The Fighting Irish Women’s Basketball team has now clinched a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship following Sunday’s 72-59 victory against the 25th-ranked Louisville Cardinals.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the teams changed leads five times in the frame. Louisville’s Jayda Curry buried a three with 2:49 left in the quarter to put the visitors on top 15-14. This was the final basket of the frame as neither team could find the bottom of the hoop to end the quarter. Curry and Tajianna Roberts led all first-quarter scorers with five points apiece for the visitors. Notre Dame was led by Liatu King who had a monster quarter with four points on 2-3 shooting from the field and six rebounds in eight minutes played. Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles contributed three-pointers to keep the Irish deficit at one.
The Irish showed up in the second quarter, outscoring the Cardinals 22-13 in the frame. A 6-0 run from a trio of Notre Dame players put the home squad up 26-20 with 5:43 remaining in the quarter. Louisville would respond with a 5-0 run to cut their deficit down to one with 4:45 to play. Notre Dame then made their response, ending the quarter on a 10-3 run to give them a 36-28 lead at the half. Hidalgo and Sonia Citron led second-quarter scorers with eight points apiece; Citron shot 3-3 from the field in the frame. Louisville’s offense struggled as they received points from just three different scorers in the second.
Notre Dame entered the half dominating the boards, led by King with nine rebounds, as they outrebounded the Cardinals 24-18, which led to 12 second chance points for the Irish. Defensively, the Irish were locked in as they totaled four steals and two blocks in the first half while Louisville only garnered one steal and one block.
The Irish put together another great quarter coming out of the half as they outscored the Cardinals 22-12 in the third, extending their lead to 18. The home squad went on multiple runs in this quarter, starting with a 6-0 run from 4:15-3:37 that put the Irish up 45-35. They followed this up with a 10-0 run from 3:01-1:07 that put Notre Dame up 55-37. The period ended with a three-point buzzer beater from Olivia Miles to give the Irish a 58-40 lead. Miles led all third-quarter scorers with nine points including six free throws and the signature buzzer beater.
Louisville fought hard in the final quarter but it was too little too late as they managed to outscore the Irish 19-14 in the frame. Notre Dame’s lead never dipped below 14 points until a Louisville three-pointer in the final seconds cut the score to 72-59. The Irish had just three different scorers in the quarter, however, Hidalgo led all scorers with six points on 2-3 shooting from the field including a three.
Despite some sloppy turnovers from the Irish in the second half, their great shooting gave them the ultimate edge in this contest. Miles’s 12 second-half points helped secure a share of the ACC regular-season title for the eighth time in 12 years.
Coming off of two straight losses, the Irish needed this win and they got the job done. Notre Dame is slated to be the number-two seed in the ACC Tournament, which allows the Irish a much-needed break before Friday’s quarterfinal contest. NC State will be the number-one seed after defeating the Irish last week.
Irish Stars:
Hannah Hidalgo: 20 points (2-2 3FGs), 9 rebounds, 6 assists, +6
Olivia Miles: 15 points (3-6 3FGs, 6-6 FTs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, +17
Liatu King: 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, +8
Key Team Stats:
Field Goal Percentage: ND (44%) - UL (30%)
Three Point Percentage: ND (40%) - UL (35%)
Free Throw Percentage: ND (78%) - UL (58%)
Rebounds: ND (48) - UL (40)
Blocks: ND (6) - UL (2)
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