During the Thanksgiving break, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team lost its win streak in the Cayman Islands Classic, taking two losses against Texas Christian University (TCU) and the University of Utah.
Game One: TCU 76, Notre Dame 68
The first game that the Irish played was against TCU, where they took the 76-68 loss against the Horned Frogs.
Both teams were strong starting out the first quarter. TCU scored first as it put up three points, but graduate guard Olivia Miles countered with three points to tie up the score. Shortly after, graduate forward Liatu King added on two free throws, senior guard Sonia Citron added on a layup and sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo added on two layups to bring the score to 11-3.
While the Horned Frogs were able to add on two points, Notre Dame responded as Hidalgo added on two free throws and sophomore guard Cassandre Prosper added on her first two points of the night to bring the score to 15-5. TCU responded with four points to bring the score to 15-9, but the Irish responded as King added on two more points to make the score 17-9. After a shooting foul on the Irish, the Horned Frogs were able to add two points for themselves, but the Irish posted the last points of the of the quarter with Hidalgo putting up a jump shot and King adding on a layup to bring the score to 21-11.
The Horned Frogs scored first in the second quarter with two free throws, but the Irish responded as Hidalgo added on a layup and a free throw to bring the score to 24-13. While the Horned Frogs were able to add on two more points for themselves, Hidalgo added on a three-point shot to make the score 27-15, but TCU responded quickly with a three-pointer to bring the score to 27-18.
Citron added on the next two points for the Irish to make the score 29-18, but the Horned Frogs responded with a layup of their own to bring the score to 29-20. In response to this, King added on a free throw and Hidalgo added on a layup for a 32-20 score, but the Horned Frogs added on nine points of their own to tighten the score to 32-29. The Irish scored the final points of the second quarter as Miles put up a three-point shot to make the score 35-29.
As the Irish held the lead heading into the third quarter, TCU scored the first four points to bring the score to 35-33, but the Irish responded as Hidalgo put up two free throws and Citron added a three-pointer to keep the Irish ahead 40-33. After a shooting foul on the Irish, the Horned Frogs put up two points, but the Irish quickly responded as King added on a free throw, Miles added a layup Hidalgo added on a layup and Citron added on a three-point shot to widen the score to 48-35.
TCU managed three more points after that, but Notre Dame kept the ball rolling as Prosper put up a free throw and Citron and Miles added on layups to bring the score to 53-39. TCU quickly responded with six more points before committing a shooting foul on Hidalgo, who put in a free throw to bring the score to 54-45. The Irish finished out the third quarter with Miles adding on a jump shot to make the score 56-45.
TCU came straight out of the gate heading into the fourth quarter, scoring the first eight points of the quarter to bring the score to 56-53 before Hidalgo responded with a layup of her own. The Horned Frogs then added on two more points before committing another shooting foul to allow the Irish to put on another point of their own to bring the score to 59-55. While TCU managed to put in another basket, Notre Dame wasted no time in responding as Miles put in a layup to bring the score to 61-57.
After the two teams went back and forth, TCU put in four points, but Miles responded with a layup to restore Notre Dame's lead at 63-61. Things then took a turn in favor of the Horned Frogs as they put up 10 more points to take the 71-63 lead over the Irish, but a shooting foul drawn by Hidalgo brought the score to 71-64. After a foul committed by the Irish, the Horned Frogs added on two more points, but Citron did not hesitate to put in a layup of her own to make the score 73-66. Two more shooting fouls were called on the Irish, allowing TCU to score two more points before Hidalgo countered with a layup to bring the score to 75-68. The Horned Frogs finished out the fourth quarter with a free throw to make the final score 76-68.
Hidalgo led the Irish with 26 points overall, while King led the team in rebounds with 13.
Game Two: Utah 78, Notre Dame 67
The Irish then played Utah but were again unable to secure a favorable result.
Notre Dame came out of the gate strong as they scored the first five points of the first quarter thanks to a three-point make from Citron and two free throws from Miles. While Utah tallied a layup to bring the score to 5-2, the Irish responded as King added on a layup and a jump shot to bring the score to 9-2. While Utah added two more points, Citron added on a layup and a jump shot to bring the score to 13-4.
Utah then rattled off eight points to bring the margin within one, but Prosper added on a three-point shot to bring the score to 16-12. Utah then took the 19-16 lead as it added on seven points. Hidalgo scored the final points of the first quarter with a layup to bring the score to 19-18.
Citron started off the second quarter strong for the Irish, adding on a layup to help the Irish regain the 20-19 lead, but Utah quickly responded with a layup of its own to restore the 21-20 lead. The Irish did not back down as Hidalgo put up a layup and a three-point shot and Miles added on a jump shot to bring the score to 27-21. While Utah put up two more points, the two teams went back and forth with multiple turnovers before Citron put up another layup to bring the score to 29-23.
A three-pointer from Utah brought the score within three, but Miles added on a layup and King added on a layup to bring the score to 33-26. Utah managed to make a comeback, adding on two more points before Notre Dame answered to keep the lead at 37-28. Utah finished the second quarter with two layups to make the score 37-32.
Utah came out strong after halftime and regained the lead, scoring 11 points before committing a shooting foul and allowing the Irish to score two more points to make the score 43-39. While Utah added on three more points, a shooting foul committed by Utah on Prosper allowed the Irish to gain two more points to make the score 46-41. Another shooting foul on Utah allowed Hidalgo to put two more points on the board for the Irish to bring the score to 46-43.
As Utah put up a three-point shot, Citron pushed back with a three-pointer of her own to keep the score within three at 49-46. Utah put in another three-point shot, but the Irish did not give up as Hidalgo put in a layup to bring the score to 52-48. At the end of the third quarter, Utah put up the last point to make the score 53-48 after a shooting foul was called on the Irish.
Utah continued to keep it momentum going heading into the fourth quarter, posting the first three points, but Citron added a layup for the Irish to bring the score to 56-50. Utah continued to pull away, scoring eight while Notre Dame could only manage four more, making the score 64-54. The Utes then put up four more points to bring the score to 68-54.
For the Irish, King added on a free throw and a layup, and Hidalgo added on a three-point shot and a layup to bring the score to 68-62. Utah quickly responded, adding on seven more points, but Citron and King countered with one layup each and King tacked on Notre Dame's final two points to bring the score to 75-67. Utah finished the fourth quarter scoring three more points to make the final score 78-67.
Citron scored 22 points while King led the Irish again on the interior with 11 rebounds.
Now 5-2 on the season, Notre Dame prepares to face off against Texas on Dec. 5th at 7 p.m.
