USC and Notre Dame College Basketball Announcement Has Fans Amped

Robin Lundberg | Jul 12, 2024

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

USC and Notre Dame's rivalry is not reserved to just football. The women's college basketball season got an injection of hype through an announcement that the Trojans and Irish will face each other in a home and home series with the first game scheduled for November 23, 2024, at USC's Galen Center in Los Angeles. The series will see a return game at Notre Dame's home court in South Bend during the 2025-26 season.

OFFICIAL: We will kick off a home-and-home with Notre Dame in Los Angeles on Nov. 23, 2024! pic.twitter.com/6Q2Spp9wBB

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) July 12, 2024

This of course will lead to a big-time showdown between USC's JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo. Watkins broke the NCAA freshman scoring record a season ago, while Hidalgo set marks of her own when it comes to freshman scoring for Notre Dame and the ACC. She also had the most steals in a season for anyone in program history.

Told myself I was gonna save my clipping for later today, but Hannah Hidalgo is doing crazy shit lol

Just completely in control of her game pic.twitter.com/khPex8n8ko

— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) March 25, 2024

Watkins has already made a name for herself and has become a celebrity on the Los Angeles scene. She also just received the ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete. So her encore performance alongside Kiki Iriafen is hotly anticipated. JuJu did average over 27 points per game after all.

JuJu Watkins is the ESPY award winner for Best Breakthrough Athlete 💪 pic.twitter.com/QUbnCKlW2X

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 12, 2024

However, Hidalgo will get a chance to showcase her abilities when the two young stars meet head-to-head. Hannah filled up the box score with 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in her initial campaign.

Notre Dame and USC announce a women’s basketball home-and-home, with the programs meeting Nov. 23 in L.A. and the Trojans returning to South Bend at a TBD date in 2025-26.

Hannah Hidalgo vs. JuJu Watkins. Get your popcorn ready.

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) July 12, 2024

Regardless of how the results turn out, women's college hoops continues to be on the rise and fans were certainly excited about the announcement that all that talent would be playing under the same roof. Twice.