Notre Dame 2025-2026 Regular-Season Thread.

[Frankus]

A nice win for the slow starting (particularly Hannah) Irish. The first half also included a number of wide open shooters who were not defended well by ND’s zone. After wide open shots were made, players looked at the bench holding their hands out as if to say “ what’s happening”. I don’t know if it was assignment errors or lack of hustle.

Thankfully, ND switched to man to man and played terrific man to man. Hannah was really active and disruptive and Bransford (before she tweaked her knee in the 2nd half) picked up the slack offensively, including the best game this season by Sanchez, a strong night shooting by the foul plagued Cass, and Hannah, de Jesus and Moore finally getting it going in critical times.

Va Tech is the kind of similar quality team we can beat because they don’t have the strength and physicality that teams like Louisville have. We were fortunate that Baker, who was killing us with wide open long shots, missed during crunch time. Wenzel, who was effective early on when we played zone was hurt by Hannah and others in man to man nagging at her drives, disrupting the flow of her game.

A big win for getting into the tournament. I know Cowles has a bum knee, but not sure if that’s why she wasn’t even dressed in street clothes or on the bench. If Sanchez can shoot like that consistently -6-9 shooting and 2-4 from three- we are a better team with her in the lineup

 

[Dillon77]

ND Defeats Va. Tech 80-70, Ending Hokie's Winning Streak

• In many ways, this game was right and tight:
• Both ND and Va Tech shot 43% from the floor
• Pretty close in 3-pt. %: Va Tech shot 42% and ND 40% (and to think how poorly ND started)

- While Va Tech outrebounded ND by a huge margin and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to ND's 7, the Hokies only had 9 pts off them. That should've been more.

- VT had 21 turnovers, which ND turned into 29 points. By contrast, ND had a mere 7 t/o's and VT only scored 7 points off them.

- Also, as Va. Tech Coach Megan Duffy so plainly said, VT kinda came apart in the 4th quarter, only going 1-11 at game's end, while ND hit 4 of its last 4 shots from the field.

- As for KK, her ability to be physical and crafty is important because she's the one player between smallish guards (Hidalgo, Moore, de Jesus) and Prosper/Sanchez/Cowles. She knows how to use that body to generate space on drives to the hoop, as well as on defense in/around the paint. And I love the way she fills passing lanes on defense, anticipating dump-off passes.

- Cowles was not injured last night (apparent illness...she wasn't even in the building), but Sanchez started for the first times since pre-ACC games and had a fine. game, looking for her shut.

- As a matter of fact, all six of the Irish who played hit double figures:
-- Hidalgo: 18
-- Sanchez, Moore, Prosper: 14
-- de Bransford: 11

- Carys Baker and Carleigh Wenzel were the only two Hokies in double figures, with 21 and 18 pts., respectively. Wenzel was strong in the first half, Baker in the second, save at the end. I learned that Baker is the daughter of former NBA'er, Vin Baker and her mother played collegiate hoops, too. I can see her at the next level -- quick release that she shoots up high. Hard to block.

- Irish travel to Charlottesville this Sunday to take on UVA in a pre-Super Bowl start.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Dillon77]

Pope Leo meets Hannah Hidalgo, a very faithful Roman Catholic.
This will be a blast!
One concern: What if you steal from a pope? 😉

 

[WBBTakeover]

ND Defeats Va. Tech 80-70, Ending Hokie's Winning Streak

• In many ways, this game was right and tight:
• Both ND and Va Tech shot 43% from the floor
• Pretty close in 3-pt. %: Va Tech shot 42% and ND 40% (and to think how poorly ND started)

- While Va Tech outrebounded ND by a huge margin and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to ND's 7, the Hokies only had 9 pts off them. That should've been more.

- VT had 21 turnovers, which ND turned into 29 points. By contrast, ND had a mere 7 t/o's and VT only scored 7 points off them.

- Also, as Va. Tech Coach Megan Duffy so plainly said, VT kinda came apart in the 4th quarter, only going 1-11 at game's end, while ND hit 4 of its last 4 shots from the field.

