Irish blowout in-state rival Purdue, 102-58

Yowza

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is off to a 2-0 start following Sunday’s 102-58 thrashing of the Purdue Boilermakers. Hannah Hidalgo shined with 28 points, Liatu King pulled down 15 rebounds, and Kate Koval dished out 4 assists.

Also… Olivia Miles had herself a SHOT.

From the ND press release:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 6 Notre Dame (2-0) reached the century mark for the second consecutive game on Sunday, downing in-state rival Purdue (1-2), 102-58.

Hannah Hidalgo led the scoring efforts with 28 points, and three of her teammates joined her in double-figures — Liatu King (18), Olivia Miles (17) and Sonia Citron (14), who was making her season debut after missing the first game with an injury.

The opening quarter was one of runs, as the Irish went up 9-0 to start, and Purdue missed its first six shots. Notre Dame later added a 15-2 run, and Purdue did not score from the floor after the 4:36 mark. The Boilermakers had just two field goals in the first quarter and were in a 28-7 hole.

The Irish offense stalled a bit in Q2, forcing a timeout at 2:52. From that point, Notre Dame went on a 9-0 run to end the half. King had 12 rebounds at the break, already topping her totals from the exhibition and opener.

King opened the second half with a jump shot, securing the double-double stat line of 10 points and 12 boards. Hot hands continued for the visitors, who shot 70.6 percent from the floor in the third quarter.

Notre Dame outscored Purdue by 12 points in both the third and fourth quarters and led by as much as 47 midway through the fourth quarter. Miles closed down the third with a 55-foot shot, marking the first time an Irish player hit a shot from half court or beyond since Arike Ogunbowale did so in March 2018.

Purdue’s physicality limited assists in the first half, but Notre Dame started to overcome that obstacle toward the end of the game and finished with 13 assists. Freshman Kate Koval led the Irish with 4 and added 4 blocks and 10 rebounds, her first double-digit rebound game of her young career. Hidalgo led the team with 6 steals, and King amassed 15 total rebounds.

The Irish are at home for their next contest, hosting Sun Belt preseason favorites JMU at Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday night. The game can be streamed on ACCNX and tips off at 7 p.m.