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Alexa Philippou, ESPN
LOS ANGELES — The women’s basketball universe coalesced in Los Angeles this weekend, with No. 3 USC and No. 4 UCLA hosting top-6 opponents on back-to-back days heading into Thanksgiving.
But in the first of the two potential Final Four previews, the visiting No. 6 Notre Dame Irish played spoiler to a crowd of 7,894 at Galen Center, defeating the Trojans 74-61 to hand USC its first loss of the season.
The Irish led wire-to-wire and had USC fans heading for the exits with 4:48 left after using a 16-2 run at the start of the fourth to jump ahead 21.
It was Notre Dame’s first double-digit road win over an Associated Press top-5 opponent since Feb. 2014.
“This group, they’re special,” said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey, who felt her team played a “complete game.” “I’m so grateful to be able to lead them, and just really proud of the way that we’ve been resilient.”
“This was just an early opportunity to show what we can do, and I think that we did that,” guard Sonia Citron said. “I think we’re one of the best teams in the country.”
The defeat was USC’s first non-conference home loss since Dec. 2021, coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s first season at the helm.
“I just told the team in there, you don’t schedule this game because you think anything’s going to be a 40-point win. You schedule it because you have an opportunity to have a great crowd and play well and give yourself an early season signature win, or you get exposed,” Gottlieb said. “Given the fact it’s option two, our only choice is to be exposed, stay together and get better.”
A star-studded battle between a slew of intriguing WNBA prospects — from USC’s JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen to Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles — drew scores of celebrities, WNBA stars and league talent evaluators to Galen. Michael B. Jordan sat courtside, as did Snoop Dogg, who wore a custom Watkins jacket.
But it was the Irish’s Hidalgo and Miles who shined brightest, scoring or assisting on 63 Notre Dame points, more than the Trojans had as an entire team.
The duo became the second pair of teammates in the last 25 years, and first since 2007, to each have 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists against an AP top-10 opponent. Hidalgo (24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) recorded her 10th career game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, the most in Division I over the last 25 seasons.
“Big-time player, big-time stage,” Ivey said of Hidalgo. “Not at all shocked what she did today … she’s so feisty, so energetic. It’s contagious for our group.”
While Hidalgo led all scorers in first half with 16 points, Miles (20 points including four 3s, 7 assists, 8 rebounds) did most of her damage in the second, tallying 14 points and going 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc.
“Everyone always say it’s a guards game. They’re very dynamic,” Gottlieb added of Miles and Hidalgo. “You feel like you’re doing a decent job on Miles, and she goes crazy in the second half. Or then you think you make them take a tough shot, and then Hannah gets out in transition. So it’s difficult, it’s difficult to have two dynamic guards out there.”
Citron earned the primary assignment on Watkins, helping limit her to just 5 points on 2 for 9 shooting in the first half. Watkins put up 19 after halftime, finishing 10 for 25 from the field and 0 for 5 from 3 (24 points), but she didn’t have enough firepower around her for USC to make a true push.
“I just think this is a learning experience for the whole team. So much to learn, as far as chemistry and everything,” said Watkins, a reigning first-team All-American who earlier this month reached 1,000 points in her 38th career game. “So, I think for me, the biggest thing is just staying poised and under control the whole game. It wasn’t the prettiest for me, so just continuing to lock in.”
After trailing by as many as 11 in the first half, the Trojans made it a seven-point game at halftime, and a one-possession game in the third quarter, before Notre Dame pulled away for good. USC will go back to the drawing board and look to improve its offense after shooting 1 for 13 from 3 and committing 21 turnovers.
“I just thought we could never wrest control from them,” Gottlieb said.
Ivey, meanwhile, was pleased with her team’s defense, which she’d hoped would be central to their identity this season.
“We came into the season saying we want to be a great defensive team, and just having the effort and relentlessness to do that and the discipline to do it,” Ivey said, “and I thought they did that today.”
Both national championship-minded teams have plenty of opportunity to prove themselves again. Notre Dame plays three ranked opponents over the next three weeks in TCU, Texas and UConn. USC faces Oregon and UConn before the new year, when they’ll start their first season in the Big Ten.
“When it’s hard, it gets harder for everyone to block everything out and stick together. But that is what we will do,” Gottlieb said. “We knew this is unprecedented in terms of expectations, and so bring it on. We’ve got to get better, no matter what the outside world says. And this is what this game will do for us, and that’s the direction that we’ll go.”
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