- As for KK, her ability to be physical and crafty is important because she's the one player between smallish guards (Hidalgo, Moore, de Jesus) and Prosper/Sanchez/Cowles. She knows how to use that body to generate space on drives to the hoop, as well as on defense in/around the paint. And I love the way she fills passing lanes on defense, anticipating dump-off passes.

- Cowles was not injured last night (apparent illness...she wasn't even in the building), but Sanchez started for the first times since pre-ACC games and had a fine. game, looking for her shut.

- As a matter of fact, all six of the Irish who played hit double figures:
-- Hidalgo: 18
-- Sanchez, Moore, Prosper: 14
-- de Bransford: 11

- Carys Baker and Carleigh Wenzel were the only two Hokies in double figures, with 21 and 18 pts., respectively. Wenzel was strong in the first half, Baker in the second, save at the end. I learned that Baker is the daughter of former NBA'er, Vin Baker and her mother played collegiate hoops, too. I can see her at the next level -- quick release that she shoots up high. Hard to block.

- Irish travel to Charlottesville this Sunday to take on UVA in a pre-Super Bowl start.

How did y'all lose to UVA?????

 

[Frankus]

How did y'all lose to UVA?????

A few things:

UVA shot 29 free throws to ND’s 17, with a net 8 point advantage.

Any time ND plays a team with more and better bigs, ND’s bigs struggles to score. Our swing player Prosper also struggles to finish when she drives against teams with quality bigs.

ND has two quick guards on the entire roster. Both look tired and gave up a lot of open outside shots. They were particularly lazy switching. Moore has been a defensive liability all year. UVA’s Johnson scored 29 points on a lot of open looks

This was not a very good, or deep roster to begin with. Both Bransford and Cowles are playing on one good leg and the minutes Hidalgo and de Jesus are playing are adding up. There’s no cavalry coming this year.

 

[Dillon77]

A few things:

UVA shot 29 free throws to ND’s 17, with a net 8 point advantage.

Any time ND plays a team with more and better bigs, ND’s bigs struggles to score. Our swing player Prosper also struggles to finish when she drives against teams with quality bigs.

ND has two quick guards on the entire roster. Both look tired and gave up a lot of open outside shots. They were particularly lazy switching. Moore has been a defensive liability all year. UVA’s Johnson scored 29 points on a lot of open looks

This was not a very good, or deep roster to begin with. Both Bransford and Cowles are playing on one good leg and the minutes Hidalgo and de Jesus are playing are adding up. There’s no cavalry coming this year.

I'll go along with everything you've said.
This is what I call a "bridge" year. After this season ends -- whenever that is -- there will be a massive changeover in the ND roster.
Knock on wood, Hannah Hidalgo and Leah Macy will be back to form the basis of next year's scholarship players. Cass Prosper is rumored to be going pro (a mistake IMHO) and who knows what KK Bransford will do, although she does have a medical year.
Outside of that, this team will be built on that excellent recruiting class, led by McDonald's All-Americans Jacy Abii and Jenica Lewis.

 

[Dillon77]

Per ND's 79-67 win over NC State on Sunday:

Michaela Mabrey had the scout and came up with a solid game plan, as she did with North Carolina a bit earlier in the season.

Think the Irish offense had two main propellants:
1) Points off turnovers. NC State had 22 turnovers, 17 of which were Irish steals (6 by Hannah Hidalgo, 5 by Cass Prosper and 3 by Malaya Cowles). The Irish turned these into 24 points and the Irish hit 14-20 layups, a lot of which came off turnovers. So, the downhill game was on.
2) The half-court game was on. Think this was by design. If the break wasn't there, slow it down and keep the Wolfpack from running. The good news is how much the Irish kept moving the ball, largely by passing for a change of pace. Hidalgo had 5 assists and Moore had 5. It also helps that the Irish were drilling it in the first half. While nose numbers came back to earth in the 4th quarter, the damage as already done.
+
- A few words on NC State: I know they have a really solid record, a first-rate coach and lots of talent, most of which is coming back next season. But the whole doesn't seem to be reflective of the sum of its parts too often. I can't quite figure out why, but I think their three top scorers - Khamil Pierre, Aoe Brooks and Zam Jones -- are usually looking for their shots first. Jones takes a lot of shots (9-20) and only had one assist. Kudos to ND for making Brooks and Jones work hard to get those shots.

