The Notre Dame–UConn rivalry has featured some classic performances from women’s basketball greats over the years. Several of them — including Skylar Diggins-Smith, Jewell Loyd, Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey — attended Thursday night’s showdown in South Bend between the two top-10 teams.
In her second appearance in this storied matchup, Hannah Hidalgo continued to stamp her name as one of the very best to ever take part. A year after dropping 34 points on the road against the Huskies, Hidalgo led the Fighting Irish with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as No. 8 Notre Dame dealt No. 2 UConn its first loss of the season 79-68.
Hidalgo beat the Huskies in the previous meeting with her rim pressure, as UConn failed to prevent her from driving to her right. With the Huskies sitting on her right hand this time around, Hidalgo turned to a different tactic and scored from the perimeter. The sophomore guard set a career-high with six 3-pointers, none bigger than her stepback jumper to end the third quarter and extend a one-point lead to four. UConn chipped away at what was once a 13-point deficit but never took the lead thanks to Hidalgo’s heroics.
HANNAH!! HIDALGO!! BUZZER!! BEATER!!
📺 ESPN#GoIrish // @HannahHidalgo pic.twitter.com/gyqEzUs7ig
— Notre Dame…
