No. 10 Notre Dame tops Georgia Tech 76-53 on senior night

Published: Feb. 24, 2023 at 10:42 AM EST
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP/WNDU) - Olivia Miles scored 13 points and Kylee Watson added 12 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 10 Notre Dame rout Georgia Tech 76-53 on Thursday night.

Sonia Citron also had 12 points for the Irish (23-4, 14-3 ACC), who improved to 17-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets. Maddy Westbeld scored 11 points, while KK Bransford had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench for Notre Dame, which closed out its regular-season home slate with a 13-2 record.

“I love that style of play,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. “It shows the balance that we have. You can’t lock in on one person on our team, and I think that makes us dangerous.”

Georgia Tech (13-15, 4-13 ACC) has lost five of its last six contests. Guard Cameron Swartz led the Yellow Jackets with 10 points.

“This is a tough place to play, and Notre Dame is a good basketball team,” coach Nell Fortner said. “We’re young. We’re trying to learn, and we’re trying to get to a better place with our talent.”

Georgia Tech hit its first four shots and jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, forcing Ivey to burn an early timeout. But Notre Dame responded with a 17-4 run by shooting 67% from the field to close out the period with a five-point advantage.

“Sometimes it’s like that with the emotion of senior night,” Ivey said. “They came out on fire, and we adjust, so I’m just happy we adjusted early and turned the table.”

The Yellow Jackets kept it to a single-digit deficit in the second quarter before the Irish blew the game open after outscoring Georgia Tech by 10 points in the third quarter.

Notre Dame turned the ball over nine times on Thursday. The Irish last had single-digit turnovers in an 85-65 win over Arizona State on Nov. 26.

“I’m proud of that stat,” Ivey said. “It’s something we’re working on, so it looks like it’s paying off.”

With the win, Notre Dame: picks up its 14th ACC victory and remains in a first-place tie with No. 11 Duke atop the ACC.

“I talked to them about just controlling our own destiny,” Ivey said, who’s in her third season as Notre Dame’s head coach. “We’re in a different position than we were my first year and my second year. We’ve done a great job to put ourselves in (this) position.”

Meanwhile, Ivey was happy that the Irish were able to send off their seniors, Lauren Ebo and Dara Mabrey, with a win.

“Really proud of our seniors. This night and this day is to honor them, so Ebo and Dara did a lot of things that were super special before the game, and I always love being a part of these type of moments, honoring two gifted young women who have done so much for me and so much for the program,” Ivey said.

The Irish will wrap up their regular season at Louisville on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. on ESPN.