Notre Dame Women Fend Off Pittsburgh Upset Bid

A game that looked like it would be a laugher turned into a horror show before Notre Dame prevailed to beat Pittsburgh 71-66. The Fighting Irish (10-2, 1-1 ACC) led the game by 20 points in the first quarter, but trailed 48-46 at the end of the third before outscoring the Panthers (6-9, 0-2) 24-18 to fend off the upset bid of the cellar dwellers of the ACC.

Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish with 24 points. She scored 11 in the first quarter after hitting her first four shots, including 3 for 3 from 3-point range. The freshman point guard scored just two combined points in the second and third quarters before bouncing back with 11 more points in the fourth quarter when she hit three shots from the floor and all four of her free throw attempts.

The Irish had to survive foul trouble and a lack of free throw opportunities to prevail. Nat Marshall fouled out in the third quarter with six points, while four of her teammates finished the game with four fouls of their own. Pitt was 16 of 23 at the free throw line through the first three quarters, while the Irish were just 1 for 2.

Things swung in the fourth quarter, where Notre Dame hit 10 of 11 shots from the foul line, compared to Pitt’s 2 for 2. Liatu King led all scorers with 34 points and 13 rebounds. She was 8 of 11 at the free throw line.

Maddy Westbeld scored Notre Dame’s first four points to help the Irish to an early 12-0 lead. She scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half but picked up her fourth foul with 2:13 to play in the third quarter. She didn’t return to the game after taking a hit to the head.

Pittsburgh scored the first 13 points of the second quarter and cut Notre Dame’s lead all the way down to three points. The Panthers outscored the Irish 18-11 in the second quarter and King later gave Pitt its first lead of the game after hitting a free throw with 1:09 on the clock in the third quarter to make it 46-45. The game featured six ties and five lead changes.

Anna DeWolfe reached 2,000 points in her career with her first shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the left corner in the first quarter. She finished with 11 points thanks to two more treys in the fourth quarter.

KK Bransford finished with seven points but scored five pivotal points in the fourth quarter. She was 3 for 4 at the line in the game’s final 10 minutes while Kylee Watson scored all five of her points in the fourth, going 3 for 3 at the foul line.

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