What we learned from Notre Dame women's basketball exhibition vs. Purdue Northwest
SOUTH BEND — Hannah Hidalgo has experienced multiple gold medals while helping to lead the U.S. in international competition, and has competed in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game, where she earned co-MVP honors, yet she appeared just as stoked Monday evening for an exhibition against a badly overmatched opponent.
Hidalgo starred with game highs of 23 points, seven assists and five steals over 25 minutes in her Notre Dame women’s basketball debut as the Irish shredded Purdue Northwest 110-48 in a game at Purcell Pavilion that wasn’t nearly that close.
The nation’s top-rated point guard in her high school class, Hidalgo swished a left-wing 3-pointer on her first shot 57 seconds in and punctuated it with an exuberant fist pump. Four minutes later, she scored on a drive that made the score 21-0 — yep, really — and yelled out in celebration.
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“I love to play the game,” Hidalgo explained, “and I was so excited, being my first college game. I was just super excited about (being with) my teammates.”
Hidalgo finished 8-of-9 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and 5-of-5 at the line, yet it was her passing that was even more head-turning.
Her efforts there included hitting Cass Prosper with a perfectly placed diagonal bounce pass from just inside mid-court for a fast-break layin, then following 22 seconds later with a precise two-thirds-court zip to Sonia Citron for another transition bucket as ND took a 48-9 lead at the 5:46 mark of the second period.
Don’t forget her defense, either.
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“Hannah has hit the ground running since she’s been on campus,” Irish coach Niele Ivey said. “Her defense is contagious. She’s really raised our level of competitiveness on the defensive end, and they’ve all kind of matched her energy.”
Strong showing galore
Citron was just behind Hidalgo with 22 points, and the junior guard added nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks on a night several ND players posted big numbers.
Maddy Westbeld tallied 17 points and made 8-of-11 from the field over 20 minutes; Prosper scored 15 points; grad transfer Becky Obinma contributed 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in just 17 minutes; and Nat Marshall mixed in 11 points, seven boards and four steals.
“We wanted to play hard and (play) our game for 40 minutes, with emphasis on the first quarter,” Citron said, “ … and I think we did that.”
The Irish led 35-4 through that first quarter and by a high of 102-32 with six minutes to go in the game.
Missing quartet
Not only did All-American guard Olivia Miles, as expected, remain sidelined as she continues her recovery after April knee surgery, but KK Bransford, Jenna Brown and freshman Emma Risch each sat out as well, leaving ND at nine players.
While not specific about timelines for any of them, Ivey gave an encouraging report on Miles, and indicated that the other three are out for health reasons and “coming along really well. … kind of day to day.”
“Liv is also day to day,” Ivey said. “She’s running. She looks great. She’s on the court right now. She’s doing a lot more, so it’s not rehab for Liv. It’s a little bit more strengthening. … It’s just waiting for her to get where she feels like she’s comfortable, ready, but she’s doing great. She’s killing it with her (basketball) workouts and her strengthening workouts.”
Up next for Irish
The No. 10 Irish open the regular season with next Monday’s much-anticipated matchup against No. 6 South Carolina in Paris, France.
The 1 p.m. contest (South Bend time) will be televised by ESPN and is billed as the first-ever men’s or women’s NCAA basketball game in Paris.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame women's basketball exhibition win over Purdue Northwest
