Winning ways continue
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue to win basketball games in impressive fashion. On Sunday, the Irish beat the SMU Mustangs 88-64 to stay unbeaten in ACC play.
From the ND press release:
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 3 Notre Dame (16-2, 7-0) notched an 11th consecutive win on Sunday evening, as the Irish downed visiting SMU (10-9, 2-5), 88-64. Notre Dame is 7-0 in conference play for the first time since 2015-16.
“This group plays with a ton of grit, edge and a toughness about them,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said postgame. “The way that they defend, their activity on the ball, trying to impose their will.”
Notre Dame scored 50 points in the paint and had 17 offensive rebounds in a game where the group had a major size advantage. The Irish had 12 turnovers after 21 against Georgia Tech on Thursday.
“We focused on taking care of the ball after having more turnovers than we wanted in the last game, and I thought that helped our offense execute a lot better,” Ivey added.
The Irish started slow and surrendered a 6-0 run to SMU, giving them an 8-5 lead at the media timeout. Hannah Hidalgo came out of the timeout with a steal and layup, her first points back after missing two games with an ankle sprain.
Notre Dame was hot for the latter half of the quarter, finishing on a 10-2 run while going 6-8 from the field. Olivia Miles had 7 points and 4 boards before leaving the game with an ankle injury. She returned in Q2 and buried a triple shortly thereafter, becoming the first player in the game to reach 10 points.
The offense to end the first frame carried over to start the second, as Notre Dame went on a 20-3 run from 3:38 in the first quarter to 6:17 in the second. The run in the second alone was 12-1. The Irish went 4-5 from the floor and 4-5 from the charity stripe. Notre Dame led by as many as 19 points in Q2, but SMU closed on an 11-5 run of its own to cut the lead to 13 at the half. They hit three treys during that run.
The Irish had a 41-28 lead at the break. Miles led all players with 13 points, and Hidalgo had 10. Sonia Citron had 3 blocks, and Hidalgo had 3 swipes.
Notre Dame started the second half on an 8-0 run, and Hidalgo had 6 additional points by the media timeout. Miles also notched her 10th rebound of the game, giving her the 25th double-double of her career. Notre Dame closed the third on a 9-0 run helped by 7 offensive boards (4 from Cassandre Prosper), carrying a 23-point advantage into the final frame. SMU did not score for the last 4:38.
“We’re such a great team, and I think getting offensive rebounds is what I can bring to this team,” Prosper said of her work on the boards. “It’s something I can control. You don’t know if shots will go in, but rebounding and defense I can control.”
Both offenses came alive to close the game; Notre Dame went 11-15 and SMU went 10-15 in the fourth quarter. Hidalgo notched a double-double herself and finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals. Miles had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Four finished in double-figures; Citron had 11 despite a slow start, and Liatu King had 10.
On the day, Notre Dame was 20-25 from the free throw line, tied for the most makes at the charity stripe this season. Both Hidalgo and Miles went 5-5.
Notre Dame will be on the road for its next three games — Boston College (Jan. 23), Virginia Tech (Jan. 30) and Louisville (Feb. 2). Thursday’s game in Chestnut Hill will tip off at 7 p.m.
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