Niele Ivey reacts after Marcus Freeman's Notre Dame beats Penn State despite controversial Orange Bowl officiating

Notre Dame women's basketball coach Niele Ivey congratulated the school's football team, coached by Marcus Freeman, after the Fighting Irish defeated Penn State 27-24 in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.

Ivey, who won the national title in 2001 and is currently calling the shots for the No. 3-ranked Notre Dame women's basketball team, tipped her cap to Freeman, who became the first Black coach to make the College Football Playoff final.

"Headed to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Game baby!! So tough! Congrats @NDFootball ! Congrats @Marcus_Freeman1 ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 ," Ivey wrote on X.

Freeman now has a chance to create more history on Jan. 20 as he tries to guide No. 7-ranked Notre Dame to its 12th title and first since 1988 against the winner of the Texas-Ohio State semifinal in the Cotton Bowl on Friday.

It was a big win for Freeman and his wards, who needed to score 10 points in the last 8:42 of the game to claw back from a 24-17 deficit and a controversial pass interference call that negated the supposed interception by Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser.

The revised verdict resulted in Penn State moving to Notre Dame's nine-yard line and subsequently scoring a touchdown to break the 17-17 tie. The incident caused Freeman to confront three sideline officials right after the Nittany Lions kicked the extra point.

Notre Dame had Penn State's passing game held down. The Fighting Irish didn't allow the Nittany Lions a pass completion in the first half.

Penn State relied on senior tight end Tyler Warren to make a touchdown catch, but it failed to materialize. However, he drew contact, and the game officials signaled pass interference on Notre Dame.

Riley Leonard passed for 223 yards and recorded a touchdown for Notre Dame. The quarterback also rushed for a score to make amends for his two interceptions. Jeremiyah Love also had a touchdown.

Nick Singleton ran for 84 yards and had three TDs for Penn State. Fighting Irish kicker Mitch Jeter kicked the game-winning 41-yard field goal to secure the Orange Bowl and one of the two CFP final tickets.

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Niele Ivey's Notre Dame demolishes Wake Forest to take ACC lead

The Notre Dame women's college basketball team started Thursday right for the school, winning 100-64 over Wake Forest at the Purcell Pavilion. Hannah Hidalgo tallied 23 points and six steals to lead the No. 3 Fighting Irish to its fourth straight conference win and 13-2 overall.

The victory, along with Georgia Tech's double overtime setback to Virginia Tech, put Notre Dame at the top of the ACC. The Irish are half a game ahead of Louisville (11-5, 4-1 in ACC). The Yellow Jackets stumbled to their first loss of the season after 15 straight wins.

Liatu King put up 17 points, Sonia Citron contributed 16 and Olivia Miles added 13 points and nine assists for the Fighting Irish, who unleashed a 15-2 run in the second period to build a 40-19 advantage. They resumed their attack in the second half to ensure the win.

Notre Dame visits Clemson on Sunday at the Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers (10-6, 3-2 in ACC) fell to the Virginia Cavaliers at home on Thursday.