In several ways, Notre Dame’s 92-46 women’s basketball defeat of James Madison University on Wednesday looked very familiar. An Irish offense on fire to start the year nearly hit the century mark again. Sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo made a game-high total of 24 points look exceptionally easy, tacking on six rebounds and four steals. Graduate guard Olivia Miles continued her dynamic return to college basketball, posting 16 points, six boards and eight assists.
And then there were Kate Koval and Cassandre Prosper. Relative to their more established teammates, the two hadn’t yet warranted the spotlight this season. Head coach Niele Ivey made sure they felt received their due attention after Wednesday’s win.
“These two were my players of the game,” Ivey said, pointing to Prosper and Koval, who sat beside her at the postgame presser. “I thought they brought incredible energy.”
Koval, Notre Dame’s highly acclaimed freshman forward from Ukraine, showcased her dominant capabilities all night, posting her first collegiate double-double. She did it with room to spare, too. With 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks Koval helped the Irish to a plus-24 margin in both field-goal percentage and points in the paint.
“I think [with] the physicality of the game she’s getting more comfortable,” Ivey mentioned.
Prosper also had a big adjustment to make, specific to Wednesday night. Through three quarters, the junior guard was humming along in her usual role as Ivey’s first option off the bench. However, early in the fourth, graduate forward Liatu King went down with an apparent head injury, forcing Prosper to play center, where her motor didn’t stop.
“She’s just doing whatever it takes for us to win. I thought her energy defensively – again, playing above her size, help rotations – she’s just all over it,” Ivey said of Prosper. “She was taking great shots and being so active on both sides of the ball,” Ivey added.
That productivity turned into an 11-point, seven-rebound night from Prosper, who played north of 30 minutes for the second time this season.
King would make sure she got hers long before the injury occurred, opening the game with six of Notre Dame’s first eight points. Hidalgo added eight points of her own in the first 10 minutes, moving the Irish into a 21-11 advantage at the end of one quarter with a late lay-in. James Madison came out hot from deep, draining a trio of three-pointers in the opening eight minutes alone, but Notre Dame’s better overall efficiency and 17-8 rebounding advantage allowed it the 10-point lead entering quarter two.
That second quarter would play as Notre Dame’s best of the night on offense. The Irish tallied 26 points, including all seven of Sonia Citron’s night in the senior guard’s first game at Purcell Pavilion this year, to carry a 47-23 lead into halftime. Even after a successful first 20 minutes, Ivey continued to challenge her team.
“We had a couple of moments where our defense was a little bit slower than expected,” Ivey said. “I talked about that at halftime.”
Notre Dame would respond in the third quarter, limiting the Dukes to nine points to go up 67-32 entering the fourth. While Koval continued to block everything in sight, the Irish as a team found another high-octane moment — albeit not as impressive as Miles’ Sunday buzzer-beater at Purdue — late in the third. After sophomore guard Emma Risch nailed her second triple in four minutes, Koval pawed away a steal and turned Hidalgo loose on a breakaway. The five-point-in-15-second sequence made an electric factory of Purcell Pavilion. Ivey praised the crowd after the game.
Despite King’s departure in the fourth, Notre Dame wouldn’t slow down, as Hidalgo notched the final 11 of her 24 points to finalize a 46-point victory.
Sunday afternoon will take the 3-0 Irish to the small town of Easton, Pennsylvania, for a date with Lafayette. The 2 p.m. tip-off will begin a homecoming game for Olivia Miles, who grew up across the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
