SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame’s first home game since beating UConn was a celebratory one. Not only did the Irish celebrate their biggest win of the season, but it was a day to honor cancer survivors during their annual Think Pink Game. The only way to make it better was with a another win, and they got it to the tune of 78-53 over Pittsburgh.
Even though the Irish are the better team, the Panthers hung around for much of the first half. In the final few minutes before halftime, the Irish extended a two-point lead to 14.
The Panthers countered by cutting that lead to nine going into the locker room, but they shot only 2 of 18 from the field in the third quarter. The Irish took full advantage of that with their lead only growing from there.
[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was held to only a single free throw first quarter but bounced back to score 22 points while also contributing five assists and three steals. Before Hidalgo got cooking in the second quarter and beyond, [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] picked up the slack, scoring nine of her 15 points in the first quarter. She completed the double-double with 14 rebounds.
[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] also scored 15 points and got three of her own steals. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] added 10 points.
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