SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 15 Notre Dame (1-0) women’s basketball started off the season strong on Wednesday, downing FDU (0-1), 98-52. Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 27 points, while Vanessa de Jesus followed with a career-high 22. Gisela Sanchez also had her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
As a team, the Irish were hot from beyond the arc. Notre Dame went 9-17 (52.9 percent), including a 4-6 showing from de Jesus. The Irish also played lock down defense for the most part, finishing with 11 steals and four blocks and turning over the Knights 19 times. Cassandre Prosper led the way in the block category (4) and also finished with a team-leading five assists.
“I think they’re doing a great job of playing off of each other,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said of her defense. “I think that will continue to grow, but that’s something we are hanging our hat on. They work so hard and are so competitive defensively, and it’s something that they love to do, which is great.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame got off to a hot start with a 9-0 run — a pair of buckets from KK Bransford, a lay up from Prosper and a triple from Hidalgo. FDU racked up a few points of its own from there, scoring 11 of the next 21, but Notre Dame responded. The Irish led 27-13 after the first quarter, a frame that included 13 points from Hidalgo.
The second quarter started similar to the first, as Notre Dame scored the first 12 points. Sanchez started the scoring with a jumper — she hit her first three shots of the game — before Bransford had back-to-back layups, Hidalgo hit a jumper and a free throw, and de Jesus scored from beyond the arc.
FDU did not score in the second quarter until 3:16 left in the half, a bucket that was quickly followed by a triple from local product and Loyola Maryland transfer Kelly Ratigan.
Notre Dame went to the locker room up 50-20. Hidalgo led the way with 20 points, and Sanchez had seven boards. The Irish shot 58 percent from the floor and went 4-8 from deep. They scored 20 points off the Knights’ 11 turnovers.
Neither team shot particularly well coming out of the break. Notre Dame was 4-11 midway through the third quarter, while FDU was 4-10. Prosper had the first two made shots of the frame. The Irish heated up once again, going on an 11-0 run over a 90-second period midway through the frame. The exclamation point of the run was a Hidalgo backcourt steal sandwiched between two layups from the All-American. The Irish continued to pour it on, wrapping up a 27-15 quarter with a Sanchez high-post jumper just before the buzzer.
To close it out, the Irish hit three more triples in the fourth quarter, including a bucket from Luci Jensen.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will return to Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, as the Irish host Chicago State (1-1) at 3 p.m. The Irish are 3-0 all-time against the Cougars, and the teams last met in 2023 in South Bend.