Notre Dame Shocks #10 Louisville; Hidalgo Takes Over with 30-Point Double-Double
- Brenden Duffy
- 15 hours ago
- 5 min read
Notre Dame picked up an enormous win on Sunday, upsetting the 10th-ranked Louisville Cardinals on the road. With the Irish’s 65-62 victory, they have earned the 5th-seed in the ACC Tournament and enter the postseason playing their best basketball with five straight wins.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Notre Dame (19-9; 11-6) faced a tall task on Sunday as nearly 11-point underdogs at Louisville (25-5; 15-2). With a win, the Cardinals would have completed a season sweep of the Irish and would earn a split of the regular season ACC Championship with Duke. Hannah Hidalgo spoiled those dreams, recording 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals in a big-time momentum win heading into the most important time of the season. With just four Notre Dame players scoring in the win, nine made three-pointers compared to seven from Louisville proved to be the difference.
Louisville kicked off a low-scoring first quarter for both sides with an early 4-0 lead. The Cardinals held the Irish scoreless for the first 4:26 of the game before Hidalgo finally got the Irish on the board with a layup. Following another minute-plus stretch with no scoring, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run capped with a three from Mackenly Randolph to take a 9-2 lead with 3:11 left in the quarter. After 3:44 of the Irish going scoreless, Malaya Cowles was able to hit a layup to cut the deficit to five with just under two minutes on the clock. With 1:14 left, Louisville’s Imari Berry converted an and-one opportunity to complete a three-point play that put the Cardinals ahead 12-4. The Irish were able to avoid complete disaster when Vanessa de Jesus nailed a three with 37 seconds left to tie the Irish’s season-low mark for scoring in one quarter with seven points. Louisville would lead 12-7 after one, as the Irish shot 3-14 from the field to open the game.Â
I do not know what flipped, but the second quarter was all Notre Dame, with the three-ball falling over and over again. After Louisville hit two free throws to open the quarter’s scoring, De Jesus and Iyana Moore buried back-to-back threes to immediately put the Irish right back in the game, trailing just 13-14 1:43 into the frame. Berry was able to make a mid-range jumper to extend Louisville’s lead to three, but Hidalgo responded in a big way for the Irish, going on an 8-0 run by herself, featuring a converted and-one opportunity and a three-pointer that handed Notre Dame its first lead of the game, 21-16 with 5:05 on the clock. Berry was able to knock down a three for the Cardinals, but the Irish responded with a big 10-0 run, with four points from Hidalgo and threes from De Jesus and Moore, to extend their lead to 31-19 with 2:54 left. Berry hit another three to cut the home squad’s lead to nine, but wouldn’t you know it, De Jesus responded with her third three of the quarter to maintain the Irish’s 12-point advantage. Following a couple of traded baskets in the final minute, including two made free throws by Hidalgo, Notre Dame entered the halftime break with a 36-24 lead. The Irish out-scored Louisville 29-12 in the second quarter, shooting 6-6 from three as Hidalgo and De Jesus combined for 21 of the team’s 29 points.
Top-ten ranked Louisville would not go away without a fight, though. They opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run to cut the Irish lead to 38-33 with 5:41 on the clock. The Irish were able to follow that up with a quick 5-0 run begun off a three by Moore that extended the Notre Dame lead to ten. With Hidalgo on the bench to catch her breath, Louisville took advantage of two Irish turnovers and converted back-to-back threes to cut their deficit to just four, 45-41, with 1:36 left. Unsurprisingly, Hidalgo immediately checked back in. In the final minute, Hidalgo outscored Louisville’s Tajianna Roberts 5-4, featuring a buzzer-beater three that sent the Irish into the final quarter with a 50-45 advantage. Hidalgo led the Irish’s offensive efforts in the third with a team-high seven points as just one of the three Notre Dame players to score during the frame.
Hidalgo opened up the fourth quarter with a layup off a steal by De Jesus to put the Irish ahead by seven. However, Louisville countered with a 7-0 run that tied the game at 52 with 7:37 to play. Following a made shot by Moore that put the Irish back up by two, the Irish pulled Hidalgo from 6:52 - 4:44 with four fouls. The Cardinals took advantage, going on an 8-2 run during this stretch to take a 60-56 lead. When Hidalgo re-entered after the media timeout, she took over, pacing the Irish on a 7-0 run where she had five points as Notre Dame took a 63-60 lead with 2:10 to play. Following a shooting foul by Moore, Louisville was able to make it a 63-62 game with 54 seconds to play. At the 14-second mark, Hidalgo secured her fifth and most important steal, and the Irish’s upset victory. She would make a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining to push the visitors’ lead to three, 65-62. Louisville would turn the ball over on the next possession after throwing the ball to the other sideline on a sideline out-of-bounds play. However, the Irish would give it right back after failing to successfully inbounds the ball, with De Jesus throwing the ball off Hidalgo’s ankles and out of bounds. Fortunately, Louisville’s potential game-tying shot came up short, and the Irish were able to lock down their biggest win of the season in their finale. Hidalgo led all fourth quarter scorers with nine points on 3-3 shooting from the field as Notre Dame led 65-62 with the buzzer sounding.
Notre Dame wraps up the regular season with a 20-9 overall record and 12-6 in ACC play. The Irish will be the 5th seed in this season’s ACC Tournament and are set to face the winner of the 12/13 seed game on March 5 at 1:30 PM EST.
Irish Stars
Hannah Hidalgo: 30 points (9-13 FGs, 2-3 3FGs, 10-10 FTs), 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, +15, 36 minutes played
Vanessa de Jesus: 14 points (4-7 3FGs), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, +6, 36 minutes played
Key Team Stats
Field Goal Percentage: LOU (41%) - ND (40%)
Three Point Percentage: ND (47%) - LOU (32%)
Free Throw Percentage: LOU (92%) - ND (91%)
Bench Points: LOU (18) - ND (0)
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