Fairmont’s Kathryn Westbeld coming home with Notre Dame to Final Four

Kathryn Westbeld (33) and Chelsea Welch (22) of Fairmont react to a foul during Saturday's Division I state championship basketball game against Twinsburg at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus on March 16, 2013. Fairmont won the game 52-48 to claim the state title.Barbara J. Perenic/Staff

Credit: Barbara Perenic

Credit: Barbara Perenic

Kathryn Westbeld (33) and Chelsea Welch (22) of Fairmont react to a foul during Saturday's Division I state championship basketball game against Twinsburg at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus on March 16, 2013. Fairmont won the game 52-48 to claim the state title.Barbara J. Perenic/Staff
Sports
By
March 27, 2018
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The 2018 NCAA women’s basketball Final Four will have at least one local connection.

Senior Kathryn Westbeld scored 20 points as No. 1 seed Notre Dame beat No. 2 Oregon 84-74 on Monday night to earn a bid to the national semifinals.

That means Westbeld, a third-year starter for the Fighting Irish, will be playing again in Columbus, the city where she won a state championship with the Fairmont Firebirds in 2013.

With Westbeld, Makayla Waterman and Chelsea Welch in the lineup, the Firebirds advanced to three state final fours and won three GWOC championships.

Waterman just wrapped up her fourth season at Ohio State and plans to return for one more while Welch was named Horizon League Player of the Year as a senior at Wright State this season.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Where are members of the 2013 title team now?

Fairmont went 96-11 during Westbeld’s career.

The 2014 McDonald’s All-American is averaging 7.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season for the Fighting Irish, who will play No. 1 Connecticut on Friday night.

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Marcus Hartman has been a digital sports columnist and reporter at Cox's Ohio newspapers the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News since 2016.