The Notre Dame women’s basketball team was on the road again, and the Irish drop their second game in a row. This time it was against ACC rival Duke 82-68, and Notre Dame looked out of the sorts (and pretty much out of the game) early, and never got much going.
No. 18 Irish Drop Road Decision At Duke
DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 18 Fighting Irish fell to Duke inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 82-68 decision. The loss moves Notre Dame’s record to 10-4 on the season and 2-2 in ACC play.
Hidalgo had a team-high 22 points
while also filling up the box score with nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Cassandre Prosper scored 15 points on the day while Iyana Moore and Malaya Cowles also finished in double figures in points with 12 and 10, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, the Blue Devils reeled off 13 straight points to take a nine-point advantage at 15-6 with 3 minutes left in the first frame. The Irish made it a four-point game at 21-17 with a minute to play before Duke scored the last five points to make it 26-17 after the opening 10 minutes of action.
Duke continued to dictate play in the second quarter, pushing its lead to 18 at 43-25 with 2 minutes remaining in the half. However, the Irish finished the period with a flurry, scoring the last nine points, capped off by a three from Vanessa de Jesus at the buzzer, to cut the lead in half going into the halftime intermission at 43-34.
Prosper led the Irish on the offensive end over the first 20 minutes, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Despite the deficit, Notre Dame shot 50 percent in the first half, going 14-for-28 from the field.
Hidalgo connected on a three in the first possession of the second half to trim the lead to six but Duke answered with 13 of the next 15 points to push its lead back to 17 at 56-39 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Irish defense locked in, only allowing the hosts to score three points for the remainder of the period, cutting the lead to 11 by the end of the third with the score 59-48.
The Irish were unable to string together enough scores and stops to make a run in the final frame, as the Duke lead hovered around 10 points for much of the fourth. The Blue Devils knocked down a number of free throws in the final minute and went on to win by a score of 82-68.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish return home to Purcell Pavilion for a midweek matchup against Boston College at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 8. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.
