No. 6 Notre Dame uses defense to shut down No. 3 USC, 74-61

In one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the young season, No. 6 Notre Dame outran No. 3 USC, 74-61, in a wire-to-wire win Saturday.

Hannah Hidalgo lead the Irish, both statistically and energy-wise, with 24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. Fellow guard Olivia Miles chipped in 20 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals for the team’s first double-digit win over a top 5 opponent in more than a decade.

Perhaps even more impressive was Notre Dame’s defensive performance, as guard Sonia Citron helped hold Trojan standout Juju Watkins to just 5 points on 2-9 shooting in the first half, and the entire USC squad to 1-13 from three on the game.

Irish coach Niele Ivey said one of her squad’s goals this year was to step up their defense.

“We’ve talked about having a defensive identity, and we came into the season saying we wanted to be a defensive team,” Ivey said. “Having the effort and relentlessness to do that, and the discipline to stick with it was phenomenal.”

Ivey credited Citron, who finished with 9 points, for locking down Watkins in the first half, in particular.

“Sonia lead us and did a phenomenal job of relentless defense,” Ivey said. “She picked (Watkins) up in transition and made it a tough night for her.”

Watkins finally got going in the third quarter, and finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. But she said that “staying poised” was her biggest takeaway from the matchup.

“They put length on Juju and sent Hannah running round like the disruptor that she is. They tried to make Juju’s life hard, and they worked together as a system,” Trojan coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of their opponents.

“It never felt like we were clicking in that first half….I was disappointed in the fourth that we could never wrest control from them, and I’m disappointed that we didn’t compete the way we wanted to give ourselves a shot at the end.”

Notre Dame, which been battling injuries, played just 7.

“I’m so proud of my team,” she said. “This group, they’re special, and I’m proud of them being resilient. We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity, and they came out today and followed the game plan.”