• Notre Dame handled No. 21 N.C. State, 86-67, to clinch a tie for the ACC regular-season title with Louisville. ND senior Kathryn Westbeld had a strong all-around game, with 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting, plus six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
ARCHDEACON: Welch a pillar of Wright State program
** Wright State posted a comfortable road win over Illinois-Chicago, winning 80-53 to finish the regular season 21-9. Senior Chelsea Welch posted 27 points, seven steals, five rebounds and four assists.
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FIRST STORY: Local stars play back-to-back on ESPN Sunday
Five years after they helped lead Kettering Fairmont High School to a state basketball championship, Kathryn Westbeld and Makayla Waterman will play their college regular-season finales Sunday on national TV.
RELATED: Where are they now: Fairmont state title team
Waterman’s 14th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes go on the road to play Penn State, in a game televised by ESPN2 at noon. Waterman, a redshirt junior, is back on the court after a scary neck injury a few weeks ago, and is averaging 3.0 points and 3.8 rebounds off the bench. OSU can wrap up the Big Ten regular-season title with a win.
For Westbeld, Sunday marks Senior Day at Notre Dame, with a 2 p.m. ESPN2 game vs. No. 21 North Carolina State. Westbeld, who averages 7.7 points and 5.6 rebounds, hit the 1,000-point mark in her Notre Dame career in Thursday night’s home win over Virginia Tech. Notre Dame is ranked No. 5 in the nation and can clinch a tie for the ACC regular-season crown with a win.
LOOK BACK: Video of Fairmont state title victory
Fairmont made it to four straight state Final Fours earlier this decade. The other top star of those teams, Chelsea Welch, also plays her final regular-season game at 2 p.m. Sunday for Wright State. The Raiders, 20-9 this year, go on the road to face struggling Illinois-Chicago. Welch, a senior, leads WSU with 21 points per game.
Ohio State, Notre Dame and Wright State will all play their conference tournaments next weekend.
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