South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo nets a career-high 34 points as Notre Dame upsets UConn
With 23.9 points per game, Hidalgo is fourth in Division I in scoring, trailing Iowa star Caitlin Clark, USC freshman JuJu Watkins, and Colorado State’s McKenna Hofschild.
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STORRS, Conn. — Freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo scored a season-high 34 points, and No. 15 Notre Dame beat No. 8 UConn, 82-67, on Saturday night.
Hidalgo hit 14 of her 24 shots and added 10 rebounds and six assists for Notre Dame (15-4), which shot 55% from the floor against the Huskies (17-4). Her 34 points also is a single-game record for a Notre Dame freshman.
Hidalgo is a South Jersey native and graduated from Paul VI High School in Haddon Township last year. The No. 5 recruit nationally last year, she was a McDonald’s All American as a senior, the second in her school’s history.
» READ MORE: Hannah Hidalgo sets scoring record, named co-MVP of McDonald’s All American girls’ game
Maddy Westbeld added 23 points and Sonia Citron had 15 as Notre Dame handed UConn its first home loss of the season.
Aaliyah Edwards had 23 points and 11 rebounds for UConn, which came into the game on a 13-game winning streak. Paige Bueckers added 17 points.
Notre Dame trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half. The Fighting Irish then outscored the Huskies 26-5, led by Hidalgo, who had 19 first-half points, and went into the locker room up 44-35.
With 23.9 points per game, Hidalgo is fourth in Division I in scoring, trailing Iowa star Caitlin Clark (31.7 ppg), Southern Cal freshman JuJu Watkins (26.3 ppg), and Colorado State’s McKenna Hofschild (24.3 ppg).
» READ MORE: The Caitlin Clark Show visited New Jersey, and Iowa’s star did not disappoint vs. Rutgers
Bueckers opened the second half with a three-pointer, igniting a Huskies run that saw UConn tie the game, 50-50, on a layup by Edwards and take the lead on a three from the left corner by KK Arnold.
The game was tied, 60-60, after an Ice Brady free throw. But the Irish outscored the Huskies, 22-7, over the last nine minutes.
Up next, Notre Dame returns to Atlantic Coast Conference action with a game at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, while UConn next takes on Villanova in a Big East showdown on Wednesday at Finneran Pavilion (6:30 p.m., SNY).