Pierre seals really well and is smooth to the hoops. She's going to playing in the W. Remember, like Iyana Brooks, she used to play at Vandy, but transferred out once it became apparent that the Commodores were Mikayla Blake's team.

As noted, Zoe Brooks and Hannah Hidalgo have known each other since age 13 and played together for 4 years. The 5'10" guard is savvy and has a lot of Hidalgo's grit. I wonder if all three of these Wolfpack players will hang around next season to mesh into a more cohesive unit. Stay tuned.

- Not sure that Wake Forest or SMU games will be underestimated by either the Irish players or coaches. They need those games to make sure of their NCAA chances and/or placement. If they can take those, I think they'll be in a great place to take on Syracuse at home.

 

[FanInNC]

Per ND's 79-67 win over NC State on Sunday:

Michaela Mabrey had the scout and came up with a solid game plan, as she did with North Carolina a bit earlier in the season.

Think the Irish offense had two main propellants:
1) Points off turnovers. NC State had 22 turnovers, 17 of which were Irish steals (6 by Hannah Hidalgo, 5 by Cass Prosper and 3 by Malaya Cowles). The Irish turned these into 24 points and the Irish hit 14-20 layups, a lot of which came off turnovers. So, the downhill game was on.
2) The half-court game was on. Think this was by design. If the break wasn't there, slow it down and keep the Wolfpack from running. The good news is how much the Irish kept moving the ball, largely by passing for a change of pace. Hidalgo had 5 assists and Moore had 5. It also helps that the Irish were drilling it in the first half. While nose numbers came back to earth in the 4th quarter, the damage as already done.
+
- A few words on NC State: I know they have a really solid record, a first-rate coach and lots of talent, most of which is coming back next season. But the whole doesn't seem to be reflective of the sum of its parts too often. I can't quite figure out why, but I think their three top scorers - Khamil Pierre, Aoe Brooks and Zam Jones -- are usually looking for their shots first. Jones takes a lot of shots (9-20) and only had one assist. Kudos to ND for making Brooks and Jones work hard to get those shots.

Pierre seals really well and is smooth to the hoops. She's going to playing in the W. Remember, like Iyana Brooks, she used to play at Vandy, but transferred out once it became apparent that the Commodores were Mikayla Blake's team.

As noted, Zoe Brooks and Hannah Hidalgo have known each other since age 13 and played together for 4 years. The 5'10" guard is savvy and has a lot of Hidalgo's grit. I wonder if all three of these Wolfpack players will hang around next season to mesh into a more cohesive unit. Stay tuned.

- Not sure that Wake Forest or SMU games will be underestimated by either the Irish players or coaches. They need those games to make sure of their NCAA chances and/or placement. If they can take those, I think they'll be in a great place to take on Syracuse at home.

That was by far States worst performance in 3+ years. From a Wolfpack POV it was pathetic. Low energy. Poor shot selection. low basketball IQ play. Turnover prone, but a lot of that was non chalant play and just low basketball IQ stuff. Qadance Samuels had multiple turnovers and Pierre did as well on plays where the guards didn’t come get the ball and they dribbled it up court and got flustered and made poor passes. Samuels in particular has no business dribbling the ball that much and those were preventable things.

It was extremely frustrating and frankly shocking to see the lack of effort and fight. Zoe was a complete non factor for the first 15 minutes. Barely even touched the ball. Zam was forcing stuff that wasn’t there. And Pierre is a fantastic talent but she’s gotta cut out the Dirk faders off one foot. A double double, but 6 turnovers. Tilda may as well not even made the trip.

I love Wes and think he’s a fantastic coach, but this has not been his best work. Those 4 (Tilda, Pierre, Zoe and Zam) are as talented of a 4some that exists in the ACC. There is really no excuse for how this season has unfolded. State’s offense is hard to watch at times. Way too much ISO. The ball doesn’t move and the team lacks leadership, no seniors on the team and as a whole they are too casual out there.

