SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two of the hottest teams in the ACC clashed on Sunday, and Syracuse (11-1, 1-0) came out on top of Notre Dame (9-2, 0-1), 86-81. It was a back and forth game with 10 lead changes and 10 ties, but 24 turnovers (and 30 Syracuse points off those turnovers) and a -12 rebounding margin was too much for the 13th-ranked Irish to overcome.
“Hats off to Syracuse, they came out ready to play,” said Niele Ivey, Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach. “I didn’t feel like we came out with a sense of urgency or focus. It took us a while to get going… Defensively, I didn’t think we were in-sync at all. We had a couple of minutes where I felt like we were on the same page but not for a full 40 minutes.”
Syracuse won the tip and immediately hit a basket. The Orange would go up 7-0 before Ivey called a timeout. But the Irish came out on fire after that, going on a 13-4 run sparked by the entire team. The Irish’s first 10 points were scored by five different players.
It was a 19-19 game at the first break, just the second time this season that the Irish have not led after Q1 (Tennessee). Hannah Hidalgo had 9 points and 3 steals. Bransford and DeWolfe had steals of their own.
Notre Dame closed the lead and even tied the game at 38 with 1:13 to play in Q2. There were four ties and eight lead changes through 30 minutes. It was 42-38 at the half. Hidalgo and Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair led all players with 11 points apiece. Fair scored the final four points of the half, including a buzzer-beating jumper.
It’s unusual for a team to out-rebound the Irish, but the Orange held that advantage going into the locker room as well, 23-18. Notre Dame and Syracuse entered Sunday’s matchup as third and fourth-best rebounding teams in the ACC, respectively.
The third quarter was a back and forth affair, as Notre Dame took the lead at 49-48 before alternating the advantage with ‘Cuse through the frame. Both teams shot 50 percent or better in the third quarter, but Notre Dame won it, 27-19.
The Orange owned the final quarter, winning it by 9 points. Fair had 14 points and hit three shots from behind the arc to seal the deal.
The final rebounding margin has become indicative of the game results, as is often true. Notre Dame is 0-2 this season when losing the battle on the boards. Obviously, they are 9-0 when they win it. Sunday’s was 45-33 in favor of the home team.
Of note, Hidalgo had a career-high 32 points on the day, tied for the second-most ever scored by a freshman in an Irish uniform. She also had 7 steals, marking the seventh time this season she has had at least 6 steals. That is one shy of the Notre Dame record since at least 1999, a record which is held by Skylar Diggins.
Other performances worth mentioning include Maddy Westbeld’s 16 points and 10 rebounds, which gave her her sixth double-double this season. She played just under 24 minutes due to early foul trouble. Anna DeWolfe had 15 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. She is now 3 points shy of 2,000 points in her accomplished career.
“I thought she had the most poise today,” Ivey said of the graduate transfer from Fordham. “I thought she did a great job of having a great floor game. She always settles us in and is somebody I talk to a lot on the court. She feels the game really well, and her experience really helps us.”
Up next, Notre Dame heads back on the road to Pittsburgh (6-8, 0-1) for a Thursday evening clash. The game will air on the ACC Network and begins at 6 p.m.