For the first time in 51 games, Notre Dame was without top scorer and emotional boss Hannah Hidalgo.
And it showed — in just about every way.
But even an out-of-sync Notre Dame team minus a key piece has the skill and depth to survive most challenges.
Sunday, in front of 3,800 in Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum, despite suffering their worst offensive output of the season, the No. 3-ranked Irish came away with a 67-58 Atlantic Coast Conference win.
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Hidalgo, a 26-point scorer and dynamic defender, is resting an ailing ankle — she wore a boot on the bench on Sunday — but is not expected to be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
It’s still uncertain if the sophomore guard will be ready for Thursday’s 6 p.m. EST home visit from No. 13-ranked, 15-1 Georgia Tech.
“(Hidalgo) rolled it on Thursday (Jan. 9 win over Wake Forest), so we're just being extra careful,” said Irish head coach Niele Ivey, her team 14-2 and 5-0 in the ACC. “We’re making sure she gets proper rest, and then we'll assess her this week.”
Based on Sunday’s play, the Irish don’t want to be without her for long.
Thanks to Liatu King, Hidalgo's absence against an average Clemson team (10-7, 3-3 ACC) didn’t hurt more.
King, the 6-foot graduate transfer from Pittsburgh, carried the Irish offense all afternoon. She came in averaging 12.8 points on 57.7% field goal shooting and 11.3 rebounds, and, doing most of her damage on mid-range jumpers, finished with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting, along with 11 boards.
“You never predict something happening to one of your teammates, but you’ve just got to be ready for whatever the circumstances,” King said.
King was the only Irish player who shot over 50% for the day, uncharacteristic for a team averaging 49.8% (89.1 points) from the field to start the game.
“I thought Liatu did a great job, just being poised the entire game …" Ivey said. "She was tremendous. She’s just getting better and better.”
It was King’s eighth double-double of the season.
“She did a great job of getting to her spots,” Ivey said. “She's got one of the best mid-range games in the country. She didn’t force shots and was very patient. … A credit to her to the work she has put in, but also just understanding what we need. She always steps up in big moments.’’
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Though Notre Dame never lost the lead after edging ahead 8-6 on two Olivia Miles free throws at the 5:16 mark of the first quarter, there were plenty of nervous moments.
Twice, the Tigers whittled the difference to three early in the fourth quarter, but after a bucket with 8:08 to play, Clemson didn’t score again until 5:31 remained, and the Irish were able to cobble together enough offense for a 55-48 lead. The last two points came on Sonia Citron free throws following a technical foul called on the Clemson bench.
A layup by King on a nifty pass from Maddy Westbeld and a drive by Cass Prosper for a layup with the shot-clock winding down produced a 59-48 lead and firm control with 3:15 to play.
“This is a really tough place to play and getting any type of win on the road in the ACC is huge,” Ivey said.
“We had a lot of great moments. I thought Cass came up big defensively … everybody stepped up and did something well. Just a lot of contribution from the entire team. We were down a body and everybody stepped up and did a little bit more.”
They just didn’t do it as well as usual. They were just 10-for-19 on layups and finished at 43.9% from the field for the game with just six fast break points. The Irish had 30 in the win over Wake.
Hidalgo’s four steals a game were missed. The Irish force 18 turnovers a game, but Clemson had just 11, one fewer than the Irish.
ND also finished just 3-for-14 from the 3-point line. The 21.4% effort was less than half of their nation-leading 43.8% entering the game.
Clemson had one last gasp with a 3-pointer by Hannah Kohn with 40 seconds to go to make it 63-56. But 12 seconds later King finished off a fast break to finally secure it.
Clemson averages eight threes a game and shoots almost 37% from the arc, but was 4-for-20 (20%) for the game. The Tigers were at 33.9% from the field for the game, well under their 44.6% average.
Miles, with 17, was the only other double-figure scorer for ND, but wasn’t her usual self by going 1-for-5 on threes. She had nine of ND’s 19 assists on 25 buckets.
A big piece of the defensive work came inside where the Irish had a height advantage.
They totaled eight blocks (Prosper, starting in place of Hidalgo, had three) to Clemson’s zero, and forced a 13-for-33 performance on layups. Still, the Irish were outscored in the paint, 32-24.
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