Scheduling a predictably outmanned New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) team in a tiny gym in Newark, N.J., Sunday afternoon checked a lot of boxes for Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team.
It was a homecoming of sorts for several players like freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo, junior All-American Olivia Miles and senior starter Kylee Watson, all of whom hail from the Garden State. Add junior star Sonia Citron and senior Nat Marshall – both New York products – with area ties.
There was NJIT head coach Mike Lane. The 1993 Notre Dame graduate who earned a degree in business administration called it “surreal that I get to coach against Notre Dame“ and great for New Jersey basketball.
And there was a needed easy 104-57 win — “to turn the page from last week,” Irish head coach Niele Ivey said – that surely helped soothe some of the irritation from a 100-71 defeat to No. 6 South Carolina in Paris last Monday.
“You know, when we landed and we kind of drove around going to our hotel — just to see their eyes just light up just from being home, that's what I always want,” Ivey said. “I want them to have the opportunity to play in front of their home fans, their family, people that have known them their whole lives. So grateful that they got a chance to come back and have an incredible homecoming and to play well.”
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No drama was expected with the No. 10 Irish facing a middle-of-the-road America East team that didn’t have a player taller than 6-foot-2.
But each side had highlights to please a Fleisher Center crowd of 1,631, more than a hundred over its listed capacity.
First, it was the home team hanging with an elite team for the first 12 minutes — it was 28-24 Irish with a couple minutes gone in the second quarter — because of its toughness to battle inside and ND taking a few minutes to get their offensive footing.
“We came out battling, looking like a predator instead of prey,“ said Lane, before Notre Dame’s defense settled in. The Irish length and quickness overtook the Highlanders’ composure and poise.
Leading the defensive attitude was the swift and slick-handed 5-6 Hidalgo.
She picked some pockets, she slapped balls away on double teams and she got into passing lanes — all adding up to match a Marina Mabrey 2015 single-game school record of 12 steals.
Not bad for her second college basketball game.
“I think we all knew this,” Citron said of Hidalgo’s defense. “I think it's surprising to other people, because she is a freshman. But our team has known the impact she was going to have from the beginning, so there’s nothing surprising.”
“I think that's her special gift — she loves to defend,” Ivey said. “It's contagious with the team. You know, she feeds her game off the energy on the defensive end. You don't see too many guards, especially freshman guards, that can change the trajectory of the game with their defense.
“So, I love that about her. She's feisty. She just wants to make teams uncomfortable. And you know, she loves that role.”
Not hard to guess that triple-doubles will be a big part of her future. She came close Sunday with her 26 points (9-for-17 and 2-for-4 on 3s), 12 steals, six rebounds and six assists.
Her 37 minutes played probably were more than expected in a blowout, but guard Cass Prosper was away from the team for a few days to compete for Team Canada in the FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament in Medellin, Columbia, and guards KK Bransford and Jenna Brown remained sidelined with undisclosed injuries. Meanwhile, Miles continues to rehab from last April’s knee surgery.
A couple of newcomers did get some substantial minutes. Becky Obinma, a 6-2 grad student transfer from Pepperdine, got her first points as a member of the Irish, finishing with six and a couple of rebounds.
Freshman Emma Risch also broke into the scoring column in the college ranks with eight points in 15 minutes, four of those coming on five free throw attempts.
After a rough season debut against South Carolina (12 points on 5-for-15 shooting) Citron dominated the lane, getting free on several backdoor cuts and drives to the basket. She finished 10-of-11 from the field and totaled 26 points to lead the Irish to a 62-26 edge in points in the paint.
The Irish also had a big edge in fastbreak points, 33-4; in points off turnovers, 36-7; and in total rebounds, 40-30. The Highlanders took a big hit with 27 turnovers to ND’s 14.
“I'm really proud of the work that we put in last week,” Ivey said. “The group worked on our defense and on a lot of things offensively. And it showed today.
“I thought we had a great contribution from everybody on the team. I was really happy with that, especially our starters.”
All starters finished in double figures and were at or better than 50% from the field, as the Irish shot 59% for the game to NJIT’s 35.5%.
For the Irish, Maddy Westbeld had 14 points (and team-high 11 rebounds), Watson 12 and Anna DeWolfe 10 (5-for-6 shooting).
It all helped to start to move on from the opening-game disappointment.
“I mean, it was super important,” Ivey said of Sunday’s performance. “You know, we ended up being a part of a historical moment (playing in Paris), and going against a really great team. We learned a lot from that game. But again, it's what I was kind of telling the team — adversity, it builds character.
“So, it's one game. We had an opportunity to learn what we needed to learn from that game. Move on. And we've done that. I'm proud of the group and we're just going to continue building and growing.”
The next opportunity comes Wednesday when the Irish host Northwestern at 7 p.m.
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