Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo should win the national player of the year award, because she is an absolute TERROR on the court. Another big game from Hannah (30 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals) gave the Irish just enough to upset the #10 ranked Louisville Cardinals on the road, 65-62.
This was the fifth win in a row for the Irish as they try to gain a better seed in the ACC Tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament.
Irish Knock Off No. 10 Louisville In Thriller, 65-62
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trailing
60-56 with less than five minutes left in regulation, Hannah Hidalgo checked back into the game for the Fighting Irish and completely took over, leading Notre Dame to a 65-62 comeback win over No. 10 Louisville in the regular-season finale.
The victory gives Notre Dame a record of 20-9 on the season and 12-6 in ACC play and earns the team the No. 5 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. The Irish head into the postseason winners of seven of their last eight games.
Hidalgo turned in another masterclass, scoring a game-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The junior did everything for the Irish, leading the team in rebounds (10), assists (7) and steals (5).
Hidalgo now has three games this season with at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. The rest of the players in the country at the women’s DI level have combined for just two games with that stat line.
Three other Notre Dame players finished in double figures in the scoring column, as Vanessa de Jesus scored 14 points, Iyana Moore recorded 11 and Malaya Cowles added 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The defenses from both sides dictated play for much of the first quarter as both teams struggled to find any rhythm on the offensive end of the court. Louisville managed to hold a five-point lead at 12-7 after the opening 10 minutes of action. The Notre Dame defense pressured the Cardinals into eight turnovers in the first frame, four coming from steals.
Notre Dame’s offense erupted in the second quarter, scoring 29 points off 9-of-14 shooting, including a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc.
The hosts scored the first two points to increase their lead to seven at 14-7 before de Jesus and Moore connected on back-to-back threes to trim the lead to just one. After a made jumper from the Cardinals pushed the lead back up to three, Hidalgo went on a personal 8-0 run to give the Irish their first lead of the day at 21-16 midway through the second stanza.
Louisville hit a three-pointer to cut the Irish lead to two before the Irish went on a 10-0 run, spurred by two more three-point makes from de Jesus and Moore to push the lead to 12 at 31-19.
Both sides scored five more points in the half, as the Irish took a 36-24 lead into the halftime break.
Hidalgo and de Jesus did much of the heavy lifting on the offensive end in the first half, each scoring 14 points.
Louisville scored the first six points on the other side of the halftime intermission to cut the Irish lead in half at 36-30. Notre Dame steadied and managed to push the lead back to 10 at 45-35 with 3 minutes left in the third.
The Cardinals refused to go away, scoring eight straight in less than a minute of action to make it just a two-point game with 58 seconds left in the quarter. After made jumpers from both sides Hidalgo banked in a three at the buzzer to put the Irish on top 50-45 heading into the fourth and final frame.
Hidalgo opened the fourth quarter with a layup to make it a seven-point game in favor of Notre Dame. Louisville then scored 15 of the next 19 points over a four-minute span to go on top by a score of 60-56 with 4:59 remaining in the game.
On the bench with four fouls, Hidalgo checked back into the contest and completely swung the momentum. The guard knocked down a jumper to cut the lead in half before Cowles had a put back to level the game at 60-60.
Hidalgo then converted an and-one jumper and made the ensuing free throw to put the Irish back in front at 63-60 with 2 minutes left in the fourth. After Louisville made two free throws to cut the Irish lead to one at 63-62 with a minute left Hidalgo made the play of the game on the defensive end of the floor.
The Cardinals had the ball and a chance to take the lead with under 20 seconds left in the contest and Hidalgo picked the Louisville player’s pocket with the steal and raced down to take precious seconds off the clock. After a number of fouls from Louisville, Hidalgo made two free throws to make the score 65-62 with 9 seconds remaining.
After turnovers from both teams Louisville had one last gasp to tie it but the three-point attempt was off the mark as the Irish pulled out a huge ranked road win in thrilling fashion by a score of 65-62.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
The Fighting Irish hit seven-straight shots from three-point range between the final minute of the first quarter and the entire second quarter. The sharpshooting was led by de Jesus, who buried four of the seven in the stretch for Notre Dame. Moore recorded two makes and Hidalgo added one.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 23-15 against Louisville in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame has registered at least 12 wins in ACC play and 20 wins on the season in five consecutive seasons.
- With 30 points, Hidalgo has scored 30+ points in nine games this season and 18 games in her career, which is the program record.
- Hidalgo set the single-season record for steals with 162, breaking her own record of 160 which she previously held from her freshman year.
- Hidalgo has finished in double figures in the scoring column in all 96 games of her career, the longest streak in program history.
- With four makes from three-point range, de Jesus tied her career high for threes in a game.
UP NEXT
The Irish begin the postseason with the ACC Tournament at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia. Notre Dame will open the tourney as the No. 5 seed and will take on the winner of the No. 12 vs. No. 13 matchup. Notre Dame’s second-round game is slated to tip at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 5 and will air on ACCN.
