Notre Dame women's basketball begins ACC play with big win at Syracuse
Notre Dame lost to Syracuse twice in the 2023-24 season. Not happening in 2024-25.
In their lone game against the Orange this season, the Fighting Irish easily handled their first ACC game of the conference season in a 93-62 victory on the road. No. 10 Notre Dame improved to 7-2. Syracuse dropped to 4-6.
“This was a statement win in the ACC,” head coach Niele Ivey said.
The Irish’s lethal trio of guards, seniors Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles and sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, all scored 20-plus points. Citron led the way with 25, Hidalgo had 24 and Miles hit 20 on the number.
Hidalgo became the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She’s putting up 24.6 points per game, which would break her own Notre Dame record of 22.6 if it stood for the entire season. Long way to go, but the All-American is playing even better ball now than she did as a phenomenal freshman.
“It’s truly a blessing to be able to reach that goal considering all of the guards like Arike [Ogunbowale], Skylar [Diggins-Smith], Jewell [Loyd] that have come through this program,” Hidalgo said. “I’m honored to have this accolade.”
Citron was her usual efficient self as a shooter, going 10 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from three. Her three-point shooting was critical considering the Irish only had two threes from the rest of the seven players who saw the floor. Hidalgo and Miles, who both had 10 rebounds to notch double-doubles, were a combined 2 of 9 from three. Citron had 11 rebounds herself.
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After surrendering 20 points in the first quarter, Notre Dame hunkered down defensively in the second. The Irish held the Orange to 9 points in that frame to take a seven-point lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Notre Dame exploded for 29 points in the third quarter. Syracuse only scored 13. The Irish held the Orange to 32.5 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers.
“I thought our second half response was a lot better after we started slow,” Ivey said.
It was far from a perfect game for Notre Dame on that front; the Irish had 20 turnovers, including 8 in the first six minutes of the game. It’s the third time in nine games this season the Irish have hit 20 or more turnovers. That’s what happens when the guards are so good and trying some things other players could never.
Notre Dame is back at home Thursday for a huge game against No. 2 UConn (8-0). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
