All Irish In Blowout Road Win Over Wake Forest, 78-54
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For the second straight game, the Fighting Irish never trailed, this time in a 78-54 win over Wake Forest inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday evening.
Notre Dame improves to 17-9 on the season and 9-6 in ACC play with just three games remaining in the regular season.
Hannah Hidalgo had a game-high 26 points in the win while shooting 10-of-20 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. She also added five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block to complete her performance.
KK Bransford played her best game since returning from injury on Feb. 1 scoring 13 points on an efficient 6-of-7 shooting from the floor to go along with four rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Iyana Moore scored 11 points and Cassandre Prosper chipped in 10 to help the Irish record the lopsided victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish scored the first 10 points of the contest, as four different players connected on the team’s first five attempts in the opening 3 minutes of play to force an early timeout from Wake Forest.
The hosts then settled into the game and scored the next seven points to cut the Notre Dame advantage to three at 10-7. The Irish then finished the opening 10 minutes of action by scoring six of the final eight points of the first frame to take a 16-9 lead into the second quarter.
The Demon Deacons trimmed the Irish lead to three at 24-20 with just under 3 minutes left in the half.
Notre Dame finished the second stanza with a flurry, as Moore, Hidalgo and de Jesus each hit a three-pointer to go along with a layup from KK Bransford to take a 35-23 lead into the halftime break.
Hidalgo pulled the strings for Notre Dame in the first half, scoring 16 points and adding four assists to carry the Irish offense.
The Irish came out of the intermission locked in and pushed the lead to 20 points at 47-27 just over 5 minutes into the half to take complete control of the game.
Notre Dame’s lead grew to as many as 27 off a three-point make from Gisela Sanchez before Wake Forest scored the final six points of the third quarter to make the score 56-35 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Fighting Irish lead never dipped below 17 points in the final frame as the Irish coasted to a 78-54 victory on the road in Winston-Salem.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame’s transition game was devastating on Thursday, as the Irish outscored Wake Forest 27-0 in fast break points.
NOTRE DAME NOTES
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Notre Dame remains unbeaten against Wake Forest, improving to 14-0 in the all-time series.
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Notre Dame finished with 17 steals, marking the 20th time the team has recorded double-digit steals in a game this season and 10th time it has finished with 15 or more steals.
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The Irish never trailed for the duration of the 40 minutes, marking the 13th time the Irish have accomplished the feat this season.
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Notre Dame finished well around the rim, converting 15-of-16 layup attempts on the evening.
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Hidalgo recorded 26 points, marking the 19th time this season and 70th time in her career with 20 or more points, which is a program record.
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Hidalgo has finished in double figures in the scoring column in all 93 games of her career, the longest streak in program history.
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Vanessa De Jesus recorded a career-high six steals in the victory..
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Malaya Cowles tied her career high for blocks in a game with three, the most she has recorded during her season at Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Irish remain on the road, traveling to Dallas to take on SMU at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 22. The game will air on ACCN.
