(Notre Dame) — Entering Friday’s NCAA tournament opener, Notre Dame fans were wondering if they would see the Irish team that rolled to #1 in the polls, or the one that lost three of their last five.

The question was answered emphatically.

Behind a defensive effort described by head coach Niele Ivey as “locked in”, Notre Dame forced Stephen F. Austin into 28 turnovers and held the visitors to 33% shooting in a 106-54 decimation of the Lady Jacks. The third-seeded Irish now meet 6th-seed Michigan in a second round game Sunday at Purcell Pavilion.  That game is sold out.

“Our preparation all week to me really paid off,” said Ivey. “It’s a tribute to this team. They came focused, they came ready. I was very focused on going back to the basics and challenging them within practices.”

“Those practices were definitely hard, but I think they were exactly what we needed,” said senior Sonia Citron who tied for team-high honors with 24 points. “It was fun to get after it and just get better.”

The Irish did suffer a blow in the fourth quarter when point guard Olivia Miles collapsed to the floor, holding her left ankle. After the crowd went deathly silent, Miles slowly rose to her feet and hobbled to the Irish locker room, barely able to put weight on her left foot.  Her status for Sunday is still unknown.

“It’s an ankle injury,” said Ivey in her postgame press conference. “She stepped on somebody’s foot. I haven’t heard anything (from the trainers), but she told me it’s ok.”

Before a crowd that included Irish football coach Marcus Freeman and men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry, Stephen F. Austin buried its first two three-pointers, grabbing a 6-0 lead. That’s when the Irish went on a 22-2 run, keyed by Maddie Westbeled and a refreshed Hannah Hidalgo.

“Whether it was getting away from social media or getting home to our families, we all needed a reset,” said Hidalgo, who went home to New Jersey last week for part of her spring break. “It was so important to see my family, kind of regroup and kind of take a step back and appreciate all the Lord has blessed me with.”

Sonia Citron started to light it up in the second quarter, scoring eight in the stanza. Hidalgo tallied 11 of her 24 in the third and that cleared the stage for the walk-ons.

Lily Jensen, Sarah Cernugal and Bella Tehrani all scored in the waning minutes, eliciting an eruption from the Irish bench with each basket.

“it was honestly so fun just to see them get in at all, and then for them to score” said a beaming Hidalgo. “Lucy buried a three in a girl’s face, then Sarah scoring, Bella scoring, it’s always a blessing and super-exciting.”

Now the 27-5 Irish meet 23-10 Michigan Sunday in the renewal of a great rivalry, much to the surprise of Citron.

“Honestly, I didn’t know it was rivalry,” said Citron innocently. “For football it is, for basketball too, I guess. We’re excited to play another day and give it our all.”