Tag: UConn

Notre Dame player honored by USBWA for fifth time in six weeks

Yes, the Irish are that good.

(This story has been updated to include additional information.)

At this rate, it will be shocking if the USBWA isn’t honoring a Notre Dame player almost every week for the rest of the season. The Irish have been that good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was one of five players to earn weekly national honors by the organization for the week ending Dec. 15. She previously earned them for the week ending Nov. 24.

Through six weeks of the season, Notre Dame has had one of its players honored by the USBWA every week except for one. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] have earned national honors once, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was honored as the nation’s top freshman once. The only thing the Irish haven’t won is the weekly team honor, but it would not be surprising if they did so before season’s end.

This hardly is a surprise given that Hidalgo already was named the ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for this past week. She also was the AP national player of the week. What probably stood out the most among voters was finishing two assists shy of a triple-double against UConn:

You know more awards will be coming for her very soon.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball star is ACC Player of the Week again

She is so good.

Winning ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week is becoming the norm for Notre Dame star [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. After wins during the past week over UConn and Eastern Michigan in which she excelled, she won the honor for the second this season and an Irish record sixth time overall.

After nearly achieving a triple-double of 29 points, which included six 3-pointers, 10 rebounds and eight assists against the Huskies, she was equally productive against the Eagles with 27 points and tying her season high with six steals. The latter game highlighted her specialties on both ends of the floor.

All of this and more added up to averages of 28.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 4.5 steals for the two games. She’s a big reason the Irish climbed five spots to third in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, and it would not be surprising to seem them climb higher before this season is over.

For the latest Hidalgo highlights, here they are against the Eagles:

That’s a typical game for her, folks. Get familiar with her if you haven’t already.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball defeats UConn for third straight season

That’s three wins over top-five teams, too.

Notre Dame and UConn is as anticipated a matchup as you’ll find in women’s basketball. With numerous former Irish players on hand along with a sellout crowd at Purcell Pavilion, not to mention [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], all eyes were on whether the Irish could beat a top-five opponent for the third time this season.

With the university nearing final exams, the Irish passed its own exam and won, 79-68, for their third victory over the Huskies in as many seasons. That means UConn, Texas and USC are a combined 0-3 against the Irish but 26-0 against everyone else.

The Irish (8-2) led the Huskies (8-1) for most of the game but never by more than 13 points. That lead was cut to one in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] hit her career-high sixth 3 at the buzzer, and the Irish proceeded to score the first six points of the fourth quarter to go back up 10.

Although the Huskies got within six with 3:12 left, the Irish doubled their lead over the next two minutes, and that was that. This was the latest in a series of statement wins:

Hidalgo led all scorers with 29 points to get the better of fellow All-American Paige Bueckers, who had 25 points. She achieved a double-double with 10 rebounds and also had a game-high eight assists.

[autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] had her own double-double with 16 points and 12 boards. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] overcame an early ankle injury to also score 16 points.

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Fourth different Notre Dame player this season earns weekly honor

Congrats, Sonia!

If you want to you know exactly how talented Notre Dame is this season, simply look at the roster. A Notre Dame player has been received a weekly honor from the USBWA for the fourth time this season. A different player has won it each time.

This time, it was [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] earning the honor. She began the week with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven steals in the Irish’s overtime win over Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge. She followed that with her first double-double of the season (25 points, 11 rebounds) to help the Irish beat Syracuse in their ACC opener.

Citron joins [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] as the third Irish player this season to be named one of five national players of the week by the USBWA. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] also has a freshman of the week honor.

The Irish have another big test coming up Thursday against UConn, and the Huskies might be in trouble if Citron has another game like this one:

Best of luck to the Irish against a quality opponent they have beaten in each of the past two seasons.

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UNC football’s bowl destination, opponent announced

Which bowl game did UNC make? Who will the Tar Heels play?

The North Carolina Tar Heels have experienced quite the tumultuous football season, highlighted by the firing of former head coach Mack Brown.

UNC (6-6, 3-5 ACC) started its campaign 3-0, then lost four straight, including a 70-50 shocker against James Madison. North Carolina then rebounded to win three straight, capping its streak with a bowl-clinching victory against Wake Forest.

On Sunday, Dec. 8, the Tar Heels learned their bowl game – and opponent. UNC will ship up to Boston for an 11 a.m. kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 28 to face the UConn Huskies in the Fenway Bowl.

North Carolina and UConn will face off in the famed Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox.

UConn (8-4), previously a member of the American Athletic Conference, now plays as an FBS independent.

North Carolina, which is playing in a bowl game for the sixth-consecutive season, will make its first appearance in the Fenway Bowl. Last year’s edition of the Fenway Bowl featured two fellow ACC schools: Boston College and SMU, the latter of whom is in the College Football Playoff.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVOw3URCzY/

The Tar Heels will look to snap a 4-game losing streak in bowl games, while UConn is playing in a bowl game for the second time in three seasons. The Huskies’ bowl fortunates are even worse than UNC’s: UConn hasn’t won one since 2009, when it beat South Carolina in the PapaJohns.com bowl.

