March 19, 2018
One word to describe the feeling of the buzzer going off at the end of Notre Dame and Villanova game, bittersweet.
Bitter because it was the last game in Purcell Pavillion for the Class of 2018.
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Sweet because the Fighting Irish are headed back to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time in program history and ninth year in a row after defeating the Wildcats 98-72.
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For the second game in a row the Fighting Irish had three different players finish with 20 or more points but the story of the game was the flame that Senior Forward, Kat Westbeld ignited when she started the second half.
After suffering an ankle injury in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Westbeld didn’t start against the Wildcats but at halftime with both teams knotted at 45, Westbeld entered the starting lineup in the second half.
The Wildcats were 4-7 from beyond the arc after two quarters but with Westbeld in the game, they didn’t score another three-pointer the rest of the game.
I caught up with the Senior Forward after the game and got her instant reaction of the victory.
On how she created the second half spark for Notre Dame:
“I just knew it was my last game here, I knew that we needed something, we needed some type of energy just to kind of get us going….I feel like I didn’t do a whole lot I know I have that presence; they say that calming presence. I think just them knowing that I was willing to do whatever it took for us to win, I think that is really what got them going,” said Westbeld.
On how Notre Dame went on a 28-8 run in the third quarter after she entered the game:
“Honestly it was just getting stops on defense, that’s what we really struggled with in the second half. I think everyone realized that in the locker room during halftime. I think our whole mentality changed going into the second half. So really just one stop at a time, running them off the three-point line I think that’s what we really needed to do. I think we stopped them and I don’t think they made another three in the second half so we did a good job there,” said Westbeld.
On what this win meant for her in her home game of her career:
“It absolutely meant a lot, I actually started to get emotional when I came out of the game in the 4th quarter. I’m so grateful just to have played four years here at this great university and be able to play in front of our fans, win and move on to the Sweet 16 for them. It’s going to mean a lot just to move on to Spokane and see who we are going to play next; but really just taking it one game at a time,” said Westbeld.
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Up next for Notre Dame is Texas A&M in Spokane, Washington.
Want more soundbites about the Fighting Irish’s second round win? Click here.
Missed the best moments on Twitter following the win? Click here.
To stay up to date on @ndwbb’s Road to Columbus visit Irish WBB NCAA Tournament Central
Tamara Brown, the Notre Dame Sports Blogger, has been part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2016 and provides exclusive, behind-the-scenes coverage of all 26 varsity sports. A native of Newport News, Virginia, Brown graduated from Virginia Tech in 2015 with a degree in Multimedia Journalism.
For more follow the @NDSportsBlogger on Twitter and Instagram.