After a season-opening blowout against Mercyhurst with a 105-61 win on Monday, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team looks ahead to face off against Purdue on Sunday. Last year, the team took a 76-39 win over the Boilermakers at Purcell Pavilion.
Notre Dame started off the first quarter strong in last season's contest, as current junior guard KK Bransford shot a free throw and a jumpshot to score the first three points of the game. Closely following, current graduate forward Maddy Westbeld put up her first four points of the afternoon, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo added two and then-senior forward Natalija Marshall added two, making the score 11-0. A jumpshot, layup and three-point shot from Purdue closed the gap to 11-7, but the Irish responded as Hidalgo made two more layups to make the score 15-7. A layup from Purdue and a three-pointer from former graduate student guard Anna DeWolfe made the score 18-9. Hidalgo added another layup to round out the first quarter, making the score 20-11.
With this lead, the two teams went back and forth during the second quarter until DeWolfe made a three-pointer to make the score 23-11. Two free throws from Purdue made the score 23-13, but the Irish wasted no time as Marshall made three jump shots and Westbeld made a layup and a jumper to make the score 33-13. Purdue managed a pair of two-point buckets to make the score 33-16, but two successful free throws from Hidalgo made the score 35-16. After one more layup from Purdue, the final score in the second quarter was 35-18 in favor of the Irish.
Marshall and Westbeld kept the ball rolling in the third quarter as Westbeld made a jumpshot and a layup, while Marshall added two layups to make the score 43-18. Bransford would add two free throws in response to points scored by Purdue to make the score 45-21. Nine points scored by Hidalgo, five points from DeWolfe and two points from Bransford ended the third quarter with a score of 61-25 in Notre Dame's favor.
With this 30-point lead, the Irish kept the momentum going in the fourth quarter as current graduate forward Kylee Watson added her first points of the day within the first 20 seconds of the quarter's opening inbound to make the score 63-25. After two points from Purdue, Hidalgo and Marshall each put up a pair of points to make the score 67-27. Purdue managed five more points for itself, but then-graduate forward Becky Obinma put up her first points on the day to put the Irish ahead 69-32. Two points from Purdue made the score 69-34, but Notre Dame responded as Obinma and Hidalgo both put in a layup for a 73-34 score. A jumpshot and a three-point shot made by the Boilermakers brought the score 74-39, but Bransford finished the game with two free throws to make the final score 76-39.
Hidalgo led the Irish on offense with a total of 23 points, closely followed by Westbeld who finished the day with a total of 15 points. Marshall also contributed 14 points for the Irish. On the inside, Westbeld took the lead as she totaled 12 rebounds, with Hidalgo closely behind having 10 rebounds for Notre Dame.
With that big win in mind, this year the Irish prepare to keep their success going as they prepare to travel and face off against Purdue on Nov. 10 starting at 7 p.m.
