SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 3 Notre Dame (24-4, 15-2) and No. 25 Louisville (20-8, 13-4) will face off in Purcell Pavilion on Sunday to close out the 2024-25 ACC regular season, and the game is presented by Verizon.
For the Irish, a chance at the ACC regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament is on the line. Notre Dame would need a win and an NC State loss to clinch the title outright, while a win with an NC State victory would give them a share of the title and the No. 2 seed at next week’s ACC Tournament.
While Notre Dame has dropped its last two games, guard Sonia Citron is heating up. Over the last six contests, the senior is averaging 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 62.7 percent from the floor. She led Notre Dame with 21 points against No. 24 Florida State on Thursday, and she had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send last Sunday’s contest at No. 11 NC State to overtime.
On the other bench will be familiar foe Louisville, who fell to the Irish at their place on Feb. 2, 89-71.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, and Notre Dame had a 39-38 lead going into the half. After an 18-point first half, Hannah Hidalgo exploded in the second half and finished with what remains a season-high 34 points, and she scored or assisted on 27 of the 29 points from points 30-59. LiatuKing had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, including a 4-4 showing from the floor in the final frame.
Big picture, Citron seemingly has Louisville’s number, averaging 14.5 points per game against them over her career (nine games). She has twice posted games with at least 20 points and knocked down at least five buckets from the floor in five of those games.
Sunday’s game tips off at noon on ESPN. Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli will be on the call, and ESPN’s pregame show College GameDay will be live from Purcell Pavilion starting at 11 a.m.