SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame needed a statement first half. The Irish delivered.
On Thursday, the nation’s No. 3 team moved to 20-2 on the year and 11-0 in the ACC, defeating Stanford (11-11, 3-8), 96-47. It was the largest loss in Cardinal women’s basketball history, the eighth largest margin of victory for Notre Dame in a conference game since joining the ACC, and was once again a team effort on both ends of the floor. Hannah Hidalgo paced Notre Dame with 24 points and went 9-10 from the field to close out the game. Olivia Miles had another 20-point showing with four treys and added 7 boards and 4 assists. Liatu King had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 5 swipes.
Both offenses were quiet to start, as the Irish went 3-10 from the floor and Stanford was 2-8. Miles had 5 of Notre Dame’s first 9 points, but the Irish defense was the story. Notre Dame forced 10 first quarter turnovers, including 5 steals by five different players, and had 11 points off of them. The Irish had a 17-8 lead after 10.
Notre Dame lit up the scoreboard in the second quarter with 33 points and 9 more forced turnovers to make the total 19 for the visitors at the half. Maddy Westbeld got the party started with a 7-0 run for herself, including a triple. The Irish put together a 20-0 run and stretched the lead to 44-13.
The Irish outscored the Cardinal 33-7 and had a 50-15 lead at the half, their largest lead over an ACC team at halftime since 2019. They ended the first 20 minutes on a 26-2 run and had 12 steals. They entered Thursday night averaging 11.5 per game. Hidalgo, Miles and Westbeld had 11 points each, and Westbeld was 5-5 from the floor.
“I thought they took better shots and we executed better,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said of the improvement after Q1. “We got a couple of actions, some pindowns. In transition we had a chance to get downhill, get better touches and get inside the paint.”
Notre Dame started the third on a triple from Miles, who was 4-4 from deep at the time. The Irish finished with 26 points in Q3, 11 of which came from Hidalgo, after a 22-9 run to start the frame.
“When you’re hurt, and especially hurt as bad as I was, there’s really not much you can do other than shoot,” Miles said of her 3-point improvement after ACL surgery. “I took the time to rep those shots and gain confidence and trust in myself. Might as well let it fly.”
Cassandre…
