WOMENS BASKETBALL

Notre Dame 82, Connecticut 67

PAT EATON-ROBB
ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORRS, Conn. - Freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo scored a season-high 34 points and No. 15 Notre Dame beat No. 8 UConn 82-67.

Hidalgo hit 14 of her 24 shots and had 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (15-4), which shot 55% from the floor against the Huskies (17-4).

Maddy Westbeld added 23 points and Sonia Citron had 15 as Notre Dame handed UConn its first home loss of the season.

Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points and 11 rebounds for UConn, which came into the game on a 13-game winning streak. Paige Bueckers added 17 points.

Notre Dame trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half. The Fighting Irish then outscored the Huskies 26-5, led by Hidalgo who had 19 first-half points, and went into the locker room up 44-35.

Bueckers opened the second half with a 3-pointer igniting a Husky run that saw UConn tie the game at 50 on a layup by Edwards and take the lead on a 3-pointer from the left corner by KK Arnold.

The game was tied at 60 after an Ice Brady free throw. But the Irish outscored the Huskies 22-7 over the last nine minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Notre Dame: Star guard Olivia Miles, who hasn’t played since suffering a right knee injury in last year’s regular-season finale in February, was out before the game putting up shots and cutting on her injured leg. The Fighting Irish were coming off a 14-point loss to No. 22 Syracuse on Thursday.

UConn: The Huskies honored four of its 11 national championship teams before the game and at halftime. Twenty-three former players, including WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart and former MVP Diana Taurasi were on hand for the ceremonies, which celebrated the 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 teams.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Notre Dame athletics press release

January 27, 2024