Notre Dame 2025-2026 Regular-Season Thread.

[Dillon77]

Holy Crow. I suddenly realized the Irish have their first regular season game this Wednesday at 7 p.m. against FDU at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend.
Guess my attention was elsewhere (recruiting and ND Women's Soccer who are in the playoff mode now).

Get to see how Hannah Hidalgo and fellow returnees KK Bransford and Cass Prosper mesh with a mess of new comers, most of whom will only be there one year.

Stay tuned.

 

[cancontent]

I'm looking forward to seeing how Prosper does this season. She stepped away from Canada Basketball obligations this year. Did the time off from training with the national help? Personally, I think it might as she's been on quite a grind since high school.

 

[YoDore]

Holy Crow. I suddenly realized the Irish have their first regular season game this Wednesday at 7 p.m. against FDU at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend.
Guess my attention was elsewhere (recruiting and ND Women's Soccer who are in the playoff mode now).

Get to see how Hannah Hidalgo and fellow returnees KK Bransford and Cass Prosper mesh with a mess of new comers, most of whom will only be there one year.

Stay tuned.

Dillon, can you clarify Leah Macy's status for me? I'm under the impression she had a second knee surgery and will miss another season, but I can't remember where I got that information or if it's accurate.

 

[Dillon77]

Dillon, can you clarify Leah Macy's status for me? I'm under the impression she had a second knee surgery and will miss another season, but I can't remember where I got that information or if it's accurate.

As I understand it, Macy had two severe things happen to her during the initial injury. Both of these happened during her senior year in high school and she had them treated at Notre Dame during her senior spring in high school.
They injury(ies) were extensive but from what I hear, read, observe, she's making good progress. However, she's not practicing with the team (although she is a practices). I'm guessing she's not going to be available for months...if she's not ready by, say, early winter, I'd be they shut her down and preserve the year of eligibility. That, in turn, would give ND a five- or six-person frosh class in Fall 2026.

 

[Dillon77]

I'm looking forward to seeing how Prosper does this season. She stepped away from Canada Basketball obligations this year. Did the time off from training with the national help? Personally, I think it might as she's been on quite a grind since high school.

We'll see tonight with the first game against FDU at 7 p.m.

BTW, per head coach Niele Ivey, grad transfers Iyana Moore (Vanderbilt) and Malaya Cowles (Wake Forest) as well as freshman Leah Macy are out for Notre Dame women’s basketball’s season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Irish will have just 9 players available. As the noted NYC hoopster quartet, the Talking Heads, would sing: "same as it ever was." Both Moore and Cowles seem to be in the dreaded "nagging injury/week to week" status. As noted, Macy is in the midst of recovery from major knee surgery from the winter/early spring.

 

[Dillon77]

ND Wins Opener Against FDU, 98-52.

- Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 27 points, while Vanessa de Jesus followed with a career-high 22. Gisela Sanchez also had her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

- ND shot 54% from the field. Now, 32 points came off turnovers and 42 were scored from the paint. Plus FDU is not a tall and/or physical squad, so you'd hope to see this. Still, the fact they did it is good, particularly since ...

- The Irish shot 53% (9-17) from three-point land and that takes in Hannah Hidalgo's 1-7 clunkfest (good, get it out of the way, HH). Vanessa DeJesus, by comparison, went 4-6 and Gisela Sanchez 2-2 for those that hit multiple treys.

- Interestingly, neither Cass Prosper or KK Bransford attempted a three. However, the two of them led the Irish in assists, with
5 and 4, respectively. Three players had 3 each: HH, DeJesus and Sanchez.

- Speaking of Sanchez, in addition to the passes and two treys, she scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Eleven of those grabs were on the defensive end and I liked the way she would then move the ball upcourt quickly with an outlet pass or a few dribbles and a pass. She's not a center but is active and has a nose for the 50-50.

- Hannah has a habit at the free throw line of taking her her first shot, then turning around to find a teammate, with whom she'll gently tap both hands with or even grip their fingers. During her first two years, the vast majority of those instances took place with Sonia Citron. My wife, a childhood psychology major, has long thought Hannah -- who runs high intensity -- was looking for a calming, chill partner. Can't get better than Soni.
Yesterday, the tradition continued and on two occasions I saw that she sought out Vanessa DeJesus.

- Along those lines, I was impressed with DeJesus's play. As time went on, she seemed to be assuming the field general role, particularly in the half court.

- Let's hope currently injured Cowles and Moore can come back soon to add depth. In the midst of a blowout, Coach Ivey didn't go deeper than Kelly Ratigan until the last few minutes, so when the competition ramps up, we'll have six players compiling a lot of minutes. Now, I'm sure Coach wanted to give her top 6 time to work out the kinks, but this game was done for a long time before we saw the walk-ons. Hope the "nagging" gets better soon, particularly with Cowles up front.

