Inspired by the past, Notre Dame women’s basketball destroys No. 22 UNC in the moment

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A slice of Notre Dame’s women’s basketball history came to life during a reunion weekend, reminding the current Irish team of what greatness looks like.

Hannah Hidalgo and the rest of the 2026 squad, in turn, took it to heart and sent a message to the women’s college basketball world that maybe their best is yet to come. That is, if what unfolded Sunday at Purcell Pavilion is any indication.

With coach Muffet McGraw and all but two members of the 2001 Irish national championship team looking on from the courtside seats, Notre Dame dismantled 22nd-ranked North Carolina, 73-50.

“We didn’t bring our rock to a rock fight, quite honestly,” assessed North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart.

And Notre Dame (12-4, 4-2 ACC) brought Hidalgo to it.

The Hidalgo factor

The junior two-time All-American finished with 31 points — her program-record 14th 30-point game — and casually flirted with a quadruple-double, with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals. The 5-foot-6 guard even had a blocked shot and played all but 41 seconds in a win that should launch the Irish back into the Top 25 after their first absence in the last 86 polls last week.

Her 7 steals, by the way, puts the nation’s leader in that category 8 away from breaking former All-American Skylar Diggins’ career school record of 381.

“I think just her competitiveness on both ends is something that’s infectious,” said Duke grad transfer guard Vanessa de Jesus, who added 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field with four 3s. “And I feel for all of us. It’s just something you can’t deny. You have to level up.”

Getting defensive

And Notre Dame did just that, especially on the defensive end, against a team built to present matchup problems for the Irish. North Carolina (13-5, 2-3) came into the game one of the nation’s deeper teams and better shooting teams — in fact, top 15 nationally in both bench points (29.9 per game) and field-goal percentage (.477).

But Notre Dame actually shortened its already short bench, limited the minutes of its reserves, and still overwhelmed North Carolina. The Tar Heels missed their first nine shots from the field and didn’t score until the 5:35 mark of the first quarter.

They finished with season lows in both shooting percentage (.345) and points. And they amassed just 6 assists compared to 22 turnovers. The Irish dominated the points-off-turnover stat, 27-5.

“Hidalgo was a real problem,” Banghart said. “Obviously, she disrupted us in all ways, I think most of those 27 points off turnovers was because of her. And then I thought offensively, she was able to really pick on all types of all screen coverages.”

Hidalgo showed all of that in a 6-0 Irish flourish to end the first quarter up, 15-9. The Notre Dame lead was still six at halftime (33-27), when the 2001 team was introduced to the crowd of 8,101 that included Irish starting quarterback CJ Carr.

Inspired, Notre Dame then held North Carolina without a point for nearly five minutes of the third quarter and outscored the Tar Heels, 22-5, in the period.

The Irish led by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter.

Senior Cass Prosper continued her recent run of double-doubles, with 17 points and 14 rebounds, the latter figure tying a career high. Center Malaya Cowles contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds, and held North Carolina leading scorer Ciere Toomey scoreless and 0-for-5 from the field.

“I’m challenging them in practice,” said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, the starting point guard on that 2001 Irish title team. “We’re learning from our mistakes, and we’re getting better. That’s what I love. This group allows me to do that.

“They want to be better. They believe in each other. They trust each other, and they realize we’ve got to do a lot of the little things. And the physicality and rebounding were two big areas that we wanted to improve in. So, I saw an incredible improvement today, and I know that we’ll keep growing.”

The path forward

They’ll need to. The Irish continue to climb the ladder in terms of competition during what could be a defining stretch of this season. Next up is 10th-ranked Louisville (16-3, 6-0 ACC) on Thursday night (6 EST; ACC Network) at Purcell Pavilion, followed by a Jan. 19 road test at No. 1 UConn (17-0).

But the Irish have got momentum and also some words of wisdom from some Irish legends to carry with them into those spotlight battles.

“They came into our locker room after the game,” Hidalgo said of the 2001 team. “And each person kind of went around and said what their experience was like here. And I think the biggest thing for me is that family that they feel, that they still have that connection that they still had, and how important it is to be tight-knit.

“It’s bigger than basketball, and everybody has to do their role in order for it to fit. Because at the end of the day, it’s a puzzle. And every piece has to fit perfectly in order for the picture to be complete. So, just when everybody plays their role and does that, then nobody’s in our way.”

NOTRE DAME 73, NORTH CAROLINA 50: Box Score