Two weeks ago, Notre Dame women’s basketball didn’t follow up its road win at No. 3 USC very well, losing two games to lesser opponents at the Cayman Islands Classic.
The 10th-ranked Irish faced a similar proposition on Sunday afternoon in upstate New York. Coming off Thursday’s overtime triumph against No. 4 Texas, Notre Dame would either backtrack against a Syracuse team that swept it last year or build against a weakened 2024-25 Orange squad.
Head coach Niele Ivey made sure the Irish chose the latter, leading to a 93-62 Notre Dame win to begin ACC play.
“I talked about just making sure that we were prepared and ready,” Ivey said. “We didn’t get a chance to have that many days to prepare, but they knew the focus … I think we’ve learned a lot this season. I’ve learned what this group needs, and so I try to make sure our practice and our preparation is preparing us for short turnarounds like today.”
You wouldn’t know it from the lopsided final score, but Notre Dame took a while to find its game at the JMA Wireless Dome. Guilty of nine turnovers in the first quarter alone, the Irish kept the Orange very much in the game early. On a three-pointer by returning sophomore guard Emma Risch and a combined 14 points from the Irish backcourt duo of sophomore Hannah Hidalgo and graduate student Olivia Miles, the Irish led 21-20 through 10 minutes.
“I just didn’t think we started the way I would’ve liked,” Ivey said. “[It] could’ve been mental fatigue, but at the end of the day, my expectation is for us to have positive assist-to-turnover ratios and play the right way … They know how to play. They know spacing [and] things that we’ve been working on, so we just have to make the right reads.”
Notre Dame cleaned up the turnover problem in the second quarter but still struggled to pull away as both teams went cold on offense. At halftime, the Irish led by seven points at 36-29. They would outscore the Orange by a 57-33 margin from that point forward.
“[The players] came back ready in the second half. They were focused – I think we started the second half really focused on our defense, focused on our pace,” Ivey recalled. “We thought that Syracuse might have shown a little bit of zone, so I thought that we did a really better job of shot selection, got to the rim, made big threes and got some stops and got out in transition. I thought that really changed the pace.”
Just over a minute into the second half, senior guard Sonia Citron sparked the Irish with a three-pointer set up by Hidalgo’s steal. Moments later, Hidalgo made program history with a left-wing three-ball in front of the Irish bench. The trifecta made her the fastest player in Notre Dame women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.
By a lot.
The previous record-holder, Beth Morgan-Cunningham ‘97, made it to four digits in 60 games. Hidalgo arrived there in just 44.
“It’s truly a blessing to be able to reach that goal, considering all of the guards — Arike [Ogunbowale], Skylar [Diggins-Smith], Jewell [Loyd] — all of these top guards that have come through this program,” Hidalgo said. “I’m truly blessed and honored to be able to have this accolade.”
Notre Dame would keep rolling from there, ending the third quarter on a 22-7 run to lead 65-42 through 30 minutes of play. The Irish shot at a 64.7% clip from the floor in quarter three alone, rattling off 29 points to leave Syracuse out of reach.
The fourth quarter brought on more of the same, with Notre Dame tallying 28 points to end an ACC road game with at least 90 regulation points for the first time in Ivey’s head coaching tenure. To her point, Notre Dame’s transition game played a major role, with the Irish outsourcing Syracuse 25-4 on the fastbreak after halftime.
Sunday’s game also afforded a chance for all five Irish starters to contribute heading into another huge test against UConn. Notre Dame’s three guards all finished with double-doubles. Citron went for a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds on four three-pointers. Hidalgo added 24 points and 10 rebounds. Miles nearly triple-doubled with 20 points, 10 boards and eight assists.
The frontcourt of graduate student Liatu King and freshman Kate Koval also factored in, as both players took part in their first ACC game with Notre Dame. King hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds, also contributing five points and six steals. Koval overcame her early turnover woes to finish with 12 points, her highest total in three weeks.
With both forwards active in different ways, Notre Dame’s offense opened up, the scoreboard reflecting that.
“When you have a presence like Kate and you have versatility with [King], it really helps offset our guards because it gives us a target, but it also gives us a lot of flexibility within our offense,” Ivey described.
“Kate’s a freshman — she plays like she’s not a freshman. And Liatu — she’s what, six-foot? She plays bigger than that,” Hidalgo added.
Beyond Hidalgo’s milestone, Notre Dame accomplished a few rare feats on the stat sheets. For the first time since the 2022 NCAA Tournament, three Irish players scored 20 points or more. Three Notre Dame players double-doubled for the first time since the 2019 Final Four. Three went for double-digit rebounds for the first time since 2017.
Keira Scott (16 points), Sophie Burrows (13) and Georgia Woolley (10) each scored in double-figures for Syracuse.
“[I’m] very excited about this win … our first ACC win,” Ivey said. “Statement win in the ACC. This is a really tough place to play, so I’m really excited about this win.”
Now at 7-2 on the season, Notre Dame will host UConn at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Shamrock Classic. Ranked second in the nation as of Sunday, the Huskies have raced out to an 8-0 start and destroyed No. 22 Louisville on Saturday in Brooklyn for their third ranked win of the season. Last January, the Irish defeated UConn on the road, 82-67, as Hidalgo exploded for 34 points and 10 rebounds to outduel fellow superstar Paige Bueckers.