Linked boxscore:

StatMonitr Stat Feed

 

[cancontent]

ND Wins Opener Against FDU, 98-52.

- Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 27 points, while Vanessa de Jesus followed with a career-high 22. Gisela Sanchez also had her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

- ND shot 54% from the field. Now, 32 points came off turnovers and 42 were scored from the paint. Plus FDU is not a tall and/or physical squad, so you'd hope to see this. Still, the fact they did it is good, particularly since ...

- The Irish shot 53% (9-17) from three-point land and that takes in Hannah Hidalgo's 1-7 clunkfest (good, get it out of the way, HH). Vanessa DeJesus, by comparison, went 4-6 and Gisela Sanchez 2-2 for those that hit multiple treys.

- Interestingly, neither Cass Prosper or KK Bransford attempted a three. However, the two of them led the Irish in assists, with
5 and 4, respectively. Three players had 3 each: HH, DeJesus and Sanchez.

- Speaking of Sanchez, in addition to the passes and two treys, she scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Eleven of those grabs were on the defensive end and I liked the way she would then move the ball upcourt quickly with an outlet pass or a few dribbles and a pass. She's not a center but is active and has a nose for the 50-50.

- Hannah has a habit at the free throw line of taking her her first shot, then turning around to find a teammate, with whom she'll gently tap both hands with or even grip their fingers. During her first two years, the vast majority of those instances took place with Sonia Citron. My wife, a childhood psychology major, has long thought Hannah -- who runs high intensity -- was looking for a calming, chill partner. Can't get better than Soni.
Yesterday, the tradition continued and on two occasions I saw that she sought out Vanessa DeJesus.

- Along those lines, I was impressed with DeJesus's play. As time went on, she seemed to be assuming the field general role, particularly in the half court.

- Let's hope Cowles and Moore can come back soon to add depth. In the midst of a blowout, Coach Ivey didn't go deeper than Ratigan until the last few minutes, so when the competition ramps up, we'll have six players compiling a lot of minutes. Now, I'm sure Coach wanted to give her top 6 time to work out the kinks, but this game was done for a long time before we saw the walk-ons. Hope the "nagging" gets better soon, particularly with Cowles up front.

Linked boxscore:

StatMonitr Stat Feed

What I do find interesting is Prosper's FG% for the game. Hoping this is a trend we'll see throughout the season. Whether she takes 3 point shots or not, I'm good either way. Seeing her being more efficient in her scoring would be an awesome step forward this season.

 

[Reypl21]

ND Wins Opener Against FDU, 98-52.

- Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 27 points, while Vanessa de Jesus followed with a career-high 22. Gisela Sanchez also had her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

- ND shot 54% from the field. Now, 32 points came off turnovers and 42 were scored from the paint. Plus FDU is not a tall and/or physical squad, so you'd hope to see this. Still, the fact they did it is good, particularly since ...

- The Irish shot 53% (9-17) from three-point land and that takes in Hannah Hidalgo's 1-7 clunkfest (good, get it out of the way, HH). Vanessa DeJesus, by comparison, went 4-6 and Gisela Sanchez 2-2 for those that hit multiple treys.

- Interestingly, neither Cass Prosper or KK Bransford attempted a three. However, the two of them led the Irish in assists, with
5 and 4, respectively. Three players had 3 each: HH, DeJesus and Sanchez.

- Speaking of Sanchez, in addition to the passes and two treys, she scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Eleven of those grabs were on the defensive end and I liked the way she would then move the ball upcourt quickly with an outlet pass or a few dribbles and a pass. She's not a center but is active and has a nose for the 50-50.

- Hannah has a habit at the free throw line of taking her her first shot, then turning around to find a teammate, with whom she'll gently tap both hands with or even grip their fingers. During her first two years, the vast majority of those instances took place with Sonia Citron. My wife, a childhood psychology major, has long thought Hannah -- who runs high intensity -- was looking for a calming, chill partner. Can't get better than Soni.
Yesterday, the tradition continued and on two occasions I saw that she sought out Vanessa DeJesus.

- Along those lines, I was impressed with DeJesus's play. As time went on, she seemed to be assuming the field general role, particularly in the half court.

- Let's hope Cowles and Moore can come back soon to add depth. In the midst of a blowout, Coach Ivey didn't go deeper than Ratigan until the last few minutes, so when the competition ramps up, we'll have six players compiling a lot of minutes. Now, I'm sure Coach wanted to give her top 6 time to work out the kinks, but this game was done for a long time before we saw the walk-ons. Hope the "nagging" gets better soon, particularly with Cowles up front.

Linked boxscore:

StatMonitr Stat Feed

I don't get access to ACC Network Extra, so I'm relegated to highlights. How was the half court offense looking?