No. 18 Notre Dame had its first ranked battle of the season as it traveled to Detroit, Michigan, to play No. 14 Michigan in the Shamrock Classic on Saturday. Both teams entered undefeated and had dominated to begin their seasons.
In last year’s NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame hosted the Wolverines during the second round. The Irish prevailed in the previous matchup, winning 76-55 and advancing to the Sweet 16, where they faced TCU. Even though it has been less than a year since the two programs last faced each other, Notre Dame is a completely different-looking team. Junior guard Hannah Hidalgo is the only player who was in both last year’s and this year’s starting lineups. On the other hand, Michigan retained three out of its five starters.
The Wolverines came out hot, scoring the first seven points of the game. Graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus put the Irish on the board, sinking two free throws. The team struggled shooting in the first period and was 4-16 from the field and 0-7 from three. On the other side, Michigan sophomore Syla Sword’s nine points led her team to a 17-10 lead after a quarter.
Notre Dame had the first points of the second period off a layup from senior guard Cassandre Prosper. The momentum would not last long as Michigan quickly answered back with a layup of its own. The Wolverines would maintain control for most of the quarter, with a 29-19 score by its end.
The Irish were not able to quell their cold shooting in the first half, going 10-30 on field goals and just 15% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, their opponents connected on 50% of their threes and 47% of their shots overall. Senior guard KK Bransford led the first-half scoring charge for Notre Dame. She had a game-high 12 points, but would be facing a 46-29 deficit to start the second half.
Olivia Olson was determined to silence any chance of an Irish comeback. The sophomore had the first points of the half on a pull-up jumper, quickly followed by a 3-pointer. Olson was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points, with six in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Michigan continued to outpace the Irish, leading them 28-12. At the final buzzer, the Wolverines had a commanding 93-54 lead, completely flipping the script from last season in the rematch.
Prosper was both the top scorer and top rebounder for Notre Dame with 17 points and eight boards. She has averaged 18.5 points per game this season, the second most for the Irish. Just behind her was Bransford, who had 15 points of her own.
The win for the Wolverines was largely due to their defense’s ability to stifle Hidalgo. Notre Dame’s superstar guard was coming off a historic 44-point, 16-steal performance, but the Wolverines held her to just 12 points on 4-21 shooting. Through the first three games of the season, Hidalgo averaged 34.3 points, the highest in the nation.
The Wolverines completely dominated the rebounding battle, hauling in 50, compared to just 28 for the Irish. In the three wins this season, Notre Dame had averaged over 14 more rebounds than its opponents.
The Irish have another tough matchup incoming as they host the No. 8 USC Trojans. In the NCAA Tournament last season, USC lost in the Elite Eight to the eventual national champion, UConn. Even with junior guard JuJu Watkins out with an injury, the Trojans will be a tough opponent for a Notre Dame team looking to get back into the win column.
