Vanderbilt basketball will face an intriguing matchup in the Sweet 16 of Women’s March Madness.
The No. 2 seed Commodores (29-4) will take on No. 6 seed Notre Dame (24-10) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 27 (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).
The Fighting Irish upset No. 3 Ohio State in the second round to clinch their spot in the Sweet 16. The winner of Notre Dame vs Vanderbilt will face the winner of No. 4 seed North Carolina and No. 1 seed UConn. While many have focused on a potential matchup against the Huskies in the Elite Eight, Vanderbilt must get by Notre Dame first.
Here’s our scouting report and prediction:
SEC Player of the Year Mikayla Blakes and ACC Player of the Year Hannah Hidalgo, both top national player of the year contenders, will be going head-to-head.
Blakes, a sophomore guard, brings the scoring prowess to the table as the country’s top scorer (27.1 points a game). Hidalgo, a junior guard, averages 25.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 steals per game.
The two played together on the United States team for the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in 2025, where Blakes was named the tournament MVP.
Iyana Moore, a guard who was at Vanderbilt for four seasons, left the program in the offseason for Notre Dame, where she spent her fifth year as a grad transfer.
Moore is averaging 12.2 points per game, just under the 12.4 she averaged in 2024-25 with the Commodores. She is shooting a career-high 39.7% from 3-point range.
Notre Dame got off to a relatively slow start to the season, but the Irish coalesced into a better team as the postseason approached. They’ve won 11 of their past 13 games, including upsets of Ohio State and Louisville. The most dangerous team in the postseason is often a hot team, and the Fighting Irish have been as hot as anyone.
Vanderbilt 75, Notre Dame 63
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
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