Notre Dame's Starters Feast; Irish Dominate Pitt 94-59

Photo via Notre Dame Athletics

The 18th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-2; 1-0) hosted the Pitt Panthers (7-7; 0-1) on Monday evening following a week-long break due to the holidays. With refreshed bodies and legs, the Irish were able to handle Pitt 94-59.

Notre Dame’s trio of Hannah Hidalgo, Iyana Moore, and Cassandre Prosper outscored Pitt by themselves with a combined 71 points. Hidalgo led the way offensively with another 30-point outing when her three-point shot was not falling. Prosper forced eight Pitt turnovers as she clamped the Panthers on the perimeter and down low, all while contributing 18 points on an efficient shooting night.

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The Irish started the game on a 12-3 run with Moore nailing two three-pointers to put the home team out front early. Malaya Cowles and Moore combined for 10 of the Irish’s first 12 points. Pitt was able to respond and made it a 14-10 contest with 4:00 on the clock. Notre Dame then put together an 11-2 run that was capped with a three-pointer from Kelly Ratigan that put the Irish ahead 25-12 with 1:23 remaining in the quarter. Pitt finished off the final minute-plus on a 5-2 stretch, leaving Notre Dame with a 27-17 lead after one quarter.

Notre Dame opened up the second on a 9-2 run, featuring six points on three buckets from Prosper, forcing a Pitt timeout after the Irish extended their lead to 36-19 just about four minutes into the frame. The Panthers were able to go on a 6-0 run following the quick break, forcing a Notre Dame timeout with their lead trimmed back down to 11. The Irish responded well to the timeout and closed out the final 4:26 on a 15-4 stretch, including nine points from Hidalgo. Pitt was able to tip in a buzzer-beater to close the half.

The Irish entered the half with a decisive 51-29 advantage. Hidalgo and Moore lit up the scoring column in the first twenty minutes, outscoring Pitt by themselves with 31 combined points. Hidalgo was all over the place, finishing with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals with just one turnover while playing the entire half. The Irish played clean with just one foul called against them in the first, leading to no free throw attempts for the Panthers. It was pure domination as they forced 11 turnovers on defense and shot 51% from the field, including 47% from deep.

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The first half of the third quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with Notre Dame maintaining a 57-34 lead at the 5:00 media timeout. Pitt’s Mikayla Johnson opened the third on a heater, scoring the first eight Panthers points. After Johnson converted an and-one opportunity that cut the Irish lead to 20, Notre Dame answered with a 6-0 run that extended their lead to 63-37 with 3:17 on the clock. The remainder of the quarter was a glorified free-throw contest highlighted by multiple fouls and sloppy turnovers from both teams. Pitt converted a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining to make it a 72-49 game heading into the final quarter.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-2 run in the first two minutes of the fourth with Prosper nailing two big-time threes that forced an early Pitt timeout with the Irish up 82-51. Out of the break, Moore hit her fifth three-pointer of the night to extend the Irish lead to 34. Moore and Cowles took care of the final seven minutes, scoring all of the Irish’s points during this span that featured some good back-and-forth between the two squads. Notre Dame’s 94-59 victory extends its win streak to five as ACC play officially ramps up.

Similar to the first half, the Irish were able to capitalize on Pitt’s turnovers and shut down the Panthers offensively. Pitt shot 0-5 from deep in the second half and turned the ball over 13 times as Notre Dame’s smothering play was too much for the road team.

Irish Stars of the Game:

Hannah Hidalgo - 30 points (13-23 FGs), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals (passed Niele Ivey for 2nd-most in program history), +34, 36 minutes

Iyana Moore - 23 points (7-13 FGs, 5-9 3FGs), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, +34, 39 minutes

Cassandre Prosper - 18 points (2-3 3FGs), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 4 steals, +36, 39 minutes

Malaya Cowles - 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, +20, 31 minutes 

Key Team Stats:

Field Goal Percentage - ND (49%) - Pitt (34%)

Three Point Percentage - ND (42%) - Pitt (27%)

Turnovers - Pitt (24) - ND (10)

Up next, the 18th-ranked Irish (10-2; 2-0) travel to Atlanta for an afternoon New Year’s Day tilt with Georgia Tech.

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