Notre Dame women’s basketball has made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and will take on No. 2 seeded Vanderbilt for a chance to advance to the Elite Eight.
The Irish already scored one upset this tournament, defeating Ohio State 83-73 in the second-round, in what amounted to a home game for the Buckeyes. Notre Dame will look to make it two in-a-row, as the Commodores will be a tough challenge.
There is so much on the line for the Irish today, as they’ll try to prove to the country once again that they’re one of the top programs nationally. Follow along below for live scoring updates, highlights and analysis is Notre Dame’s Sweet 16 matchup against Vanderbilt.
Galvan takes a three but misses and again grabs her own rebound. Blakes misses a three pointer as well and Notre Dame pulls of the upset yet again!
Notre Dame throws the ball in and is immediately fouled. Vanderbilt has fouls to give. Notre Dame then passes it in to Prosper who is fouled and she will shoot free throws. Prosper misses the first free throw. Prosper makes the second. Timeout.
Blakes takes the ball and loses it, Notre Dame ball.
Hannah gets the inbound pass and makes an incredible pass to Prosper for an easy layup. Timeout Vanderbilt.
Prosper misses the first free throw, makes the second. Hidalgo gets the steal and makes the layup, Irish up two! Hidalgo goes for another steal but this time a little too physical and a foul is called. Galvan will shoot two free throws. She makes her first. And then makes her second. Hannah cuts between two Commodores but cannot convert. Irish grab the offensive rebound and Notre Dame calls timeout.
Moore misses another open three-point shot. She is now 0-7 from behind the three-point stripe. Hidalgo finds Moore again for another three pointer, and again, miss. De Jesus commits her fifth foul on Blakes. Blakes misses the first free throw. She makes her second free throw. Vanderbilt has their first lead since they were up 5-4 according to a graphic. Not for long, Moore makes a jumper. Blakes then answers with her own mid-range jump shot. Prosper goes to the rim and draws a foul. Timeout.
Hidalgo gets blocked at the rim and Mitchell ties the game up on the other end. Bransford is blocked by Mitchell but Notre Dame will retain possession. Hidalgo forces a tough three point shot to beat the shot clock but misses. Blakes takes a tough 1 on 2 layup on the other end but cannot connect, great defense by Moore. De Jesus goes to the rim and has an offensive foul. She has not had a great game. Galvan takes a one-footed jumper but cannot make it.
Right at the start of the quarter Hidalgo makes a layup. Blakes responds with a long jump shot of her own. Blakes shoots two free throws and makes both. It’s just a four point game with 9 minutes left. Hannah goes to the rim and dishes it out to De Jesus who airballs a three point shot. Notre dame is 0-10 from three for the game. Brown takes it to the hole and draws a foul on Hidalgo, her third foul of the game. Brown makes one of two free throws. Stop me if you’ve heard this before but Hidalgo takes it to the rim and makes another layup. Blakes finishes in the paint, she’s now made four of her last five shot attempts. De Jesus has a wide open three point shot but this time she makes it. Moore takes a wide open three but cannot connect. Blakes takes it to the rim and makes a difficult left-handed shot and draws a foul. Blakes makes the free throw. De Jesus misses the three point shot and Galvan on the other ends makes hers and we have a tied ball game. Hannah finds Moore for an open three and she misses. Blakes does a spin move to the rim but can’t convert. Hannah can convert a layup on the other end to give Notre Dame the lead back. Offensive foul on Vanderbilt. Timeout.
Vanderbilt loses the ball again, they now have a season-high 20 turnovers. Cowles makes a shot at the rim. Vanderbilt answers with their own shot by Justine Pissott at the rim. Moore shoots the three but it misses. Hidalgo drives to the basket and makes a difficult shot while getting the foul call. Hannah makes the free throw. Galvan makes a jump shot from the free throw line. Hidalgo finds Prosper who takes it to the rim but does not convert. Moore fouls Galvan while she is shooting a three point shot. Galvan misses the first free throw. She makes the second and third. Hidalgo finds Bransford and leads her to an easy basket. Blakes takes it to the basket and makes it. She is now 3-18 from the court. Hidalgo takes it to the rim but cannot convert. End of the third quarter.
Notre Dame with a turnover right out of the gate. Blakes misses on the other end. Prosper is able to make a layup and they are first to score in the second half. Hannah Hidalgo gets her eighth steal and draws a foul. Hannah makes both free throws. Galvan misses a three point shot but gets her own rebound and scores. Iyana Moore misses a three pointer in the corner. Vanderbilt makes a three point shot. Notre Dame can’t get anything going and has a shot-clock violation. Hidalgo with another steal which turns into two points for Cowles. Blakes misses at the rim on the other end and Hidalgo converts her own layup. Hidalgo now with 20 for the game. Brown is able to hit a three for Vanderbilt to keep things close. Prosper finds an open lane and converts on one of the easiest layups she’s had all season. Blakes responds on the other end with a long two. Bransford gets a nice pass from Moore and converts at the rim. Galvan misses a long jumper and Hidalgo grabs the rebound. Prosper shoots the three but it misses. Galvan misses a running jumper. Hidalgo makes too hard of a pass that leads to a turnover. Timeout.
