for the Cats (2-1).
Sonia Citron injury shakes up Notre Dame teammates
Citron's injury, with ND up 74-42 at the time, appeared to at least temporarily shake up her teammates along the far sideline, more so the ones who weren't in the game and couldn't as easily compartmentalize.
At a minimum, there had to be flashbacks to the season-ending injuries
suffered last winter by since-graduated Dara Mabrey and still-recovering Olivia Miles.
“Soni’s just a great person,” Prosper said afterwards of the returning All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team guard. “On the court, you guys see (her impact). She’s just so consistent. We know what we’re going to get every game from her. Her effort (and) seeing her grow as the leader she is, she’s amazing and she just cares for us. …
“I just love her,” Prosper continued. “I hope she’s OK. I’m definitely praying for her.”
“Happy for the win, (but) prayers up for Soni,” Ivey echoed.
The coach huddled her team briefly after the injury.
“I just talked to them about trying to finish the game and to play for her,” Ivey said. “Obviously, a lot of players were emotional, but just trying to keep their spirits up high knowing it’s out of our control, so the only thing we can do is try to play for her the rest of the game.”
ND did that exceedingly well, scoring the next 18 points to swell its advantage to 92-42 with 5:35 remaining.
“I think it’s an opportunity for everybody to do more,” Ivey said of what happens if Citron is out for an extended stretch. “We have an incredible team, not just one person. This team is very balanced. … Just like when Olivia went down, everybody stepped up and did a little bit more, so that’s what I’m going to ask our entire team to do.”
Breaking he century mark ... again
Following Sunday’s 104-57 win at NJIT, ND’s blossoming, fast-breaking, smoothly ball-sharing offense stayed in high gear as the Irish made it 100-plus points in back-to-back games for just the second time in the program’s rich 47-year history. The other occasion was in December 2012, when Notre Dame followed a 109-70 win over Utah State with a 10039 victory over Alabama A&M.
“It was a dominant performance,” Ivey said.
The Irish shot 55.3% from the field overall, 9-of-20 on 3-pointers and 17of-20 at the line. The Cats closed at 34.4% from the field.
Besides the big numbers posted by Citron, Hidalgo and Westbeld, grad transfer guard Anna DeWolfe chipped in 10 points, six assists and three steals.
She and Hidalgo, who hit 9-of-12 from the field with a pair of 3s, teamed a handful of times on slick transition buckets.
Kylee Watson netted 10 points, too, putting each ND starter in double figures, and blocked a career-high four shots.
The Irish outtallied the visitors 25-10 in fast-break points, 50-26 in the paint and 30-8 in second-chance points.
The Cats’ 25 turnovers, which included 17 Notre Dame steals, helped lead to some easy Irish baskets.
“We’ve been working on trying to extend the defense,” Ivey said. “I think I have great defenders. … (We’re) trying to create our offense from turnovers, and I thought we did a great job of that today, and we’re gonna continue to get better at that.”
Irish wake up after slow start
Belying what happened the rest of the way, hyped-up Northwestern actually jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the first two minutes as ND committed turnovers on four of its first five possessions.
Ivey called a quick timeout at the 7:49 mark and the Irish responded with the next 15 points.
“My message was like, we’re sleepwalking,” Ivey said.
Added the coach, “I think we just came out flat for whatever reason. We only had basically a one-practice turnaround from our game Sunday, but we came out at a very, very slow pace, which I’m not sure why. … It could’ve been a little bit of jitters. I know (the players) were really excited about playing at home.”
The Irish coughed up eight turnovers in the opening quarter, but just seven thereafter.
Irish item
Sophomore guard KK Bransford made her season debut after missing the first three games due to an unspecified health issue. She scored seven points and dealt two assists over 11 minutes.
Up next
The Irish face Illinois (2-1) in the second annual Shamrock Classic on Saturday in Washington, D.C.
The game is set for 1 p.m. on NBC.