Lights, camera, action. It’s showtime for Notre Dame women’s basketball.
Over the next three weeks, the Irish, currently ranked sixth in the country, will face three programs positioned inside the nation’s top four, travel to the Cayman Islands and open ACC play. Going 4-0 with a 42.5-point average margin of victory against a handful of overmatched opponents was a nice start for Notre Dame. Now, we’re all about to find out what the ceiling of this team really looks like.
The stretch begins with a trip to Los Angeles for a Saturday clash with No. 3 USC. The two longtime football rivals announced a home-and-home series in July, with the Trojans set to visit South Bend during the 2025-26 season. Like Notre Dame, USC has an unbeaten start going, as the Trojans are 4-0 with an opening win against No. 20 Ole Miss and lopsided victories over Cal Poly, Cal State-Northridge and Santa Clara since then.
Notre Dame’s fast start
Two weeks into the season, Notre Dame hasn’t played a close game yet. The Irish defeated Mercyhurst, Purdue and James Madison before most recently blowing out Lafayette on the road Sunday. In the 91-55 win, Notre Dame set a new program record with 15 three-pointers, hitting a remarkable 11 triples in the first half alone.
Playing just across the Delaware River from her home state of New Jersey, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo led the way from Notre Dame with five threes and 29 points. The performance, which followed up a 24-point effort last Wednesday against JMU, earned Hidalgo a share of ACC Player of the Week honors. With four 20-point games on the season, she currently ranks inside the nation’s top five for points per game (25.0) and steals per game (5.3).
Freshman forward Kate Koval has also broken out in the absence of graduate forward Liatu King. The Ukrainian rookie collected ACC Co-Rookie of the Week honors with back-to-back double-doubles, the first of her career, against JMU and Lafayette. Koval averaged 16.5 points, 17.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocks in the two games while setting a Notre Dame freshman record with 19 boards on Sunday. She currently leads women’s college basketball in blocks per game (5.5) while ranking second in rebounds per contest (13.0).
Beyond Hidalgo and Koval, Notre Dame has three more players scoring in double-figures to start the year. Graduate guard Olivia Miles has kept humming right along since her season-opening triple-double, averaging 18.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Sophomore guard Cassandre Prosper, also returning from a long-term injury, has averaged 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. Senior guard Sonia Citron hasn’t broken into her usual scoring form yet, but her 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game have made for strong contributions.
Storylines made for Hollywood
When you talk about Notre Dame and USC, you have to start with Hannah Hidalgo and JuJu Watkins. Both landed on the Associated Press All-American First Team last year, Hidalgo leading the nation in steals (4.6 per game) and Watkins ranking second in scoring (27.1 points per game).
What the two sophomore stars accomplished as freshmen could fill out an entire story. Hidalgo broke Notre Dame single-season records in points per game, steals per game and free-throw attempts. Watkins broke the national record for freshman scoring and smashed USC records for points in a game and free throws made in a season. Hidalgo became the ACC Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Watkins took home ESON and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Both women won gold for Team USA at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup.
Last year, Hidalgo went toe-to-toe with another ultra-decorated classmate, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, and outdueled her in an Irish road victory. Notre Dame’s then-freshman phenom tallied a ridiculous 34 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. UConn’s superstar mustered only 17 points and two boards. With Hidalgo outscoring Bueckers by 17, the Irish outscored their non-conference rivals by 15 en route to a statement victory.
Getting back to Notre Dame and USC, both teams made massive transfer portal additions during the offseason. While Notre Dame’s Liatu King, the 2024 ACC Most Improved Player at Pittsburgh, and graduate forward Liza Karlen, a 2024 All-Big East First Team selection at Marquette, have not been healthy, USC’s terrific newcomers have.
A graduate forward formerly at Stanford, Kiki Iriafen was an Honorable Mention All-American and the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year last season. To start her USC career, she’s got 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at an efficient field-goal percentage of 54.0. Then there’s graduate guard Talia von Oelhoffen, whose Oregon State Beavers eliminated Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 back on March 29. A model of consistency, von Oelhoffen has posted at least 10 points per game in four of her full collegiate seasons. Despite a slow start scoring-wise, she ranks just a touch behind Watkins for the team lead at 4.5 assists per game.
USC’s other two starters are freshman Kennedy Smith and senior Rayah Marshall. Smith, a former California Gatorade Player of the Year, has averaged 10.3 points in her first four collegiate games. Known best for her defense, Marshall has an efficient 9.0 points per game (66.7 field-goal percentage) and 6.8 rebounds per contest. Off the Trojan bench, look for another freshman, Kayleigh Heckel, to make an impact. She and Kate Koval attended the same high school, Long Island Lutheran, with both players leaving as McDonald’s All-Americans and five-star recruits. Through four games, Heckel ranks fourth among the Trojans with 9.8 points per game and delivered a 16-point, five-steal game against Cal Poly two weeks ago.
Notre Dame and USC will tip off at the Galen Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
