| GAME 22 | No. 3 Notre Dame (19-2, 10-0) vs Stanford (11-10, 3-7) |
|---|---|
| WHEN: | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 8:30 p.m. |
| WHERE | Purcell Pavilion | South Bend, Ind. |
| WATCH: | ESPN |
| LISTEN: | Notre Dame Radio Network |
| SOCIAL: | @NDWBB | #GOIRISH |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 3 Notre Dame (19-2, 10-0) is back in Purcell Pavilion on Thursday after a three-game road swing to Boston College, Virginia Tech and Louisville. This time, Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey’s squad hosts ACC newbie Stanford (11-10, 3-7).
The Irish are riding a 14-game win streak with dynamic duo Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles at the center of it. In the last two games alone, the All-American guards have combined for 96 points and they’ve gone 24-25 from the free throw line.
Hidalgo ranks second in the nation in scoring with 26.1 points per game, less than 0.1 points away from the nation’s lead. Miles ranks sixth nationally with 6.5 assists per contest and is pacing the league in that category.
Down low, Liatu King continues to be the glue that holds everything together, seemingly in the mix for every rebound and shooting an impressive 57.6 percent from the field, which leads the ACC. She went 8-9 at Louisville, finishing with 16 points and 12 boards, her ninth double-double of the year. She is also one of just two players in the nation averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and a block per game.
Stanford is having a down year under first-year head coach Kate Paye, who took over for Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer. The Cardinal also lost Kiki Iriafen and Cameron Brink but have a young core this year led by sophomore Nunu Agara. The forward is averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, shooting 46.5 percent from the floor and 34.1 from deep (15-44). Agara also ranks second on the team with 43 assists this year.
The Cardinal sit in the middle of the pack in the ACC in terms of scoring offense (ninth), scoring defense (11th) and field goal percentage (ninth). Stanford shoots the deep ball well, however, sitting second in the conference with a 36.9 success rate from beyond the arc only behind Notre Dame (40.7).
Thursday’s game on ESPN tips off at 8 p.m. Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli will be on the call. Notre Dame is 2-4 all-time against Stanford, and the teams have not met since 2019. The Cardinal have visited South Bend just once (1991).