SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hannah Hidalgo scored 19 points and the No. 1 Notre Dame women’s basketball team used a strong second half to beat No. 11 Duke 64-59 on Monday.
The Fighting Irish (23-2, 14-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who moved up to No. 1 for the first time in more than six years earlier in the day, won their 18th game in a row and 17th consecutive conference matchup.
Sonia Citron scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Irish. Maddy Westbeld scored 11 points.
Taina Mair scored 15 points to lead the Blue Devils (20-6, 11-3).
After leading only 29-27 at halftime, the Irish turned up the defensive pressure at the start of the third quarter to key a 17-1 run. The Irish harassed the Blue Devils into 0-of-6 shooting and four turnovers during the run. The Irish outscored the Blue Devils 21-8 in the third quarter for a 50-35 lead.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter, but the Irish surged ahead in the final two minutes for the two-point halftime lead. Westbeld hit a deep 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and start a 5-0 run. The two teams combined for 7-for-26 shooting (27 percent) and 11 turnovers in the second quarter.
Takeaways
Duke: The Blue Devils’ reserves outscored their counterparts 18-9.
Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish forced 11 turnovers in the second half and limited the Blue Devils to 22 points in the half.
Key moment
Westbeld blocked a shot by Blue Devil Reigan Richardson and grabbed the rebound, launching a pass to Hidalgo, who caught it near half court. Hidalgo then passed to Citron, who drove in for the fastbreak hoop to give the Irish a 35-27 lead.
Key stat
After hitting five of their first six shots, the Blue Devils were only 15 for 47 for 32% the rest of the game.
Up next
Duke hosts Louisville on Thursday, and Notre Dame plays at Miami.