That was a new low. Can’t remember a game where State hasn’t competed like that in the last 3 years or maybe even more. Embarrassing.

ND wanted it more and it was obvious.

 

[Frankus]

I'll go along with everything you've said.
This is what I call a "bridge" year. After this season ends -- whenever that is -- there will be a massive changeover in the ND roster.
Knock on wood, Hannah Hidalgo and Leah Macy will be back to form the basis of next year's scholarship players. Cass Prosper is rumored to be going pro (a mistake IMHO) and who knows what KK Bransford will do, although she does have a medical year.
Outside of that, this team will be built on that excellent recruiting class, led by McDonald's All-Americans Jacy Abii and Jenica Lewis.

If ND can’t keep Hannah that tells me a lot about ND’s commitment to NIL. I agree about Prosper. If she and Hannah come back we’ll be good. If not, we’ll be like Stanford who is rebuilding with a good recruiting class and a few upperclassman like Bransford quality.

 

[visitingcock]

If ND can’t keep Hannah that tells me a lot about ND’s commitment to NIL. I agree about Prosper. If she and Hannah come back we’ll be good. If not, we’ll be like Stanford who is rebuilding with a good recruiting class and a few upperclassman like Bransford quality.

If HH leaves, it wont be about NIL. It will be about proving that she can be a team player and lead her team to a championship (or very close). If she leaves, I look at her taking the place of a Kiki, Rory or Raven.

 

[Frankus]

That was by far States worst performance in 3+ years. From a Wolfpack POV it was pathetic. Low energy. Poor shot selection. low basketball IQ play. Turnover prone, but a lot of that was non chalant play and just low basketball IQ stuff. Qadance Samuels had multiple turnovers and Pierre did as well on plays where the guards didn’t come get the ball and they dribbled it up court and got flustered and made poor passes. Samuels in particular has no business dribbling the ball that much and those were preventable things.

It was extremely frustrating and frankly shocking to see the lack of effort and fight. Zoe was a complete non factor for the first 15 minutes. Barely even touched the ball. Zam was forcing stuff that wasn’t there. And Pierre is a fantastic talent but she’s gotta cut out the Dirk faders off one foot. A double double, but 6 turnovers. Tilda may as well not even made the trip.

I love Wes and think he’s a fantastic coach, but this has not been his best work. Those 4 (Tilda, Pierre, Zoe and Zam) are as talented of a 4some that exists in the ACC. There is really no excuse for how this season has unfolded. State’s offense is hard to watch at times. Way too much ISO. The ball doesn’t move and the team lacks leadership, no seniors on the team and as a whole they are too casual out there.

That was a new low. Can’t remember a game where State hasn’t competed like that in the last 3 years or maybe even more. Embarrassing.

ND wanted it more and it was obvious.

I agree with this. I was at the game and was shocked at how tired NC State looked from the get go. Khamil Pierre looked exhausted, Zoe Brooks had no bounce in her step and Trigger was a step slow all game long.

The only thing I concluded was that they must be worn down by the season, or overworked that week by Wes.

On the other hand, coach Ivey did a great job having ND’s players rested and playing at peak energy. It was over at half and the energy level difference was noticeable.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I agree with this. I was at the game and was shocked at how tired NC State looked from the get go. Khamil Pierre looked exhausted, Zoe Brooks had no bounce in her step and Trigger was a step slow all game long.

The only thing I concluded was that they must be worn down by the season, or overworked that week by Wes.

Did NC State have a midweek game?

 

[Dillon77]

Did NC State have a midweek game?

No, like ND, they had a full week off. They had beaten Va. Tech at Blacksburg the same weekend ND lost at UVA.

While I didn't think they looked exhausted, I think they looked out of sorts (see post above) and were trying to play ISO/hero ball at a very early stage of the game.

 

[cancontent]

No, like ND, they had a full week off. They had beaten Va. Tech at Blacksburg the same weekend ND lost at UVA.

