No. 18 Irish Blow By Seminoles In ACC Opener, 93-58
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Five players finished in double figures in the scoring column as the No. 18 Fighting Irish opened ACC play with an all-encompassing 93-58 win over Florida State on Sunday afternoon inside the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Irish improved to 6-2 on the season and 1-0 in the league.
Notre Dame shot an impressive 57.6 percent from the field off 38-for-66 shooting, including 8-of-19 from three-point range. The Irish overwhelmed the Seminoles in the paint, outscoring the hosts 48-28, and on the fastbreak by a margin of 22-4.
Cassandre Prosper led the Irish in scoring with 21 points, marking her second 20-point performance this season. Iyana Moore poured in a season-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting while Hannah Hidalgo (17), Malaya Cowles (14) and Gisela Sanchez (12) also finished in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame could not have scripted a better start to the game, scoring the first 20 points of the afternoon over the first 7 minutes of the first quarter to jump out to a huge lead early. The Seminoles finally got on the board with back-to-back threes to cut the Iris lead to 14.
After the two teams traded baskets for the last couple of minutes of the quarter the Irish took a 25-11 lead into the second stanza. Prosper carried the Irish offense with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.
The hosts continued to chip at the lead in the second quarter, using a 12-0 run to make it a one-possession game with under 4 minutes left in the half at 31-29.
The Fighting Irish instantly responded scoring the final 12 points of the half to push their lead back to 14 at 41-27 heading into the halftime break. Hidalgo was instrumental in the spurt to end the second quarter, scoring 8 of the 12 points.
Notre Dame continued to build its lead throughout the third quarter, outscoring the Seminoles 24-15 to take a commanding 65-42 lead into the final 10 minutes of play. Moore was the star of the quarter, pouring in eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, to go along with three rebounds.
The Irish carried the momentum into the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the final frame to extend the lead to 31 points at 73-42. The Irish coasted the rest of the way en route to the dominant 93-58 victory on the road.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
The 33-point win over the Seminoles is the largest by either team in the series history, spanning 16 games.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
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Notre Dame improves to 14-2 against Florida State in the all-time series, including a mark of 6-1 when playing in Tallahassee.
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The Irish are now 9-4 in ACC openers since joining the league in the 2013-14 season.
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Cowles double-double was the fifth of her career and first with the Irish, finishing with season highs in both points (14) and rebounds (13).
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Moore scored a season-high 19 points while setting her season high for three-point makes with five.
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Hidalgo has now finished in double figures for scoring in 75 consecutive games (every game of her career), which is one shy of tying Katryna Gaither’s program record of 76.
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This also passes Angel Rees for the third longest double-digit scoring streak in DI since the 2020-21 season.
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Hidalgo’s nine assists mark a season high for the junior.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish return home to Purcell Pavilion, welcoming Morehead State for a 7 p.m. ET tilt on Thursday, Dec. 11. The game will air on ACCNX.
