The Sweet 16 gets underway Friday with No. 2 seed Notre Dame taking on No. 3 seed Oregon State.
Notre Dame has enjoyed two convincing victories as it's defeated No. 15 seed Kent State 81-67 and No. 7 seed Ole Miss 71-56 to start off the NCAA Women's Tournament. In the Round of 32 win against Ole Miss, junior forward Maddy Westbeld led the way with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while also securing five rebounds. As a team, the Fighting Irish shot 50.0% from the field and proved to be a well-oiled machine on the offensive end.
Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey noted some of the difficulties the Irish have dealt with this season, specifically a lack of depth due to a number of injuries.
"I have a resilient group, to be honest," Ivey said at this week's press conference. "We're fighting for our lives every night, 40 minutes with whole roster. Our resilience has been incredible."
Meanwhile, Oregon State began its NCAA Tournament run with a convincing 73-51 victory against No. 14 seed Eastern Washington. In the Round of 32, Oregon State edged out Nebraska 61-51 behind junior guard Talia von Oelhoffen's well-rounded effort of 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Leading scorer Raegan Beers also added 10 points and six rebounds to help pace the Beavers.
The Irish will be looking to make the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019 while the Beavers will be looking for their third Elite Eight appearance all time and first since 2018. The winner of Friday's matchup will earn a berth in the Elite Eight and take on the winner of No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 4 seed Indiana on Sunday. Let's take a look at how you can watch the game before getting to a key storyline to follow in the game below.
How to watch (2) Notre Dame vs. (3) Oregon State
Date: Friday, March 29 | Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: MVP Arena -- Albany, New York
TV: ESPN | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Notre Dame vs. Oregon State: Key storyline
These two teams are very evenly matched, but Notre Dame star guard Hannah Hidalgo has the ability to take over a game at a moment's notice. The freshman guard has averaged 22.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting 34.7% from beyond the arc. Hidalgo has topped the 20-point mark in four of her last seven games, and despite shooting just 40.7% from the field in her first two NCAA Tournament games, a stellar performance is well within the range of outcomes. As offensively gifted as Hidalgo is, she also excels on the defensive end as she averages a staggering 4.6 steals on the year. Hidalgo can definitely get into the passing lanes and make life difficult for Oregon State.
