Following a gritty 3-0 road trip, the Notre Dame women’s team returns to Purcell Pavilion on a 14-game win streak as they host the Stanford Cardinal and the No. 21 California Golden Bears.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
It was a gutsy performance on the road from sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo that led the Irish to an 18-point victory over Louisville on Feb. 2. Despite a second quarter that saw Notre Dame get outscored 25-17 by the Cardinals, Hidalgo finished with a season-high 34 points along with four steals.
Now the number three team in the country looks to extend their 10-0 start in conference play against Stanford on Thursday. The Cardinal, who have started the year 11-10 with just a 3-7 record against the ACC, have yet another tough matchup for their fourth-ranked matchup in the last five games.
Despite their record, sophomore forward Nunu Agara is having a phenomenal season, averaging 17.4 points per game on 46.5% shooting, 8.1 rebounds per game, and two assists. The 6’2" Minnesota native has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, including a 22-point, 14-rebound showing against North Carolina on Feb. 2.
Elena Bosgana, a 6’2" guard from Greece in her senior season with the Cardinal, is the second-leading scorer on the team averaging 12.1 PPG on a 41.8% clip. However, she enters this one coming off her worst game of the season, shooting 1-11 with 3 points in 40 minutes of play.
The real test for the Irish comes on Sunday as they take on the 21st-ranked team in the country, the California Golden Bears, who enter South Bend 19-4, with a 7-3 record against the ACC. Like Stanford, California enters this matchup with a loss to North Carolina last week. Despite this, the Bears are 6-2 in their last eight games.
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Ioanna Krimili, the Golden Bears leading scorer with 15.4 PPG on 41.1% shooting, hails from Heraklion, Greece. The 5’10" senior guard has scored in double figures in her last four games, averaging 16.8 PPG over that span. Krimili is also a threat from beyond the arc, averaging eight threes per game, and knocks down 37.5%.
However, being the fifth-best team from deep in the ACC, and shooting 36% as a team, means there are plenty of more threats from three.
The Golden Bears have two players shooting above 40% from deep, including sophomore guard Lulu Twidale, who is shooting 40.6%. She has made three or more threes in 14 games this season, including a 4-7 performance in California’s win against Pittsburgh this past Sunday. While Twidale is averaging 13.3 PPG this season, she can be restrained should the Irish defend her on the perimeter. In nine games this season where Twidale has made two or fewer threes, she is averaging just 6.6 PPG.
Kayla Williams, the Golden Bears team leader in three-point percentage with a 41.8% clip from deep, has hit a wall since the turn of the new year. The senior guard has just one game since the end of December where she has hit multiple threes and is shooting just 33% in that span. While she averages far fewer threes per game than Twidale at just 3.4 per game, Williams will certainly be looking to shoot more against the number three team in the country. Williams, who is in her first year with the Bears after transferring from USC, is the team leader in assists with 4.3 and steals with 1.5.
The Irish have the chance to move to 12-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2015-16 season when they went undefeated in conference play. However, it will not be easy against two teams desperate for a big win.
While things are going great on the women’s side, the sky appears to be falling for the men, as they have lost back-to-back games against Miami and Florida State, moving to 10-12 on the season.
A road trip that was supposed to bring the Irish momentum and set them up for a run in the ACC, resulted in two losses that included poor second-half play. They will now host Virginia Tech on Saturday with just nine conference games remaining. It’ll be two teams more than desperate for a win as both teams enter under .500 and toward the bottom of the conference.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
These losses that the Irish are suffering are coming despite sophomore guard Markus Burton having an elite season, averaging 20.5 PPG and shooting 45.7% from the field. Since returning from injury, he has scored 20 or more points in seven of his nine games played, averaging 22 PPG over that span. Not only is he scoring at a high rate, but he also tied his season-high for steals with four against the Seminoles this past Tuesday and is averaging a team-high 1.6 on the season.
Virginia Tech, on the other hand, enters this one on a two-game win streak, with both wins coming on the road against Florida State and Virginia. It’s been good enough for eighth place in the conference with a 5-6 record, but a win against Notre Dame could do enough to get them to sixth should other losses happen around the league.
The Hokies have just one player averaging double figures on the year in junior forward Tobi Lawal. A London, England native, Lawal is averaging 13 PPG and shoots 58.9% from the field. Standing at 6’8”, he has scored in double figures in his last six games, averaging 15.5 PPG in that timeframe. Lawal also averages 6.7 RPG and grabbed 13 on Jan. 29 against Florida State.
It will be an interesting weekend for both Notre Dame teams, as the women’s team looks to ride the hot streak, as the men look to claw their way back into the fight.
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