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Kathryn Westbeld Leads Notre Dame, Downs Virginia Tech 74-50

By Nicholas D. Blazek

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Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw knows she has an inexperienced team, and going on the road in the ACC can be a challenge, no matter who the opponent may be. Getting a performance like she did from freshman Kathryn Westbeld has to help as the No. 4 Irish beat Virginia Tech 74-50.

The Irish (20-2, 7-1 ACC) are tied at the top of the conference with Louisville and Florida State, and are looking to keep the pace for their second straight regular season ACC title.

Notre Dame was down early, but that didn’t last long as they used a 21-3 run to take the game over and never looked back. Westbeld scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Irish, and continues to improve with each game. With no seniors in the starting lineup, this team is only going to get better, and games like this from Westbeld point to that.

"”I’ve just been trying to get better every game,” Westbeld said. ”I’ve been looking to score more. That’s the biggest thing I’ve been working on. I came out ready and looking to score. My teammates found me really well, especially in their zone. I happened to be open a lot on the block.”"

Jewell Loyd, the ACC’s leading scorer at 21.6 PPG, added 16 points -14 of them in the first half. It was a half that statistically was owned by the Irish, who shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28), while going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. They also outrebounded the Hokies 22-10 in the half.

Virginia Tech (10-11, 1-7) outscored the Irish in the second half, but the outcome was well decided by then. Hannah Young led the Hokies with 13 points. Rachel Camp, the teams leading scorer at 15 per game, scored only six and fouled out with just under nine minutes left in the game.

Notre Dame was second in the nation in field-goal percentage (50.1) and fourth in scoring offense (85.3 ppg) coming into the game. It seems as if men’s head coach Mike Brey and McGraw may be having a little competition with their teams, as the two are statistically similar and continue to impress.

The Irish will return home to play Wake Forest on Sunday at Purcell Pavillion.