FORT WORTH, TX ― Vanderbilt women’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament run has come to an end
The No. 2 seed Commodores (29-5) fell to No. 6 seed Notre Dame 67-64 in the Sweet 16 on March 27 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The Commodores have not made the Elite 8 since 2002.
Turnovers plagued the Commodores, as they had a season high of 23.
Vanderbilt’s sophomore guard and the nation’s leading scorer, Mikayla Blakes, started the game 1-of-13 from the field. She finished with 26 points.
Notre Dame’s junior guard Hannah Hidalgo broke the NCAA’s single-season steal record. She finished the game with a triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 steals
Notre Dame (25-10) will face the winner between No. 1 seed UConn and No. 4 seed North Carolina at noon (ABC) on March 29 at Dickies Arena.
The Commodores had possession, down by two points, and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes commits the turnover on the rare mishap. Score is 66-64, Notre Dame leads.
Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes is 5-of-6 for ten points in her last six shot attempts. She started the game shooting 1-of-13. The score is tied with 5:54 left in the game.
Aubrey Galvan leads the Commodores with 19 points, as she’s 6-of-12 from the field. Mikayla Blakes has 14 points and is 3-of-18 from the field. Hannah Hidalgo leads Notre Dame with 23 points.
The Commodores have 20 turnovers, the most they’ve had in a game all season. The Fighting Irish have scored 18 points off of Vanderbilt’s turnovers.
Notre Dame leads the Commodores 43-36 with 4:42 left in the third. Vanderbilt’s Mikalyla Blakes is only 2-of-16 from the field, but made eight free throws. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hildago leads all scorers with 20 points.
Vanderbilt’s Aubrey Galvan went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter, as she leads the Commodores with 13 points. Mikayla Blakes has struggled, as she’s 1-of-13 from the field, but the sophomore guard hit eight free throws.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hildago leads all scorers with 16 points, as she’s 8-of-14 from the field, with seven steals.
Aubrey Galvan hit two big 3-pointers to cut Vanderbilts defecit to two. Notre Dame leads 27-25 with 50 seconds left in the half.
The Commodores already have 16 turnovers halfway through the second quarter. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hildago has seven steals.
The Fighting Irish go on an 8-0 to open the second quarter, and takes its largest lead of the game. Vanderbilt trails Notre Dame 25-13 with 5:08 left in the half.
The Commodores trail Notre Dame by four points heading into the second quarter. Sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes has four points from the free throw line, as she’s 0-of-6 from the field. Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo leads all scorers with six points.
The nation’s leading scorer and Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes is 0-of-5 with 4:29 left in the first quarter. Nonetheless, the Commodores are keeping things close, as Notre Dame leads 6-5.
Vanderbilt 75, Notre Dame 63
Vanderbilt will have its full roster available save Madison Greene, who is out for the season.
Friday, March 27
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
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