Notre Dame Rallies For Comeback Win At Tennessee

Five Notre Dame players scored in double figures in coming back from a 16-point deficit to win their sixth consecutive game

Notre Dame has been short handed for a while. The Fighting Irish (6-1) have been without preseason All-ACC guard Sonia Citron for two weeks due to injury and Wednesday in Knoxville they were another player down and down by 16 points early in the second half before rallying for a 74-69 victory.

Cassandre Prosper joined the growing ranks of injured Irish on the bench with a lower leg injury and was not able to play. Notre Dame had already entered the season without All-American point guard candidate Olivia Miles, who is still rehabbing from a late season knee injury last February.

The Irish came out of the gates slowly and never found their offensive rhythm in a first half that saw them hit just 10 of 36 shots, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range. Their off shooting contributed to just two first-half assists as well, while Tennessee hit 14 of 31 overall with five first-half 3-pointers.

Hannah Hidalgo saw her run of 20-plus point games come to an end with a 13-point night. She had scored at least 21 points in her first six games to open her career. The freshman point guard dished out seven assists and had four steals as well.

After trailing by 16 three minutes into the second half, Notre Dame found its way back into the game with its defense turning into transition buckets. Hidalgo hit Anna DeWolfe with a long outlet pass that DeWolfe laid in to cut the Irish deficit to 50-44 with just under 4:00 to play. It was part of a 15-3 Irish run that saw the Irish down 53-48 going into the game’s final quarter.

Notre Dame’s front court trio of Maddy Westbeld, Nat Marshall and Kylee Watson came up big in the second half as well. The three forwards combined 11 points in the first half, but countered that with 27 between them in the last 20 minutes.

Marshall has been a force over her last three games. She followed a career best 20 points against Chicago State last week with 12 against Ball State last Friday and finished this game with 15 points and nine rebounds. It’s the first time the senior has put together a three-game run of double figure scoring games.

The teams went back and forth in the fourth quarter, with three ties and three lead changes. With Prosper out, KK Bransford made her first start of the season and put the Irish up 70-68 with :48 seconds to play. She finished with 12 points.

As Notre Dame clung to the lead with the seconds ticking down, Westbeld nailed a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds left to give the Irish their first two possession game of the night. Westbeld tallied her second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards. DeWolfe gave the Irish five players in double figures with 11 points in a game Notre Dame won despite missing all nine of their 3-point tries.

Notre Dame hit 21 of 36 shots in the second half after the poor first half shooting. They dished out 12 assists in the second half as well and ended with a season-low seven turnovers after committing 29 in last Friday’s win over Ball State. 

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