At a sold-out senior night in Purcell Pavilion, the Irish looked to close the home stretch of the season on a strong note. Sitting at 18-9 and even with Clemson for eighth place in the ACC, Notre Dame had an opportunity to earn a big win ahead of the conference tournament. The Syracuse Orange, only one game ahead of the Irish in the ACC, presented a big opportunity for the Irish to extend their three-game winning streak and move up the standings. Controlling the second half and closing the game strong, Notre Dame won 72-62 over Syracuse and now looks ahead to Louisville.
The game began with senior guard Cassandre Prosper sinking a midrange shot. In her final Irish home game, Prosper had an efficient 16 points and seven rebounds to finish second in scoring. Notre Dame went ahead 11-8 halfway through the first quarter with the help of a layup from senior guard KK Bransford. The Orange took their first lead at 12-11 on a layup after an Irish turnover. The Irish quickly went back in front as Niele Ivey’s group finished the last minute and a half of the first on a six-point run. Both teams failed to connect on a 3-pointer, going a collective 0-11 in the first quarter.
Notre Dame continued the momentum in the second quarter by forcing turnovers. The Irish created a collective 10 steals on the night, led by junior guard Hannah Hidalgo with seven. The Irish played off the energy of the sold-out crowd, winning the turnover margin. After two consecutive turnovers forced by the Irish defense, Notre Dame was up to a 25-18 lead. Syracuse junior guard Sophie Burrows finally sank the first long-distance shot of the game for the Orange to cut the lead back to four at 25-21. Then, Syracuse pulled the game back in its favor with another 3-pointer. The Irish closed out the half by retaking the momentum as Ivey’s defense held Syracuse scoreless over the final 3:28 to lead 37-32 at halftime.
The lead ballooned up to 10 points at the start of the third as senior forward Malaya Cowles finished a layup for Notre Dame. Cowles finished with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists to help control the paint and boards for Notre Dame. The Orange cut it back to five points with five minutes to play in the third quarter on a pair of free throws, but the Irish continued to hold on in front. Notre Dame held on with a 49-48 lead after the third. Notre Dame’s final home game of the season came down to the final 10 minutes.
The Irish continued with timely baskets at the beginning the quarter with a 9-4 run sparked by a 3-pointer from graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus. The barrage continued as graduate guard Iyana Moore added another three points to bring the score to 63-54 with five minutes to go. Notre Dame shot 47% from the field but only 15% from three-point range, compared with 39% from the field and 20% from deep for Syracuse. Hidalgo and the Irish were able to hang on and earn the 72-62 victory to close out senior night.
Hidalgo led the way again with 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Hidalgo has now scored double-digit points in every game of her three-year Irish career. Leading the country in steals, she has averaged 5.6 per game over the season as a ferocious point-of-attack defender. She will have to continue this recent string of dominant defense to give Notre Dame hope for a conference tournament run or any success in March Madness.
Niele Ivey’s team will finish the season at No. 10 Louisville on Sunday. With a chance to move as high as fifth in the ACC standings with a win, the Irish have an opportunity to improve seeding for the conference tournament with hopes of another NCAA Tournament run. It’s up to Ivey’s creative coaching and Hannah Hidalgo as the offensive engine for Notre Dame’s final stretch in this season.
