Notre Dame women’s hoops to face NC State in ACC Tournament quarterfinals

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WNDU) - The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will begin its quest to punch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon.

The top-seeded Irish will face No. 8 seed NC State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals at Greensboro Coliseum after having a double-bye to start the tournament. The Wolfpack knocked off No. 9 seed Syracuse 83-58 on Thursday.

Despite a lot of history between the two schools recently, they met only once this regular season, with NC State getting the win, 69-65, in Raleigh back in January.

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey, who was named the ACC Coach of the Year earlier this week, spoke about the challenges the Irish face against the Wolfpack.

“They have depth, they play multiple players. They play multiple players off the bench, and they really bothered us with their pressure. They were very physical,” Ivey said. “We have to be prepared to contain the ball, to try to get inside presence against their bigs, and just try to shut them down. They have so many weapons, and again defensively I felt like it was a game that was a very physical game. We have to be prepared for the pressure.”

Tipoff on Friday is set for 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.