Cowles misses at the rim and Vanderbilt answers with a three point shot on the other end and it is now a 9-0 run for Vanderbilt. Hidalgo takes it right to the rim and she now has 14 points for the game. Galvan again shoots a three point shot and she now has back to back treys. Notre Dame is not able to hold on to the ball and it is a jumpball and Vanderbilt ball. Vanderbilt isn’t able to convert at the rim and Notre Dame takes it to the other end but Moore is stripped. Blakes misses a shot at the rim. Prosper takes it to the rim herself and is fouled on the attempt and will shoot free throws. Free throws made. Lots of contact but no foul called for Vanderbilt. Hidalgo takes it to the rim and scores again for the Irish. Galvan draws a foul and misses the first free throw. Makes the second. Hidalgo with a beautiful cut to the rim but cannot make the basket, it’s halftime.
Blakes makes both free throws again. Bransford is called for the travel. Vanderbilt now commits a 3-second violation, Irish ball. Hannah isn’t able to connect on the jump shot. Blakes gets to the rim and draws another foul. Blakes will look to improve from her 6/6 from the free throw line. And she does, making both. Blakes now has 9 points. Hidalgo is not able to convert the tough shot and Blakes takes a step-back three point shot but is not able to convert. Iyana Moore commits a foul on the rebound. Blakes takes another three, and another miss, followed by another Vanderbilt offensive rebound. Galvan makes an incredible layup and Notre Dame calls a time out.
Hannah Hidalgo gets her fifth steal right ouf o the timeout and makes the layup. And thena gain, yes Hannah Hidalgo immediately gets her sixth steal after but Notre Dame isn’t able to convert this time. Another turnover by Vanderbilt, this time Moore with the steal. Graphic shows that Vanderbilt has made two field goals and committed 14 turnovers at this point. And as I type that, Hannah gets another steal and layup, Irish on a 8-0 run. Vanderbilt is finally able to break the drought with a basket from Blakes. Hannah answers with another basket at the rim and she now has 12 points and 7 steals in the first half. Hannah Hidalgo blocks a shot this time but Vanderbilt is able to get the offensive rebound and are able to draw a foul.
Prosper goes right at Vanderbilt but is blocked twice. Vanderbilt commits another turnover and the Irish get it back. That’s 11 turnovers for Vanderbilt now. Notre Dame misses their shot but grabs an offensive rebound, but again, another missed shot. Neither team has been able to put the ball in the basket so far today. Cowles to Prosper and finally someone scores in the second quarter with a little over eight minutes left. Cowles gets a nice bucket again under the rim and Vanderbilt calls a time out.
Prosper splits the free throws. Bransford makes a nice steal and goes to the rim but is fouled. She will shoot two free throws. She makes both free throws. Vanderbilt is scoreless for the last 4:18. Vanderbilt commits another turnover, their 6th on the day and we’ll see if Notre Dame can capitalize. They can, with Hannah Hidalgo finding Cowles for an easy layup. Hannah with yet another steal but resets. Iyana Moore gets on the scoreboard with a circus shot that happens to fall. M Blakes gets to the free throw line and makes both shots. Vanderbilt finally breaks their scoreless stretch. Hannah Hidalgo gets a layup. Vanderbilt is now 1-10 in the first quarter. De Jesus steals the ball but Moore misses the layup. Bransford commits a foul on Blakes and Blakes hits two more free throws. Notre Dame misses two shots at the rim and Vanderbilt wil have the final chance in the first quarter. Galvana scores on a rebound with two seconds left and we’re at the end of the first quarter.
Back and forth misses by both teams but finally Notre Dame breaks the scoreless tie with a Hannah Hidalgo layup. The next minute-and-half is more scoreless basketball as no one is able to make a basket. Vanderbilt gets on the score board with Washington scoring on the block while drawing a foul and she makes the free throw. Vanderbilt’s Galvana goes to the rim and draws the first foul on Hidalgo. She will shoot two free throws. The SEC freshman of the year makes both free throws and the Commodores are up 5-2. Cassandra Proper hits a jumper to end the Vanderbilt run. Both teams have combined for 3/10 from the field early in the game. Hannah Hidalgo is able to take it to the rim and helps Notre Dame take the lead. Hannah already has two steals. Hannah Hidalgo is able to tie up Washington for a jump ball and it will be Vanderbilt ball. Some very sloppy basketball being played. Prosper is fouled and will shoot free throws. Media timeout.
The anticipation is high, and it very much looks like the Irish are ready for this contest. Holding Mikayla Blakes in check will be a big task, and if Notre Dame can do that, they’ll be in a good shape to advance.
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