Niele Ivey, Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron speak after Notre Dame win

Notre Dame was looking for a strong start to the NCAA Tournament after losing three of its past five games. It also hadn't played in almost two weeks, so the wait had to have been torturous.

All concerns about the Irish were quelled for the time being after they defeated Stephen F. Austin, 106-54. Their reward is a date with Michigan on Sunday afternoon in South Bend, their final game there this season regardless of the outcome.

Niele Ivey took to the podium afterwards to discuss the victory alongside Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron, who had 24 points apiece to tie for the game's scoring high. They also combined for 13 rebounds and nine steals.

There also was a bit of a discussion about Olivia Miles, who went down with an ankle injury early in the fourth quarter but walked off the court under her own power. Read about all of that and more here:

Ivey's opening statement

"Really grateful for today. It was a great performance from our team. Excited about this win. Excited about the fans. I thought they did a great job coming up and coming out to support us. Bunch of great basketball today in South Bend. Really pleased with our defensive effort the. I thought we came out on fire. I thought we were really locked in. Our preparation all week to me has really paid off.

Just tribute to this team. They came in focused and ready. We got back to work. This was the result of their effort and energy and preparation. I really enjoyed the entire team scoring. Got a chance to have the entire team on the floor. That gave us incredible energy. Great to see the walk-ons get a chance to play and score.

These two led us. A lot of great performances from everybody on the team. Both of them ending with 24 points, but their defensive intensity full court, their poise, efficiency, it was fantastic.

Just did a great job leading us. Again, really pleased with the win. Excited to be able to play again on Sunday."

Citron on when the Irish felt like themselves again

"I think honestly in the first quarter, but maybe not the first two minutes when they hit those 3s. Like a couple minutes after that. Once we started to get our rhythm and flow, honestly from the beginning of the game."

Hidalgo on how the Irish handled all the personnel coming in

"Yeah, I think we have a lot of fire power. Honestly, everybody plays well together. Whoever is coming in, we know we're able to adjust. We played with these girls all season, so it's easy to adjust to whoever is coming in.

We trust Coach Ivey's substitution. Like when Kate (Koval) is coming in, we know to feed her the ball. It's easy playing with the girls. We all know each other well."

Hidalgo's favorite pass or assist of the game

"Probably I think the crosscourt to Soni when she hit the 3. I think towards the end our momentum was really – the fans were really into it. The momentum was high. We had a couple daggers, but that was the exciting one."

Citron on playing the Wolverines in the next round

"Yeah, I think obviously we're excited no matter who we're going to play on Sunday. We were going to be ready and going to be excited. But I didn't know it was that big of a rivalry for basketball. Yeah. For football, it is, for basketball, too, I guess.

Yeah, we're just excited to play another day and just give it our all.

Citron on how much the coaches have emphasized defense in practice

"Those practices were definitely hard, but it was exactly what we needed, and it was fun to get after it and just get better defensively.

I mean, we fought in practice and it makes – because practice was so hard it made the game easy, you know, and we just challenged each other. Coach Ivey challenged us, and I think we responded.

Definitely got challenged, but I think it made us better."

Hidalgo on the players at the end of the bench scoring

"Yeah, it's truly a blessing that we have the talent that we have, even all the way down to the walk-ons. When we're able to do kind of what with do and dominate on the floor in the beginning, it gives the walk-ons an opportunity to go in and play and get the fans even more excited.

So it was honestly so fun to see them get in at all and for them to score. Luci (Jensen) hit a 3 in the girl's face. Sarah (Cernugel) is scoring, Bella (Tehrani) scoring, everybody scoring. Always a blessing and super exciting to see them get in at all."

Hidalgo on going home during the break between games

"Yeah, it was big. Just having a reset like use an athlete. I feel like as athletes, we all need a reset from social media or getting home to see our family, whether that was going home or relaxing. It was so important to be able to see my family and regroup and take a step back and appreciate all that the Lord has blessed me with and reflect and thank God for the opportunity I have to come and play in this tournament."

Hidalgo on Miles' impact on the floor

"Yeah, just having Liv back at all, she just opens the floor up so much. She is so dangerous. Just her ability to not only score, but also to get all her teammates involved. That's what makes her so dangerous. She can see so floor so well.

It's so easy playing with her because I know what's coming next being another point guard, but she's just able to drive, draw two defenders and create for her teammates.

She had eight assists, and that's great for a point guard anything. And-one turnover. Having her on the floor is so dangerous, so I'm proud of her."

Ivey's update on Miles' status

"Yes, ankle injury. Stepped on someone's foot. Going to be OK. But she got to get treatment. I haven't heard anything (about her availability for Sunday), but she walked off and verbally said she was OK."

Ivey on whether she planned to play with a deeper rotation

"Yeah. Usually, it's what the game dictates. I felt like it was perfect timing for them to bring energy. Liza (Karlen), which I didn't get a chance to say earlier, had a double-double, seven offensive rebounds. She was a big difference with the energy that came from the bench as far as Liza, Cass (Prosper), and Kate.

I just go with what the game dictates. All of the were focused and ready. Again, very defensive-minded today. Just wanted to change that energy right from the beginning.

I thought they came in and gave us a great spark. All three of them."

Ivey on whether the Irish have more depth than the Wolverines

"Well, I mean, they play so well and so hard, so it's really – I'm hoping that our depth can help us on Sunday. We got a scout. See what that looks like because I was back preparing for this game. I'm hoping that our depth can give us an advantage moving forward."

Ivey on the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry coming to the tournament

"It means everything. They're down the street. Two storied programs. Phenomenal coach in women's basketball tradition there at Michigan. Had one of our former players, Natalie Achonwa, that's on the bench.

So again, we're excited to play no matter who our matchup was. We'll be ready. Excited for women's basketball to see two great programs matched up together."

Ivey on what her defensive emphasis was in recent practices

"Yeah, individual pride and rotations. Those were two big things. That can come with one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. I was very focused on going back to the basics, challenging them with a lot of the practices. Made the practices extremely challenging so we can get better. Just staying on things long until I felt like we had moved forward in progression with whatever we were doing.

But that was my biggest focus. Individual pride and doing a great job with our team defense and communication."

Ivey on whether she focused on rebounding in recent practices

"Absolutely. That's always attached. Rebounding so getting the stops. Forces them to make sure we were in situations that we had to get the stops. Sometimes rebounding is a big key of that. Credit to our practice squad. They came back, and they really helped us really challenged us. Really prepared us for today."

This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Niele Ivey, Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Citron speak after Notre Dame win

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