Notre Dame women's basketball can't get over Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament hump vs Oregon State

Answering adversity when it arrived from all angles was such a staple for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team of late that you expected it to do it again. 

Whoa, how did that happen? 

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Down by 10 points in the third quarter of an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal? The Irish would find a way. Needing a stop when a stop was vital? The Irish would find a way. Crushed on the backboard in the final rebounding numbers (42-24) and for points in the paint (40-28)? Second-seeded Notre Dame certainly would figure out a way to overcome everything Friday afternoon against No. 3 Oregon State at MVP Arena in Albany, New York. 

Just wait. Just watch. The Irish would deliver, just as they did when they won 10 in a row to steamroll into a third straight Sweet 16. Sonia Citron would work more of her postseason magic. Maddy Westbeld would be her typical steady self. Somebody would do something to settle it all down, to make it all right, to push the Irish one step closer to a Final Four. 

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They would keep living a dream in this dream of a run. 

For so long, this group had all the answers. In some big home wins late in the regular season. In Greensboro, North Carolina, where they won three games in three days for an improbable conference tournament championship. 

When Notre Dame needed them Friday, it ran out of answers. 

Instead of picking up where they left off, they were picking up the pieces and heading for home following a 70-65 loss. The Irish saw that 10-game win streak and their season end at 28-7. 

“Tough experience, tough loss for us,” said head coach Niele Ivey, more proud of than pissed about the end. “We battled a lot this season. We left it on the floor. We found our identity, our character.” 

This was a great run by a good team. Next stop, greatness. 

Notre Dame maxed out the back half of February and all of March (until Friday) in ways few saw coming. Not only did Notre Dame run out of answers against Oregon State, but it also ran out of gas. The tank hit a collective empty on a day when everything – lack of depth, lack of size, lack of shot-making - caught up to the Irish. 

“I feel like I won with this team,” Ivey said. “These types of moments are part of our journey. We’re going to learn from all the wonderful experiences. It was a phenomenal year.” 

There was a lot to experience, and a lot to learn. 

Having a short bench Friday hurt. Falling into foul trouble hurt. Not having a consistent third scorer who could flirt with 20 points was a crusher. And seeing freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo do something she had rarely done all season – look average – on the biggest stage in the biggest game really hurt. 

Hildalgo seemed her usual confident self, full of swagger and spirit in the opening minute. On the first possession, Hidalgo buried a mid-range jumper, yelled out “And one!” and offered her usual flex pose on the first possession of the game. 

OK, you thought, Hidalgo was headed for one of those games. 

Then everything changed for her, for reasons probably nobody can explain. Maybe it was just one of those days. Maybe she had nothing left to give after giving everything and a little more game after game and week after week and month after month. 

Let’s not pin this one on the nose ring thing. That didn’t lose this game for Notre Dame. Hidalgo missed the first four-plus minutes of the second quarter so trainer Anne Marquez could remove the nose ring that Hidalgo has worn all year. For the previous 34 games, no one made an issue of it. Not in non-conference play. Not in conference play. Not in the regular season. Not in the postseason. 

Until Friday. There’s a clear no jewelry edict that Hidalgo violated. 

“Just wish we would’ve known before hand,” Ivey said. “Can’t control it. Just have to move on.” 

Hildalgo post-ring removal was not her usual swaggering self. She didn’t get a field goal to fall until deep into the fourth quarter. She played ... differently. She played ... like a freshman. 

“She can get frustrated, but she gives her all,” Westbeld said. “She’s going to give it everything.” 

Friday looked and felt differently in every facet. The Irish looked like the (struggling) Irish of midseason coming back out of the locker room for the start of the second half. They allowed the Beavers to score seven straight and jump ahead by eight. They never could get their high-octane offense rolling as Oregon State dictated tempo and pace and often time and score with its methodical offense. 

“We started to get in our head a little bit,” Westbeld said of the deliberate style of play. “We just had to get what we got.” 

Notre Dame seemed stuck in neutral all day. These weren’t the Irish we had watched since they last lost in mid-February. Too little came easily. Not much flowed. For this team to be at its best, it must flow. But that’s March basketball, when you better have a counter when a counter is needed. 

It was a lot of Citron (22 points) and Westbeld (19) and some of Anna DeWolfe (12), who played her best basketball at Notre Dame in her only NCAA appearance, but too little from anyone else in an Irish uniform to extend the season one more game for the first time since 2019. 

For the third straight March, the regional semifinal is the stopping point for Notre Dame. That shouldn’t be the case next season, however Notre Dame’s roster looks. Maybe Westbeld returns. Someone would be wise to sweeten whatever NIL deal she has at Notre Dame. She’s a key piece. So is Citron. Maybe Cass Prosper finally scratches the surface. With Hidalgo expected to share the backcourt with Olivia Miles (can’t wait to watch that), getting only to this point next season would be seen as a failure. 

Notre Dame maxed it out to get to this point this season. Notre Dame should still be playing this time next season. Top 10 next winter? How about top five? These Irish raised the bar that much this season. 

“There’s so much good,” Ivey said of the future. “We have so much firepower coming back. It’s going to be exciting.” 

It was a surprise that this group got as far as it did this season. It will be a surprise if next year’s group doesn’t go further next season. They’ll be back. They’ll be better. 

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.