Hannah Hidalgo scored under 20 points for the third straight game on Wednesday, but it didn't matter, as No. 1 Notre Dame demolished Miami 82-42 in an ACC regular season game.
Hidalgo tallied 18 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block in 29 minutes as the Fighting Irish (24-2, 15-0) blew the game wide open in the first half, building a 38-13 lead en route a wire-to-wire victory over the Hurricanes (13-13, 3-12).
The 5-foot-6 sophomore, who scored 11 and 19 points in Notre Dame's wins against Pittsburgh and Duke respectively, shot 5-of-12 from the field (including 1-of-5 from the 3-point line) against the Hurricanes.
However, unlike the previous games where she spent more than 30 minutes on the court, Hidalgo had an easier outing against the weaker Miami squad, with seven trips to the foul line and making all of them.
Hidalgo had 10 points in the first half, highlighted by a four-point play at the 1:45 mark of the second quarter. She picked up one rebound, one steal and one block in the half as Notre Dame was up by 25.
She had four points, three rebounds and one assist in the third quarter as the Fighting Irish increased its lead to 28 in the third quarter. Hannah Hidalgo had four more points on a jumper and two free throws in the fourth period. She also had a steal before being subbed out at the 3:37 mark.
Here are Hannah Hidalgo's final stats in Notre Dame's win over Miami:
Fighting Irish vs Hurricanes Game Recap: Hannah Hidalgo's Notre Dame blitzes Miami to secure ACC Tournament quarterfinal berth
Notre Dame relied on a 38-13 first-half blitz to run away with an 82-42 win over Miami and secured a double-bye in the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday. Four players scored in double figures for the Fighting Irish, led by Sonia Citron's 19 points.
Citron also recorded eight rebounds and two assists for the Niele Ivey-coached squad, who extended their ACC winning streak to 23 games. Hannah Hidalgo came up with 18, while Olivia Miles added 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one steal.
Liatu King had a double-double of 13 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for Notre Dame, who limited Miami to 26.8% from the field while shooting 49.3%. The Fighting Irish overpowered the Hurricanes inside the paint with a 50-34 edge and ruled the rebounding battle 48-39.
Notre Dame will be back in action on Sunday against No. 13 NC State (21-5, 13-2) who's coming off an 83-68 victory over No. 20 Georgia Tech (21-6, 9-6) on Thursday.
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