On Thursday at 5:30 PM PT on ESPN, Stanford women’s basketball will take on No. 3 Notre Dame on the road in South Bend, Indiana. Stanford comes in at 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the ACC while Notre Dame comes in at 19-2 overall and 10-0 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford had a heart breaking 69-67 loss to No. 15 North Carolina on Sunday. They had a chance to force overtime or go for the win in the final possession and weren’t able to get a shot to fall.
RECAP: Stanford WBB comes up short against No. 15 North Carolina
On Notre Dame: The Irish are having a marvelous season as their record clearly indicates. Their lone losses were in the Cayman Islands to TCU and Utah back in the non-conference. TCU is now ranked No. 9 in the nation while Utah is receiving votes. Neither of those are bad losses, especially the TCU loss. Their biggest win of the season is a 79-68 home victory over UConn back in December. UConn was ranked No. 2 at the time and is now ranked No. 5. The Irish have won all but one of their ACC games by double digits. The closest league game they had was a 67-58 victory over Clemson on the road.
The top player for the Irish is sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo, who is averaging 26.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. She is just lighting teams up. And then in addition to Hidalgo, three other players are scoring in double figures in junior guard Olivia Miles (16.4 points & 5.9 rebounds), senior guard Sonia Citron (13.1 points & 5.3 rebounds), and senior forward Liatu King (12.4 points & 10.9 rebounds). With those three players alongside Hidalgo, the Irish have a very potent attack.
As a team, the Irish average 87.0 points per game on 49.9% shooting from the field, 40.7% shooting from 3-point range, and 76.2% shooting from the foul line. They average 44.7 rebounds, 18.5 assists, 11.4 steals, 5.9 blocks, and 15.5 turnovers per game. They also average a +2.2 turnover margin and a +11.3 rebound margin per game. Their opponents are averaging 62.1 points per game on 36.2% shooting from the field, 26.5% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.1% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is find a way to contain Hidalgo. They have to defend her well enough to keep her under 20 points. If not, this one will be over quick.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is slow down the pace of the game. If this becomes a fast pace, up-tempo game, Notre Dame will win. If Stanford can slow this down, run good sets, and make each possession matter more, maybe they make this game interesting.
Finally, Stanford needs to make some threes. This is a game where they cannot go icy cold from deep. Elena Bosgana for example can’t make just one three while missing six. Courtney Ogden needs to get going, etc. If Stanford makes some threes, maybe they can hang around.
Prediction: I got Notre Dame winning by a final score of 82-62. Notre Dame has been shredding everybody and I expect that trend to continue. Especially with it being on their home floor.
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