SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Irish are back on track.
On Thursday, No. 10 Notre Dame (6-2) defeated the second-consecutive top-five opponent it faced, downing No. 4 Texas (7-1) in overtime, 80-70. The Irish beat No. 3 USC on the road a couple of weeks ago.
“This team turned the page,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said after the win. “They came out, and they responded with their defense. The mental toughness and focus that this group had this week, this result was because of them coming in and getting back to work. I’m really proud of this team.”
The game started as a back-and-forth affair with four ties and a combined six treys, three for each team. Hannah Hidalgo had 10 points and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of Q1.
Notre Dame hit a couple more deep shots in the second quarter and started 4-6 from the floor from deep. Hidalgo facilitated a “play-of-the-year” level sequence with just over 8 minutes to go in the frame, diving for a steal and throwing the ball backward over her head to a waiting Olivia Miles, who notched the easy layup.
smiling and kicking our feet rn 😆😆@HannahHidalgo → @oliviamiles06
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/RoA3igq0oK— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) December 6, 2024
Meanwhile the Longhorns went cold, failing to score for more than 2 minutes twice in the second quarter, including to close out the half. Notre Dame held the 39-34 lead after 20 minutes, and Hidalgo had 19 points to lead all players. That is tied for her most in a half this year.
Notre Dame tied its biggest lead of the game at the 5:21 mark in Q3, taking a 47-40 advantage. The Irish had cold spells of their own, including a 3:30 span in the third. Notre Dame had a 5-point lead heading into the final quarter.
It was tied at 55 with 8:21 left before the teams started trading buckets down the stretch. A Miles layup with 2 seconds left gave Notre Dame a 68-66 advantage before an Irish foul led to two free throws for Texas’ Rori Harmon. She nailed them both, starting extra basketball. There were five lead changes in the fourth quarter alone.
Notre Dame took off from there, outscoring the visitors 12-2 in the final 5 minutes of the game. Hidalgo and Citron hit back-to-back 3-pointers to ice the game. The Irish ended on a 12-0 run.
Hidalgo posted her first 30-point game of the year, while Miles and Citron had 18 points each. Miles led the Irish with 6 assists and Liatu King had 12 rebounds. It is her sixth game this season with 10+ rebounds and her fourth double-double. Citron also had 7 steals, smashing her previous career-high of 4.
“I think we fought,” Citron said when asked about the difference between this game and the previous two. “Every single one of us played hard for 40, 45 minutes. I hope you could see just how hard we were working. We had each other’s backs and played together. Ultimately, we fought, and we were tough.”
“Soni, the always solid, poised veteran that she is, stepped up and made huge plays, time after time,” Ivey added of her senior wing. “We were undersized in the post, so I thought she did a great job getting in there, getting rebounds, getting tips.”
Freshman Kate Koval added five more blocks and continues to lead the conference with 3.9 rejections per game.
Notre Dame heads back on the road this weekend to face Syracuse (4-5). The game tips off at noon on the ACC Network.