GREENSBORO, N.C. — Hannah Hidalgo scored 25 points and No. 6 Notre Dame took over down the stretch to beat California 73-64 on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Olivia Miles added 14 points and six assists for the second-seeded Fighting Irish (26-4), the tournament’s reigning champion. Notre Dame won the regular-season meeting in a blowout but trailed by six midway through the third quarter and led by just three with 7½ minutes left in the game.
Lulu Twidale scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers for the seventh-seeded Golden Bears (25-8). Marta Suarez added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Takeaways
California: The Golden Bears opened their first ACC Tournament by beating Virginia on Thursday. That earned them a rematch with the Fighting Irish after losing 91-52 in South Bend, Ind., nearly a month earlier, and they gave the Irish fits before fading.
Notre Dame: Much like top-seeded and seventh-ranked N.C. State earlier Friday, Notre Dame had a tough grind to push through its tournament opener.
Key moment
Cal led 47-41 midway through the third quarter when the Fighting Irish ran off a game-turning 12-0 run. Miles and Hidalgo combined for 10 in the run, with Miles knocking down a stepback 3-pointer over a defender to put Notre Dame up 48-47 on the way to a six-point lead at the end of the burst.
Key stat
California shot 45.8%, but the Bears committed 28 turnovers that led to 28 points for the Fighting Irish.
Up next
The Fighting Irish advanced to Saturday’s semifinals and will play the Louisville-Duke winner. The Golden Bears await their NCAA Tournament destination.
