The Notre Dame women’s basketball team has played much better over the last month, and an easy victory over the Miami Hurricanes to advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, is just another building block for a March Madness run.
Irish Blow By Hurricanes To Advance In ACC Tournament, 69-54
DULUTH, Ga – The Fighting Irish are moving on in the ACC Tournament, defeating Miami by a final score of 69-54 in the second-round action on Thursday afternoon inside Gas South Arena in Duluth.
The Irish
advance to the quarterfinals and will take on NC State. The two teams will square off at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday and it will air on ACCN.
Notre Dame improves to 21-9 on the season and has now won its first ACC Tournament game for the fifth straight season.
Hannah Hidalgo continues her best run of play in her career, leading the Irish with 28 points while adding eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. The junior has scored 25 or more points in five straight games, the longest streak of her career.
Cassandre Prosper and Iyana Moore also finished in double figures in the scoring column. Prosper posted 12 points and Moore added 11 in the winning effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish trailed by four points early with the score 16-12 in favor of Miami in the opening stages of play before Notre Dame went on a 9-0 run in a span of just less than 3 minutes to go on top 21-16. Notre Dame led by four at 23-19 at the end of the first frame.
Hidalgo and Prosper each scored nine points each in the opening 10 minutes of play to carry the bulk of the load on the offensive end.
The Irish defense had the Hurricanes out of sync for the entirety of the second quarter, holding Miami to just four points over the 10-minute period. Notre Dame scored 14 points in the second, and ended the half by scoring the final seven points to take a 37-23 lead into the halftime intermission.
Notre Dame methodically increased its lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Hurricanes 21-17 in the period to take command of the game at 58-40 heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation. Hidalgo was masterful in the third, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The Hurricanes tried to claw their way back into the game, scoring the first 10 points of the fourth to cut the Notre Dame lead to eight at 58-50 with 4:46 remaining in the game.
The Irish answered with six straight to push the lead back to double digits. Gisela Sanchez knocked down a three and Malaya Cowles finished at the rim to spur the run and put Notre Dame on top 64-50.
Notre Dame’s lead never dipped below 10 the rest of the way, as it went on to win by a score of 69-54.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
The Fighting Irish limited Miami to just four points in the second quarter, which are the fewest points scored by the Hurricanes in any quarter this season. Notre Dame held Miami to 2-of-11 shooting from the field and forced it into seven turnovers over the 10 minutes of play.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 28-6 against Miami in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame improves to 24-6 all-time in the ACC Tournament and has won at least one game in 11 of 13 appearances.
- With 28 points, Hidalgo has scored 20+ points in 23 games this season and 74 games in her career, which is the program record.
- Hidalgo set the ACC single-season record for steals with 167, breaking Donna Holt’s record of 164 set in 1987.
- Hidalgo has finished in double figures in the scoring column in all 97 games of her career, the longest streak in program history.
- Malaya Cowles reached the 500-rebound mark for her career in the win and now has 501 career boards.
UP NEXT
The Irish advance to the ACC Championship quarterfinals and will take on the No. 4 seed NC State at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6 inside Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia. The game will air on ACCN.
