No. 2 UConn is no longer undefeated. Hannah Hidalgo had something to do with it.
The Notre Dame star scored 29 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals to lead the Fighting Irish to a 79-68 victory over the Huskies on Thursday. UConn, now 8-1, entered Thursday as one of eight undefeated teams remaining in the AP Poll.
Hidalgo’s performance included a step-back three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter.
That shot was part of a 9-0 run between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, which ended up being the game for Notre Dame. The Irish had led by as many as 13 points early in the game, but the lead was reduced to one point before the run began.
In addition to Hidalgo, Liatu King had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, along with two assists and three steals. Notre Dame held UConn, which was without Azzi Fudd, to just 3 of 16 shooting from deep and only gave them five trips to the free throw line.
Since back-to-back losses that dropped them out of the top 5 of the AP rankings, Notre Dame has now notched two top-5 wins. They beat No. 4 Texas last week in overtime as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, in addition to their win over No. 3 USC earlier this month.
That’s a pretty solid collection of non-conference wins. Notre Dame begins its ACC scheduled for December. 29 against Virginia before a road clash with No. 14 UNC on Jan. 5.