Notre Dame’s quest for perfection at home this season ended with an 86-64 loss to Louisville. However, the final score made the game seem much closer than it was. What if you were told that the Irish trailed, 31-3, after the first quarter and 54-15 at halftime? As crazy as it sounds for a game against two top-15 teams, that’s exactly what happened.
Twitter users soon caught wind of what was happening in South Bend and weighed in:
OH MY WORD LOUISVILLE. pic.twitter.com/frwODAnAD2
— Caroline Darney (@cwdarney) February 27, 2022
You normally only expect this kind of performance from @NotreDame athletics in the college football playoff pic.twitter.com/g8W4kxano5
— Todd Fuhrman (@ToddFuhrman) February 27, 2022
Meanwhile in the world of women’s college basketball…
WHAT🤯
Louisville is running over Notre Dame pic.twitter.com/nwR281dhzO
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) February 27, 2022
Notre Dame, fight back!!!
— Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) February 27, 2022
Okay so I've been locked in to Missouri-Florida doing some SEC Tournament research….
Checked in with this game real quick….
What in the WORLD is going on with Louisville-Notre Dame??? https://t.co/aN9zdpt8X2
— Augusta Stone 🔥 (@augustalstone) February 27, 2022
And Notre Dame is the 14th ranked team in the country 😳
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) February 27, 2022
2:49 in the 2nd quarter, and No. 4 Louisville women's basketball is leading No. 14 Notre Dame … checks notes … 48-10?! pic.twitter.com/oScz3xbNrq
— Damon Sayles (@DamonSayles) February 27, 2022
For reference: Notre Dame scored 47 points *in the entire first meeting* between these two teams earlier this season. Louisville just passed that in a half. It's 48-6 right now.
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) February 27, 2022
At halftime, Louisville still has a 39-point lead on Notre Dame.
Why? Just look at the difference in the box score. https://t.co/qN2tgcbAas pic.twitter.com/BWMUteiimw
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 27, 2022
I love seeing Louisville beat Notre Dame – especially in women’s basketball. pic.twitter.com/WgthZwiYsQ
— Howie Lindsey (@howielindsey) February 27, 2022
That's a real score 👀@UofLWBB jumped out to a 45-4 lead in a top-15 matchup. pic.twitter.com/LgvDDbu1MX
— ESPN (@espn) February 27, 2022
Tired of hearing how Notre Dame has fought back from being down 39. What's Louisville supposed to do, beat them by 60?
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) February 27, 2022
As if this wasn’t enough, it all happened on a day the Irish welcomed back Skylar Diggins-Smith:
She's home ☘️@SkyDigg4 | #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/Ls6oYjNwEP
— Notre Dame WBB (@ndwbb) February 27, 2022
Oh, and Notre Dame student Jerome Bettis was in attendance, too:
Jerome Bettis in the house for a big-time Notre Dame women’s basketball game.
The Bus has been so incredibly involved in all facets of Fighting Irish Athletics since returning to finish his degree.
Super impressive. pic.twitter.com/vBEZ1ll6Kt
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) February 27, 2022
But through it all, the Irish fans somehow didn’t let Purcell Pavilion get quiet:
This might be the loudest you ever hear a crowd supporting the home team when it’s losing by 35…
There was even a collective “Oooo” when Maddy Westbeld missed a three.
Good on Notre Dame fans for unwavering support. This surely hasn’t been easy to sit through… pic.twitter.com/MT0sBanf4C
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) February 27, 2022
This game showed once and for all that while the Irish are back to being one of the better teams in the country, they haven’t returned to the elite status they enjoyed under Muffet McGraw. While that day might come soon enough, it hasn’t happened yet. Of course, a deep run in the NCAA Tournament might cause that thought to be revisited. Is anyone counting on that though?
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