No. 10 Notre Dame handed No. 4 Texas its first lack of the season with an 80-70 extra time win on Thursday night time. It was a recreation stuffed with drama, however the Combating Irish survived to snap a two-game shedding streak.
“They performed with their hearts,” mentioned Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey. “They performed with ardour and hearth. I am simply actually pleased with this group.”
It actually did take a whole lot of psychological power to drag off the victory after a tricky finish to regulation. Olivia Miles drove to the basket and hit what gave the impression to be the successful layup for the Irish with simply two seconds remaining, however then there was a whistle.
Notre Dame’s Liatu King moved her arm up and made contact with Texas’ Rori Harmon. Officers known as a foul with only a second to play, and Harmon tied the sport and despatched it to extra time by making two free throws.
The group at Purcell Pavilion was audibly sad, however Notre Dame remained centered. Texas obtained the primary bucket in extra time, after which by no means scored once more.
Hannah Hidalgo led the successful effort with 30 factors whereas going 11 of 20 from the sphere together with eight rebounds, 4 assists and three steals. Miles and Sonia Citron had been additionally key contributors and added 18 factors apiece. Citron registered a team-high seven steals. In the meantime, King accomplished a double-double of 10 factors and 12 rebounds.
It has been fairly a season for the Irish, who upset then-No. 3 USC on Nov. 23, however then misplaced back-to-back video games in opposition to TCU and Utah final week. There’s not a lot time to rejoice as a result of they tackle Syracuse on Sunday and have a date with No. 2 UConn subsequent Thursday.
However earlier than we get too forward of ourselves, listed below are among the key takeaways from Notre Dame’s win in opposition to Texas:
Shorthanded Notre Dame has the nation’s greatest backcourt
Now 6-2 on the 12 months, Notre Dame took down a really gifted Texas (7-1) roster with simply six gamers. Sure, solely six gamers noticed the courtroom on Thursday due to that pesky harm bug that stored Miles out for effectively over a 12 months.
It is a exhausting factor to realize, however Hidalgo noticed it coming. Forward of the season, she warned CBS Sports activities that Miles’ return would considerably open up the ground for Notre Dame and the Irish would play “quick and livid.” Hidalgo and Miles have confirmed to be a dynamic duo from the start, as each know create alternatives for themselves and their teammates by taking part in sensible and never forcing something.
Individually they’re each elite gamers, however what makes them so harmful is how effectively they play with one another. Simply consider how a lot chemistry you should have along with your teammate to drag off a no-look, over-the-head help whereas sitting on the ground:
That was clearly the spotlight of the night time, however there have been many different good examples of Hidalgo and Miles working collectively, together with this one:
Notre Dame’s protection made a huge effect
Texas has a whole lot of guard depth and entered Thursday’s recreation because the No. 1 crew within the nation in offensive ranking, however Notre Dame’s zone protection gave the Longhorns loads of points. Texas solely scored 12 factors within the second quarter, which was the bottom complete in 1 / 4 for Vic Schaefer’s crew to this point within the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
The Irish held the Longhorns to only 4 factors within the paint via the primary two quarters — even supposing Texas is often a stable crew within the paint.
What stored Texas from falling too far behind within the first half was its three-point capturing, which was surprising because the Longhorns arrived to this recreation averaging simply 2.9 3-pointers per contest. Shay Holle had made a complete of six 3-pointers via the primary seven video games of the season, however she made 4 within the first half in opposition to Notre Dame.
Texas additionally had 23 turnovers, which is effectively above its common of 14.1 per recreation.
Freshman Cassandre Prosper was the lone bench contributor for Notre Dame and solely performed 16 minutes, however even she obtained a pleasant defensive spotlight on Thursday:
Madison Booker was hooping regardless of loss
Booker rose to the highlight final season after Rori Harmon suffered a season-ending harm and she or he needed to take over on the level guard place as a freshman — a tall job for a participant who was a wing in highschool. Harmon is again, however Booker’s basketball IQ remains to be on full show when she is on the courtroom with how vocal she is and the way she will get issues finished it doesn’t matter what.
As a crew, it was clear Texas was struggling in opposition to Notre Dame’s protection, however Booker managed to place up a team-high 20 factors together with eight rebounds and 5 assists.
