Hidalgo leads No. 3 Notre Dame past Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo scored 30 points to lift No. 3 Notre Dame to a 77-61 victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

Hidalgo shot 10 of 16 from the floor and made all seven of her free throws for the Fighting Irish (18-2, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their 13th straight game and beat Virginia Tech for the seventh consecutive time.

Carys Baker led the Hokies (14-7, 5-5) with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Virginia Tech lost its second in a row and third in its last five games.

The Irish, who led by just four points at halftime, opened the second half with a 12-3 run and gradually pulled away. Hidalgo scored seven points during the run and Olivia Miles had the other five.

Miles finished with 15 points and Liza Karlen added 12 for the Irish, who shot 50.9% (27 of 53).

Takeaways

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish are the class of the ACC and with Hidalgo and Miles in the backcourt are going to be tough out for anyone in the conference the rest of the way. Hidalgo, the ACC preseason player of the year, especially is playing at an elite level, having scored at least 20 points in 18 of 20 games.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies needed to play the perfect game to stay with the Fighting Irish. And with leading scorer Carleigh Wenzel on the bench for much of the game with foul trouble, they just didn’t have firepower to stay with Notre Dame.

Key moment

The Hokies cut a 16-point deficit to 10 on Matilda Ekh’s 3-pointer with 6:24 remaining, but a 3 by Karlen and a three-point play by Hidalgo on Notre Dame’s next two possessions put an end to the Hokies’ hopes.

Key stat

Virginia Tech turned the ball over 20 times — its second most this season — and those turnovers led to 22 Notre Dame points.

Up next

Notre Dame: Play at Louisville on Sunday.

Virginia Tech: Host SMU on Sunday.

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