North Carolina will be playing postseason football under the guidance of tight ends coach/run game coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who was named the interim head coach less than a week about Brown’s firing.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball drops to No. 3 seed in ESPN bracketology

The Irish’s perception continues to suffer.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team lost both games it played in the Cayman Islands Classic to TCU and Utah. In doing so, it seriously hurt its perception among those who follow women’s basketball for a living.

Not only did the Irish drop seven spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll from third to 10th, further than any other team, but they fell in Charlie Creme’s latest bracketology for ESPN. After a road win over USC allowed them to ascend to a No. 1 seed, they have fallen to a No. 3 seed.

What’s more, the Irish are in the quadrant featuring UConn, the top overall seed in this bracketology. Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs have been bumped up to a No. 2 seed.

While the Irish remain highly ranked, this past week has led many to believe they aren’t as good as previously thought. The good news is it’s early in the season still, and there’s plenty of time to convince people to come back around on them. But it might become harder if they don’t beat at least one of Texas or the Huskies in two of their next three games.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball swept during Cayman Islands Classic

Well, this certainly isn’t a pleasant way to get your first two losses.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team got a rude awakening during the Cayman Islands Classic over Thanksgiving weekend. It’s hard to know if the tropical setting affected the Irish, but what is known is that the Irish won’t just cruise to a national championship.

One day after the Irish suffered their first loss of the season, a 76-68 decision to a ranked and undefeated TCU team, they lost, 78-67, to a Utah team that wasn’t even receiving votes in the latest poll. That drops the Irish to 5-2 on the season, and they most definitely will drop from their No. 3 ranking in the latest poll.

It was a real disappointment for the Irish after defeating USC in its own building, and the schedule won’t get any easier. They next face Texas in the ACC/SEC Challenge, which will come ahead of their ACC opener against Syracuse and then a game against fellow blue blood UConn.

This is a true test for the Irish, and how they tackle it will say a lot about them.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball receives No. 1 votes in AP Top 25 poll

The Irish are getting close to the top.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is looking stronger than ever, and people are starting to notice. After a huge victory in a much-anticipated game at USC over the weekend, the Irish received three No. 1 votes in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. They also moved up the rankings from six to third.

The top of the latest poll had some serious movement. After UCLA knocked off top-ranked South Carolina over the weekend, it became the new No. 1 team in the country. The Gamecocks slipped to fourth, one spot below the Irish, and the Trojans fell to sixth, one spot behind Texas. UConn remained at No. 2 from the previous week.

After the Irish play two games at the Cayman Islands Classic this weekend, they’ll return home to play the Longhorns in the ACC/SEC Challenge, open ACC play against Syracuse and then host the Huskies. After that slate, we’ll know a lot more about what we can expect from the Irish this season.

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Notre Dame listed as No. 2 seed in first ESPN women’s bracketology

Hopefully, that can become a No. 1 seed.

Notre Dame got its season off to a proper start Monday with a blowout win over Mercyhurst. This occurred on the eve of ESPN women’s bracketologist Charlie Creme releasing his first bracketology of the season.

Given that the Irish are starting the season as the sixth-ranked team in the country, it should come as no surprise that they’re a No. 2 seed in this initial bracketology. While there surely are a few paths that could make them a No. 1 seed, one in particular would allow them to put their fate in their own hands.

In a separate story, Creme notes that the Irish play both USC and UConn this season. All three of them play each other this season, and one team going 2-0 against the other would lock in a No. 1 seed assuming there aren’t any losses to inferior opponents during the season. Creme also notes that the Irish must beat Texas to get that seed if they lose to both the Trojans and Huskies.

We have four months of this, people. Time to buckle up.

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Three Notre Dame players among ESPN’s top 25 in women’s basketball

The Irish have serious talent. No doubt about it.

Notre Dame is expected to contend for a national championship this season. That’s not by accident. There are many talented players on the Irish, and at least one prominent sports media outlet recognizes that, not that others don’t.

ESPN has released its preseason list of the top 25 players in women’s basketball. The Irish were one of seven teams to have more than one player on the list. In all, three Irish players were afforded the honor.

Unsurprisingly, [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] ranks the highest among her teammates at third. Even without having played last season, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] still made the list, clocking in at 13th. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is right behind her at 14th.

To make things even more exciting, the Irish will face every player this season who is ranked alongside Hidalgo in the top five of this list. Those players are JuJu Watkins, the top-ranked player, alongside USC teammate Kiki Iriafen, Paige Bueckers of UConn and Madison Booker of Texas, which also clocked Rori Harmon in at ninth.

There indeed are some fun times in store for the Irish this season.

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