Hannah Hidalgo poured in 31 points with 11 rebounds and 10 steals as sixth-seeded Notre Dame held off second-seeded Vanderbilt 67-64 in the Fort Worth Regional 1 semifinal Friday at Fort Worth, Texas.
Hidalgo was 14 of 25 from the floor and added seven assists, while her 10 steals set a record for an NCAA regional. She broke the single-season steals record along the way, upping her total to 199.
Cassandre Prosper, who scored the game’s final three points, finished with 15. Notre Dame (25-10) will meet No. 1 UConn in Sunday’s regional final.
Mikayla Blakes scored 26 points and Aubrey Galvan had 24 for Vanderbilt (29-5), which committed 23 turnovers, including 16 in the first half to trail 31-26 at the break.
The Commodores finished with a 21-10 scoring advantage on free throws, boosted by Blakes, who made 12 of 13 attempts. Notre Dame overcame 1-of-17 shooting on 3-pointers (5.9%).
Notre Dame led 48-38 after Hidalgo’s three-point play with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Vanderbilt pulled even 57-57 with 5:53 remaining and again at 59-59 on Aiyana Mitchell’s basket with 4:36 remaining.
Neither team scored for the next two minutes before Blakes sank a free throw. Iyana Moore countered with a jumper for the Irish. Blakes scored for the Commodores and Prosper’s foul shot tied it again 62-62 with 1:28 remaining.
Hidalgo scored on a drive before Galvan tied it 64-64 on two free throws with 56 seconds left. Prosper scored off an inbound play to give Notre Dame a 66-64 lead with 22 seconds remaining. Vanderbilt never got into an offensive sequence before committing a turnover.
Prosper made one of two free throws with 14 seconds left before Vanderbilt’s timeout put the ball in the frontcourt. Galvan and Blakes both missed potential game-tying 3-pointers before time expired.
–Field Level Media
