DALLAS – Hannah Hidalgo was everywhere for the Fighting Irish in Notre Dame’s 88-63 victory over SMU inside Moody Coliseum on Sunday evening, finishing with 31 points, 11 steals, nine rebounds and three assists.
The Irish improved to 18-9 on the season and 10-6 in ACC play with the win.
Hidalgo now has eight games with 30 or more points this season and 17 in her career. The junior is one of just two players in the country with at least eight 30-point performances during the 2025-26 campaign.
Iyana Moore also had a standout performance, scoring 20 points off an impressive 8-of-13 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 effort from three-point range. Gisela Sanchez also finished in double figures in the scoring column with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Fighting Irish got off to a great start on the offensive end, finishing 11-of-16 from the field in the first quarter to build a 29-20 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. SMU held an 11-9 lead with just under 6 minutes left in the first quarter before the Irish ripped off nine straight points in a 2-minute span to go on top 18-11.
Notre Dame was able to push its lead to nine, holding a 29-20 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Six players registered points in the first frame, led by Moore who was on fire to start the contest. The grad student scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting to help the Irish build the early lead.
The Irish lead fluctuated between six and nine points for most of the second stanza with neither side stringing together a run. However, leading by six, Notre Dame scored the final four points of the half, all coming from Hidalgo, to take a 44-34 lead into the halftime intermission.
Moore and Hidalgo scored 12 points apiece in the first 20 minutes of action. The Irish defense forced the Mustangs into 15 turnovers in the first half and converted those into 13 points.
Notre Dame came out of the break dialed in on both ends of the floor and blew the game wide open by outscoring SMU 30-15 to expand the lead to 25 points by the end of the third quarter. The Irish scored 19 of the first 23 points of the third to go on top 63-38.
Five of Hidalgo’s 11 steals came in the third quarter as the point guard gave the Mustangs headache after headache when trying to bring the ball up the floor.
The two sides traded baskets in the fourth quarter with each team scoring 14 points, as the Irish cruised to the 88-63 ACC win on the road.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
With 11 steals, Hidalgo becomes just the second player at the women’s DI level since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season to have at least five career games with 10 or more steals, joining Chastadie Barrs from Lamar University.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
- The Irish improved to 4-1 against SMU in the all-time series and have won each of the last three matchups.
- The 25-point win represents the largest margin of victory in series history.
- Notre Dame has won five of its last six games, each victory by 10 or more points.
- Notre Dame finished with 18 steals, marking the 21st time the team has recorded double-digit steals in a game this season and 11th time it has finished with 15 or more steals.
- The Irish outscored SMU 26-6 in points off turnovers.
- Hidalgo has finished in double figures in the scoring column in all 93 games of her career, the longest streak in program history.
- Moore’s 20-point effort marks the third time the forward has scored 20 or more points this season and 19th time in her career.
- Moore has finished in double-figure scoring in each of her last five games and eight of the last nine.
UP NEXT
The Irish return home to Purcell Pavilion for their final home game of the regular season as they welcome Syracuse on Senior Night for a 7 p.m. ET tip on Thursday, Feb. 26. The game will be streamed on ACCNX.