No. 3 Notre Dame surges past No. 17 Georgia Tech in second half for 81-66 victory

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Sonia Citron scored 21 points, Maddy Westbeld had 20 and No. 3 Notre Dame surged in the second half to beat No. 17 Georgia Tech 81-66 on Thursday night.

All-American Hannah Hidalgo missed her second game for Notre Dame with an ankle injury. The 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard is second in the nation in points (25.7) and steals (4.1) and connects on 45.8% of her 3-point attempts.

Citron shot 9 for 13 and Westbeld was 8 of 11 as Notre Dame (15-2, 6-0 ACC) hit 55% of its shots compared to 38% for Georgia Tech (15-3, 3-3).

Kara Dunn scored 21 points for the Yellow Jackets, who played without Dani Carnegie. The 5-9 freshman guard who averages 15.9 points injured her hamstring in a 105-94 double-overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Jan. 9.

Georgia Tech finished the second quarter with a 14-4 run to cut it to three, then Dunn tied it at 39 with a 3 in the opening seconds of the third quarter. Notre Dame regained the upper hand by picking up the tempo in the third quarter for a 61-50 lead.

Notre Dame: Cassandre Prosper came off the bench to score 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets had a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Citron’s three-point play gave Notre Dame a 27-16 lead in the second quarter.

Notre Dame averages 14.6 turnovers, but committed 14 in the first half without Hidalgo to run the point. The Fighting Irish finished with 21 turnovers, tying their season high.

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish host SMU on Sunday.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets play at home against Clemson on Sunday.