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Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame vs. Villanova Women's Basketball Game Preview: Can the Irish Win In Italy?

Notre Dame opens its season on Sunday against Villanova in Italy. Here's what to expect.
Jared Shlensky|
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) steals the ball during a women's basketball exhibition game against Truman State at Purcell Pavilion on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in South Bend.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) steals the ball during a women's basketball exhibition game against Truman State at Purcell Pavilion on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in South Bend. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame women's basketball is officially back. The Fighting Irish take on the Villanova Wildcats in Italy on Sunday morning.

Here's how both teams look on paper heading into Sunday's contest.

Scouting Notre Dame

Notre Dame opens the season ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls after advancing to the Sweet 16 last year.

ND hosted Truman State in an exhibition game on Monday, and trounced the Bulldogs, 125-59.

Hannah Hidalgo finished with 33 points, five rebounds, three assists, and seven steals in 24 minutes, while forward Leah Macy finished one rebound shy of a triple-double (22 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists).

As for last season, the Irish made the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year under head coach Niele Ivey and finished with a record of 25-11.

Despite returning just one starter from last year's team in Hidalgo, the Irish added two top players via the transfer portal in Princeton transfer Madison St. Rose and Louisville transfer Anaya Hardy.

Hardy didn't play in ND's exhibition game and her status for Sunday's game is still to be determined.

Scouting Villanova

Villanova beat Farleigh Dickinson, 68-45, on October 18th in an exhibition game. Junior guard Jasmine Bascoe finished with a team-high 14 points and six assists for the Wildcats.

As for last season, Nova finished with a record of 25-8 and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2023-2024 campaign. The Wildcats have won 21+ games in five straight seasons and return four of their five starters from last year's team.

Villanova's best player is arguably Bascoe, who averaged a team-best 18.9 points per game 4.8 assists per game last season.

Bascoe was named to Preseason Naismith Player of the Year Watchlist and the Nancy Liberman Point Guard of the Year Watchlist, and is one of the most underrated players in the country.

How to watch

Tipoff between Notre Dame and Villanova is at 11 a.m. CT and is scheduled to be televised on FS1.

What to expect

Even though Notre Dame is a heavy favorite in this one, don't be surprised if Villanova keeps this game close for a while. I'm big on continuity and familiarity, and Villanova has that while the Irish simply don't.

It might take ND a full half to gel, and ultimately pull away from a Wildcats team that is extremely underrated.

My call on the final score: Notre Dame 79, Villanova 70

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster

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