While I didn't think they looked exhausted, I think they looked out of sorts (see post above) and were trying to play ISO/hero ball at a very early stage of the game.

Sometimes a longer than normal lay off from playing can throw a team out of sync. However your observation about playing ISO gives me the impression they didn't buy into the game plan Coach Moore put together which sounds unusual for his teams.

 

[FanInNC]

Oh the ISO ball has been a bug-a-boo this year for State as well as not fully buying in to game plans or scouts. It's something that pops up every now and again throughout the season, but usually even if they fall into the hero-ball trap they still have fight and play with pride. They said during the ND game that coming into the game State was the only team in the conference to never trail by 15 all season until then obviously. They've played a challenging schedule and have competed against everyone, this game they laid down. I can't really explain it.

There have been things that have bugged me about this year's team but ultimately they have enough talent to mask it most of the time. But shot selection is a big one. Ball movement is a big one. Zoe and KP both take a lot of mid range shots and too many where they are doubled or just don't really have an advantage or a good clean look. KP loves that fade away off one foot shot and settles way too much when she could get something better. Zam can also hunt her shot too much. Tilda is the barometer on the team, she is a player that needs someone to set her up. She is highly efficient and can score from all 3 levels, IMO they need to use her more. She had 3 shots all game against ND. That kinda tells you all you need to know. She was matched up with Cowles, and no offense to Cowles but that is a match up Tilda could have feasted on.

I will say, even when thins are running hot with State, this year's team looks laid back. I think it's just their personalities. Zoe and KP are both very cool customers. They look like they barely break a sweat and run at 35 in a 55 at all times. I don't think it's fair to say they ARENT giving max effort because KP in particular has dominated the glass, and I don't think you put up rebound numbers the way she does on a nightly basis without putting in effort. So some of it is just their nature and it's not totally fair to project. I have no problems projecting about effort and will in that game though. That was something else.

Zam is really the only high energy spark plug on the team, well maybe Samuels too but she's a role player with some limitations in her game. The main 4 have worlds of talent, but something is off. I thought their best stretch of games this year was when Zam really seemed to embrace the role as distributor and floor general. She had a stretch of games where she was running the show, penetrating with intentions of passing, actively setting up her bigs and shooters and wasn't turning it over. Subsequently she was also scoring but it wasn't her main objective. I think roles have been blurry this year between her and Zoe and that's hurt the team. One of them has to embrace being the facilitator. The skillset and abilities of the starting 5 can work, should work, but it requires unselfish play and some self sacrifice that I haven't seen with regularity this year.

I love Wes, but this has not been his best work and I bet he'd admit as much. I'm not giving up on this core, the talent is there and I don't think any of them are 'bad apples' or bad team mates, I just think they haven't bought into playing winning/team ball or haven't figured out what their individual roles should be on this particular team. There is still time, I'm hoping Sunday's embarrassment proves to be the kick in the pants they need to come together and figure it out. We'll get a glimpse tonight in a game that could get real ugly if they come out like they did in South Bend.

 

[Frankus]

Nice win against SMU. It is amazing how HH's defense can take over games vs teams with weak guards. Besides outright stealing the ball, she is so disruptive of letting team's get into their offensive flow. I've watched ND basketball at all levels since 1968 and I've never seen a better conditioned player. Her stamina is amazing.

On to the game: ND moved and shared the ball really well, which resulted in a balanced scoring effort. It just feels like they trust each other more, and Sanchez in particular is benefitting with Moore also shooting well. I don't know if it's deliberate, but HH only took three 3's. With the way she's been shooting 3's compared to Moore and Sanchez, I'd much rather see her break down defenses and kick out to better 3 point shooters than shoot 3's. When deJesus is also shooting well from 3 we can score a lot of points. Add in Hannah scoring layups or getting fouls and hitting free throws and we got the satisfying game experience we got ar SMU. Cass is an indespensible down low defender and Bransford and Cowles look a bit less banged up. This team will never be a dominant inside team, but they battle. Louisville will be an interesting progress (or not) report.