NCAA TOURNAMENT: Notre Dame takes down Vanderbilt to advance to the Elite Eight – One Foot Down

Hannah Hidalgo’s triple double helps the Irish take out Vanderbilt for a ticket to the Elite Eight.
For the first time since 2019, the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team is hoiung to the Elite Eight. The Irish took down 2-seed Vanderbilt 67-64. Hanah Hidalgo was a hardwood goddess against Vandy, and with a MASSIVE chip on her shoulder as a 2nd team AP All-American and a non-finalist for the Naismith — she outshined the nation’s leading scorer, Mikayla Blakes.
Hidalgo went off for a triple double damn near racked up a quadruple double as she scored 31 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, stole the ball 10 times, and dished out 7 assists. It was a game in which Hidalgo carried her team — although Cassandre Prosper did score 15 points to help the cause.
Hidalgo’s Triple-Double Performance Sends Irish To Elite Eight
FORT WORTH, Texas – For the 11th time in program history, the Fighting Irish are headed to the Elite Eight. Notre Dame knocked off No. 2 seed Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen matchup by a score of 67-64 in Fort Worth on Friday afternoon.
The Irish will take on the winner of No. 1 seed UConn and No. 4 seed UNC on Sunday, March 29 in Fort Worth, Texas inside Dickies Arena. The game will air on one of the ESPN family of networks.
Notre Dame continues to play its best basketball at the best time of the season, winning 10 of its last 11 games.
Hannah Hidalgo is playing on another level in March and that continued on Friday. She did everything on the court for the Irish, posting a triple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals, seven assists and a block.
With 10 steals, Hidalgo became the all-time NCAA single-season record holder for steals with 199, breaking Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs’ record of 192 which was set in 2019. She also set the NCAA Tournament record for steals in a single tournament with 26.
Cassandre Prosper also had a noteworthy performance, scoring 15 points to go along with five rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Commodores took an early 5-2 lead before the Irish locked down on the defensive end to propel an 11-0 run over a 5-minute span to go on top by a score of 13-5. Vanderbilt trimmed the lead to four by the end of the quarter, as the Irish held a 15-11 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of play.
The Irish defense forced Vanderbilt into 10 turnovers in the first frame while allowing it to shoot just 2-for-12 from the field.
Notre Dame scored 10 of the first 12 points over the first 5 minutes of the second to push the lead to 12 points at 25-13. Hidalgo spurred the run, scoring six of Notre Dame’s 10 points in the stretch.
Vanderbilt refused to go away, scoring the next nine points to make it a one-possession game at 25-22. The Irish then outscored the Commodores 6-4 over the remainder of the half to take a 31-26 lead into the halftime break.
Hidalgo had 16 points, seven steals, four rebounds, two assists and a block in the first 20 minutes of play to lead Notre Dame. The Irish defense held Vanderbilt to 23.1 percent shooting, which was the lowest field-goal percentage allowed by Notre Dame in a half of an NCAA Tournament game since Robert Morris shot 21.9 percent in the second half on March 17, 2017.
Notre Dame scored the first four points of the second half before Vanderbilt answered with five of their own to make it a four-point game at 35-31.
After a layup from Malaya Cowles pushed the lead back to six the lead fluctuated between six and 10 points for the remainder of the quarter, with both teams trading shots to make the score 50-44 at the end of the third stanza.
Hidalgo opened the fourth with a layup to push the lead back to eight before the Commodores scored the next five points to cut the lead to three at 52-49. Vanderbilt managed to claw back and tie the game at 57-57 off a three-point make with just under six minutes left in regulation.
Vanderbilt managed to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game off a made free throw to go up 60-59 with just over 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The lead went back and forth over the next minute until Vanderbilt converted two free throws with 56 seconds remaining to tie it at 64-64.
The Irish inbounded the ball with 26 seconds left in regulation on the offensive end of the floor. Hidalgo jumped up and grabbed the pass between two defenders and then wrapped a pass around an oncoming defender to Prosper, who converted the layup to put Notre Dame up 66-64 with 23 seconds left.
Vanderbilt turned the ball over on the next possession before Prosper knocked down one of two free throws to push the advantage to three at 67-64. The Commodores had one last chance to tie the game but both three-point attempts were off target as Notre Dame came away with the victory to advance in the tournament.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
Hidalgo’s 30-point triple-double is just the second in women’s NCAA Tournament history, joining Caitlin Clark. Hidalgo is the first player since steals have been tracked in 1988 to have 30 points and 10 steals in an NCAA Tournament game.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
UP NEXT
The Irish will take on the winner of No. 1 seed UConn and No. 4 seed UNC on Sunday, March 29 inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament with a spot in the Final Four in Phoenix on the line. The game will air on one of the ESPN family of networks.
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The Irish upset Ohio State and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the 5th straight season
The Irish look to get back to the Sweet Sixteen, but have to go through the 3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes to get there.
Notre Dame advances to the round of 32 after taking down Fairfield in the first round.
Time for Hannah Hidalgo and company to shine for Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
Can the Irish get to the Sweet Sixteen again, and can they do more?
Notre Dame heads to Columbus for the first round of the NCAA Tournament; Print your full bracket here
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