ND Women's Basketball Upset over Duke in ACC Tourney Falls Just Short

Notre Dame entered the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament as the No. 5 seed and a long shot to win it, but boy, oh boy, did they get close to reaching the finals. The Fighting Irish cruised past Miami (FL) and North Carolina State in the first two rounds before falling to top-seeded Duke, 65-63, on Saturday.

final of the ACC tournament semifinal. pic.twitter.com/9fi8thtpIv
— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) March 7, 2026

Obviously, Notre Dame's season isn't over after losing to the Blue Devils, but what its seed in the NCAA Tournament ends up being remains to be seen.

Give credit to Notre Dame, though; they gave Duke everything they could handle. Hannah Hidalgo kept Notre Dame in it late in the fourth quarter with seven points in the final 2 minutes and 36 seconds of the game, but Duke simply wouldn't go away.

Notre Dame did have a chance to win it on its final possession, but missed three three-pointers in the final 11 seconds of the game.

Looking ahead

Still, though, ND should be confident heading into the NCAA Tournament. Duke is a top 10 team in the country, and the Fighting Irish gave them everything they could handle. Unfortunately, though, Notre Dame does have some limitations, and it's plagued them all year.

What are Notre Dame's limitations?

Everyone knows Hannah Hidalgo is the best player in college basketball, but one thing she doesn't do is shoot a high field goal percentage from deep. Hidalgo made 10 of her 24 shots against Duke, including one of three from beyond the arc, and despite breaking numerous records this year, she is shooting a career-worst 24.5% from deep. And that's shocking, considering she shot 40% from the three-point line last year and 34% as a freshman.

The problem is that she still shoots around five three-pointers a game (4.6, to be exact).

The other big problem is Notre Dame doesn't have anyone who can create their own shot as consistently as Hidalgo. So, when Hidalgo isn't shooting the ball particularly well, ND doesn't have a great secondary option. Casandra Prosper and Iyana Moore are solid players, but they can't create their own shot like Moore.

What ND must do to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament?

First and foremost, hope Hidalgo doesn't get hurt or get into foul trouble. But assuming neither happens, ND must continue to do two things -- create turnovers and knock down their free throws.

The Fighting Irish rank ninth in the nation in steals per game (13.4) and free-throw percentage (78.7%), and Hidalgo leads the nation in steals per game (5.5). And if they do those two things and Hidalgo continues to play like the best player in college basketball, there's no reason Notre Dame shouldn't make it to the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight year.