Sweet Sixteen Preview: NC State Versus Notre Dame

NC State Wolfpack vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Time: 11:30am
Location: Bridgeport, CT
TV: ESPN
Line: NC State -9

While everyone has been talking about the potential matchup with UCONN, State has a much bigger game to play Saturday morning. In 34 games, only three teams have beat the Wolfpack this year…and Notre Dame is one of them. On February 1st, ND lead an overwhelming majority of the game, holding out for the three-point win.

So yes, this is still very much a revenge tour for State.

Out of the three fellow regional teams; State lost this year to Notre Dame, lost last year in the Sweet Sixteen to Indiana and UCONN has been the target for program growth for years. All three are in Bridgeport. It’s now or never for State.

Keys for Winning

Dynamic Duo of Perez and Johnson

You could say that these two have had great seasons. Which makes it even more impressive when you realize they might be playing their best ball of the season right NOW. In the opening rounds of the Tournament, the duo is shooting over 60% from the floor AND from three. They have 12 made threes, while only having six total turnovers. They’ve brought the energy on both ends of the floor and will be needed to ensure the Pack don’t have a lapse in scoring for small stretches. Notre Dame has struggled at points this season with Guards, if Perez and Johnson can get solid double-digit points, Pack will be on track.

Forwards versus Forwards

To close out the season, Notre Dame went 4-4. But that wasn’t because of effort and performance of their Forwards. Dodson and Westbeld had strong pushes as the season closed, repeatedly leading the team in scoring and rebounding. All that to say, big games needed by Brown-Turner, Jones and Boyd. Would hope that Jones, in particular, can have a stellar game, removing all the negative energy from a season ago when she was an emotional sideline leader for the Pack’s Sweet-16 matchup. While scoring will be important, the Forward group has to take care of the boards and limit possessions from this Notre Dame offense. ND has had moments this season of absolutely struggling to get going on offense (hence the near 14-point difference between these teams PPG), controlling the boards will give the Pack a big time advantage.

No Funny Fouls

Could have spent an entire article talking about the reffing we’ve seen this tournament, but we’re going to be gentlemen this morning. The most impressive part of State’s 32-point win over Kansas State in the second round, was Cunane only playing 13 minutes. Thirteen. Minutes. Two early fouls had her yanked in the first quarter, but the team was in cruise control for the entirety of the game. State needs to set the tone inside and can’t afford to find themselves in foul trouble.

Prediction

Notre Dame is a good team. What questions people had over their struggles in first round to put away UMass (won by 11), they more than made up for it by absolutely destroying #4 seed Oklahoma, 108-64. Oklahoma had three separate four-minute draughts of scoring and multiple bad possessions/turnovers.

State needs to be smart on offense and control the boards. Don’t let Notre Dame offense get in a groove, while making sure they’re attacking the rim on the other side. Can State keep the hot hand going from three? Can they get double-digit scoring from five separate players? Boy we hope so.

State finally breaks through to the Elite Eight. #GoPack