Hannah Hidalgo and the Notre Dame women’s basketball team will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, barely breaking a sweat in the process. The No. 3-seeded Fighting Irish dominated the No. 14-seeded Stephen F. Austin with a stunning 106-54 victory.
With the mind-blowing win, Notre Dame became the first non-one seed to score at least 100 points and win by 50 or more in the NCAA Tournament, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. The Irish dominated all four quarters, never allowing more than 16 points in a single frame.
Most of the Friday afternoon attention was on the men’s March Madness bracket, but Notre Dame’s performance understandably turned heads. The final score shocked fans on social media, who could only continue to marvel at the team’s continued excellence. The result had some fans joking that the Irish were just “training” for their true tournament matchups.
“ND is just training,” the comment read.
“Absolute domination,” another reacted. “Notre Dame wasn’t playing around!”
“That seems [like] pretty bad seeding all around,” one fan commented.
“What happened to sportsmanship?” another joked.
Hidalgo led the way with 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals on 11-for-18 from the field. Senior forward Sonia Citron also poured in 24 points, while fifth-year senior Liza Karlen added 13 off the bench. Pass-first point guard Olivia Miles was the only starter who did not reach double figures, ending the game with just two points.
Notre Dame held Stephen F. Austin to just 32.8 percent from the floor and 26.9 percent from three-point range. Senior forward Trinity Moore led the Ladyjacks with 14 points and eight rebounds. Radford transfer Ashlyn Traylor-Walker was the only other player to reach double figures with 10 points. The team’s leading scorer, senior guard Faith Blackstone, shot just 3-for-11 to end with just nine points.
Notre Dame women’s basketball to face Michigan in second round
The Hannah Hidalgo-led Irish will advance to the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in style. They will face No. 6-seeded Michigan, who is coming off a thrilling 80-74 win over Audi Crooks and Iowa State.
Michigan’s first-round win allowed it to bounce back from an 82-70 loss to USC in the Big 10 Tournament. However, before that loss, the Wolverines were 8-2 in their previous 10 games, including wins over Maryland and Michigan State.
Despite their No. 3 seeding, Notre Dame remains one of the favorites to win the 2025 March Madness National Championship Game. A 2-3 rut to end the season dropped the Fighting Irish from what likely would have been a No. 1 seed with an ACC championship.
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