Women's Hoops Opens ACC Play At Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Sandwiched between a pair of top-five home matchups against Texas and Connecticut, No. 10 Notre Dame (6-2) heads to Syracuse this weekend for its 2024-25 ACC opener. 

Notre Dame is coming off of a dramatic overtime victory over No. 4 Texas in Thursday’s SEC-ACC Challenge. The game featured 10 ties with five in the fourth quarter alone and was tied at 68 after 40 minutes. Notre Dame surrendered a bucket in the paint to start overtime before going on a 12-0 run to close out the game and give the Irish their second top-five win of the season. 

Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish with 30 points on the night and ranks third nationally in scoring with 24.9 points per game. Guards Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles also showed out, dropping 18 points each. Miles added 6 assists, and Citron added a career-high 7 steals. 

Of note, Hidalgo sits at 987 career points. Should she reach the 1000-point mark this weekend, she will have accomplished the feat in just 44 games. Currently, the fastest player to reach the mark is Beth Morgan. She did it in 60 games starting in 1993-94.

While Syracuse was Notre Dame’s kryptonite last year — the Orange beat the Irish twice — the younger group is struggling this season. Syracuse has had four different starting lineups in its nine games. Guards Sophie Burrows and Georgia Woolley plus forward Kyra Wood have started all of them, and Woolley is leading the Orange with 15.3 points per game. 

On paper, Syracuse has the No. 18 scoring defense in the ACC, but they did hold Texas A&M to 57 points in an SEC-ACC Challenge loss on Wednesday. The Orange have shot the ball well from deep this season, bringing a 35.9 success rate from beyond the arc into Sunday’s matchup. That ranks fifth in the conference. 

Notre Dame is 39-6 all-time against Syracuse. Sunday’s matinee tips off at noon and will air on the ACC Network.