Notre Dame women’s basketball will travel to Oxford, Mississippi where they will face No. 13 Ole Miss in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 4. The Irish are currently 5-1 on the season, placing them second in the ACC and 18th in the nation for NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball. Notre Dame has pulled off impressive feats against Fairleigh Dickinson University, Akron, USC, Central Michigan and a 58-point victory over Chicago State. Although the Irish fell short to Michigan earlier in their season at the 2025 Shamrock Classic, they’re looking to continue their two-game win streak.
In their most recent 83-51 victory over Central Michigan, junior guard Hannah Hidalgo continued to dominate the stats sheets as she’s done all season long, leading Notre Dame with 25 points. Hidalgo, earlier in November against Akron set the program record for points scored in a single-game with 44 and set the NCAA Division 1 record for steals with 16. Aside from her statistics Hidalgo’s been put on the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award, Lieberman Award and Naismith Award watchlists for her performance on and off the court.
Aside from Hidalgo, four other Irish players put up double digit numbers, with senior guard KK Bransford and graduate guard Iyana Moore both scoring 12 points. Bransford has won a number of ACC accolades including regular season champion and tournament champion, which is largely due to her being a “jack-of-all-trades” player especially after her sophomore season where she played every position except for the five. Moore, who spent her undergraduate time at Vanderbilt, has earned many SEC honors, including All-SEC Second team, and has already broken her career record of five steals. She is hoping to break her career record of points, which she set at Vanderbilt with 23.
The Rebels are currently first in the SEC, opening their season 7-0 for the first time since the 2008-2009 season they’ve been able to pull off such a feat. Ole Miss has dominated the court in non-conference play, producing a 41 point win over Norfolk State and two wins by over 50 points against Southern and Longwood. Most recently, the Rebels found success in dominating George Mason 81-67.
This season’s roster boasts many players who have allowed the offense to be extremely explosive on all parts of the court. Senior forward Christeen Iwuala led Ole Miss against George Mason with 21 points, shooting 72.7% from the field and totaling 10 rebounds. Iwuala not only excelled during the tournament, but has shown consistent efforts having two double-doubles prior to last weekend’s matchups. Alongside Iwuala, senior guard Debreasha Powe and senior forward Cotie McMahon scored 14 points each, a monumental accomplishment for all three players. The last time an individual player scored double-digit points for the Rebels in the first seven games was in the 2020-21 season.
McMahon has led Ole Miss in points this season, averaging 17.7 per game, and boasts a number of accolades, earning an AP All-American Honorable Mention in 2024 and 2025, a USBWA All-American Honorable Mention in 2024 and spot in the top-10 finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award.
Iwuala is both an offensive and defensive weapon for the Rebels, averaging 17.4 points per game but leading with an average of nine rebounds. After spending her first two seasons at UCLA, Iwuala transferred to Ole Miss where she was a pivotal player during the SEC tournament and NCAA tournament. Although she only averaged 6.8 points per game in these two occasions, she averaged about five rebounds per game. With these two forwards playing at their best, Notre Dame will have tough competition to overcome if they want to win the ACC/SEC showdown.
The Irish and Rebels will tip off at 9 p.m. in the Pavilion at Ole Miss on Dec. 4 before traveling to play Florida State on Dec. 7.
