Following the 49-point victory on Thursday against Stanford, Notre Dame fans could only hope the Irish women's basketball team would continue to play as well against a much tougher, 21st-ranked Cal team. The Irish took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back to go on multiple suffocating offensive and defensive runs. Winning 91-52, the Irish remain undefeated in conference play at 12-0 with an average margin of victory at home of 33 points.
Graduate forward Maddy Westbeld swished her first shot attempt of the first quarter to tie the game at 3-3. Then, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo gave the Irish their first lead of the game at 6-5 with a stepback three with 7:41 remaining in the first quarter. Hidalgo finished with 24 points, shooting 4 of 5 from 3-point range with 5 assists and 4 steals. The Irish retook the lead, 8-7, on a jumper from graduate forward Liza Karlen and never looked back. The Notre Dame defense was suffocating for Cal as it had 2 blocks and forced 7 turnovers in the first quarter. A 3-point jumper from Lulu Twidale for Cal cut the first-quarter lead to 22-15, but this was the closest Cal would be throughout the rest of the contest.
Notre Dame regained its stride on an offensive barrage in the second quarter. In the last six minutes of the second quarter, the Irish went on a 15-2 run, capitalized by a monstrous block on freshman forward Kate Koval on defense and back-to-back Westbeld jumpers. The latter finished with 9 points. The Irish defense was suffocating for Cal, which shot below 30% from the field and the 3-point line in the first half. The Irish held a ranked team averaging 73.9 points per game to 23 points in the first half to lead 44-23 at the break.
After the game, head coach Niele Ivey said, “We forced 21 turnovers, and I thought their [Notre Dame's] defense was fantastic. We held them [Cal] below their average, and then offensively, I think we’re growing and getting better. I thought we did a great job with 46 points in the paint, and we had 20 assists.”
Notre Dame picked up right where it left off in the third quarter. Westbeld and Karlen were put in difficult positions with foul trouble, but Koval stepped up to play critical defense for the Irish again. Cal hit a 3 to bring the game back within 20 points at 47-28 with 8:11 left in the third. The 6-0 run was quickly terminated by the Irish as Hidalgo stretched the lead past 20 with an elbow jumper to make it 49-28. Notre Dame’s shooting was simply too efficient for Cal to stay close, as the Irish shot 55.7% from the field, and 50% from 3-point range (8 for 16).
Graduate guard Olivia Miles made multiple highlight plays throughout the game, including a stepback 3-pointer to bring the lead out to 52-28 with 6:28 left in the third. The Irish would finish the final 5:19 of the third quarter with another 18-2 run. They held Cal to 1-for-9 shooting over that stretch with three turnovers.
The third quarter ended with the Irish ahead by 37 points, 72-35. Senior guard Sonia Citron finished the third quarter with 7 points. Overall, she had 16 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.
After the game, she said, “We are just working game by game, just preparing [for] the next game like it’s our biggest game of the season. So just not looking ahead and focusing in on our preparation.”
The Irish ballooned the lead to as many as 41 in the fourth quarter and gave the fans free nachos with 88-plus points in back-to-back games. Earning their sixth ranked win of the season, the Irish are catching stride at the right time before the ACC Tournament. The Irish are 21-2 overall, including 12-0 at home with victories against top-five-ranked Texas and UConn. Their next major test to finishing conference play undefeated is against No. 10 Duke on Monday, Feb. 17. A Thursday trip to Pittsburgh awaits before that showdown in South Bend.
