SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 15 Fighting Irish impressed on both ends of the floor en route to a dominant 116-58 victory over Chicago State on Sunday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion.
For the second-straight outing all five Notre Dame starters finished in double figures for points, led by Hannah Hidalgo’s 32-point effort. Cassandre Prosper (28 points) and KK Bransford (21) each posted career highs for scoring in the victory.
Both Hidalgo and Prosper flirted with a triple-double, as Hidalgo added eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals to complete her all-around performance. Prosper finished with a career-high eight steals and seven rebounds to go along with her 28 points.
Vanessa de Jesus and Gisela Sanchez each also finished in double-figures in the points column, scoring 15 and 11 respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame wasted no time jumping out to an early double-digit lead, leading by a score of 19-7 at the first media timeout of the afternoon. Prosper started red hot with eight early points off 3-3 shooting.
The Irish kept their foot on the gas, pushing the lead to 21 by the end of the first frame with the score 35-14. Hidalgo led all scorers with 12 points over the opening 10 minutes.
Notre Dame added 27 points in the second quarter to take a 62-29 lead into the halftime intermission. The Irish shot 10-of-19 from the floor in the second quarter with six different players scoring.
The Fighting Irish came out of the locker room at the break and turned in their best offensive quarter of the day, pouring in 36 points in the third stanza as the lead grew to 98-38 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Notre Dame added 18 points in the final frame to come away with the 116-58 victory over the Cougars.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame’s 62-point first half represents the most the Irish have scored in any during the Niele Ivey head coaching era and the most since the Irish scored 72 points in the first half in a win over Valparaiso on Dec. 4, 2016.
