COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo put together another dominant performance with 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals as sixth-seeded Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th straight time with a 83-73 victory over third-seeded Ohio State on Monday in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
It is the second time in the second-team AP All-American’s career she has had at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in a game. Hidalgo had her eighth double-double of the season and the 16th of the junior’s career.
“I don’t ever really know my stats. I’m just out there hooping,” Hidalgo said. “We knew that Ohio State, they want to play fast. So we just did a great job of just trying to slow them down.”
The only player Notre Dame couldn’t slow down was Jaloni Cambridge. The sophomore and fellow AP All-America pick tied a career high with 41 points for Ohio State (27-8), the second-most points by a Buckeye player in an NCAA Tournament game.
Cambridge though tied a season-high with seven turnovers as Ohio State becomes the first team in women’s tournament history to be eliminated three straight years at home.
The Buckeyes committed 21 turnovers, which led to 25 Notre Dame points.
“Forty-one (points) doesn’t matter with an L,” said Cambridge, who was 13 of 25 from the field and made five 3-pointers. “We just weren’t taking care of the ball. We just needed to make smarter plays. We could have got away with not turning the ball over if we just made smarter plays.”
Vanessa de Jesus scored 15 points while Iyana Moore and Cassandre Prosper had 13 each for the Fighting Irish (24-10), who have won 11 of their last 13.
Hidalgo had 23 points, nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists in Saturday’s 79-60 victory over Fairfield. The eight steals ties a Fighting Irish NCAA Tournament record she had originally set on Saturday.
“We have really fought through the adversity this season and really the last several weeks have become more tough. That’s just with our defenses, with our rebounding. It’s our intensity that we’ve shown up with. But it has grown over time this season,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.
Buckeyes rally in 3rd before Irish regain control
A jumper by Hidalgo gave the Fighting Irish a 50-37 lead with 8:09 remaining in the third quarter before the Buckeyes went on a 12-4 run. Cambridge scored six straight to get the Buckeyes within one point but missed a free throw with 2:42 remaining that would have tied it at 54-all with 2:42 remaining.
Notre Dame would regain control by going on a 12-3 run. Its largest lead was 83-65 in the game’s final minute.
“We had too many live-ball turnovers. Notre Dame just really made us pay. They got a lot of easy baskets in transition because of that, and we just couldn’t overcome it,’ Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said.
Ohio State started off strong, scoring the first 11 points, including Cambridge with nine. Notre Dame got its first basket on 3-pointer by Iyana Moore with 6:43 remaining.
The Fighting Irish took a 22-20 lead at the end of the first quarter and were up 43-35 at halftime.
Up next
The Fighting Irish will face either second-seeded Vanderbilt or seventh-seeded Illinois on Friday.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness