DURHAM, N.C. — A strong second half lifted Notre Dame to a highly coveted ACC road win on Monday, as the No. 19 Irish (19-6, 9-5) defeated Duke (16-9, 8-6), 70-62. Notre Dame is just the third team this season to put up 70 points in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Hannah Hidalgo finished the night with 23 points, shooting 7-16 from the floor. Maddy Westbeld had 14 points, followed by Sonia Citron with 12 points. Westbeld had a team-high 9 rebounds.
“We got a lot of work out of the [Thursday] NC State game because both NC State and Duke are great defensive teams,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said after the win. “We learned a lot and went back to work this weekend to get better and fix our offense. I thought we shot the ball really well, and when you set great screens and space the floor, good things happen.”
The game started as a back-and-forth affair with three lead changes and two ties. Notre Dame countered a Duke 8-0 run with 9-2 of its own. Notre Dame had the 16-15 advantage after a quarter thanks in part to treys from Anna DeWolfe, Hidalgo and Citron, in that order. Duke’s Reigan Richardson had a pair of her own.
The offensive stagnation that has recently plagued Notre Dame returned in the second quarter. The Irish went 3-12 from the floor and scored 5 of 11 Q2 points at the charity stripe.
All in all, Notre Dame played clean defense with just three first-half fouls, but Duke got to the basket at will. The paint point advantage went in favor of the home team, 16-6. It was 30-27 at the half, Duke on top. Hidalgo led the team with 11 points. Westbeld had 5 boards.
Hidalgo hit a 3-pointer out of the break, but Taina Mair knocked down one of her own immediately after. Each time Notre Dame scored, Duke countered. Until they didn’t.
Notre Dame took the lead 40-37 on back-to-back buckets from KK Bransford. Westbeld added a jumper to give Notre Dame its largest lead of the game, just 5 points. The Blue Devils called a timeout but couldn’t score out of the break. They were held scoreless for the last 6:30 of the third while Notre Dame went on a 14-0 run. The 16-6 halftime paint advantage for Duke was nearly erased (20-18, Duke). The Irish shot an impressive 66.7% from the floor in the third, 10-15 from the floor. Duke scored just 9 points in Q3.
Bransford and Nat Marshall kept the hot streak in the paint going into the final quarter. They finished with a combined 14 points, all in the second half.
“Sometimes I have her run the point, sometimes she’s at the 4 and we’re trying to find opportunities to post her up,” Ivey said of Bransford. “I thought she did a great job on defense and making plays in transition.”
Duke cut the lead to 63-56 at one point before a dagger of a jumper landed for Hidalgo, and Notre Dame went back up by 9 with 1:18 to go. The Blue Devils had to start fouling, and Westbeld knocked down both of her subsequent free throws. The game was effectively over from there. Notre Dame outscored Duke 43-32 in the second half.
The Irish are back at Purcell Pavilion on Thursday, as they host Clemson (11-15, 4-10) at 7 p.m.