FORT WORTH, Texas — Hannah Hidalgo had 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and the assist on the go-ahead bucket in the final minute, leading Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a 67-64 victory over higher-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
The junior spark plug made a leaping grab between two defenders and fed a bounce pass to Cassandre Prosper under the basket for a two-point lead with 22 seconds to go.
The sixth-seeded Fighting Irish (25-10) advanced to the Elite Eight in March Madness for the first time since 2019 in a matchup of two of the top three scorers in Division I, Hidalgo and Mikayla Blakes.
Notre Dame will play either top-seeded and undefeated UConn Huskies or North Carolina Tar Heels in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final Sunday.
Blakes, the national scoring leader, rallied from a rough shooting start to finish with 26 points for Vanderbilt, but she lost the ball out of bounds on the dribble after Prosper’s go-ahead shot, then missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
The No. 2 seed Commodores (29-5) were in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009.
In a game full of big plays from Hidalgo as she set an NCAA single-season record for steals, the biggest didn’t have anything to do with the categories in her unusual triple-double, the third of her career. Although it did lead to her team-leading seventh assist.
With a high-arching inbound pass coming down as she ran between two defenders, the 5-foot-6 Hidalgo soared to make the catch, came down and immediately found Prosper all alone at the rim.
After Blakes lost the ball dribbling toward the basket for what would have been a tying shot, the Commodores had to foul three times just to get Notre Dame to the free throw line.
Prosper missed the first of two free throws to give Vanderbilt a chance. Standout freshman Aubrey Galvan, who was a big reason the Commodores were even in the game late, missed a 3 but got her own rebound and found Blakes.
The high-scoring sophomore who missed her first eight shots was off target from beyond the arc, completing a 7-of-26 showing for her as Vanderbilt matched its season worst at 35% shooting for the game.
Hidalgo needed four steals to break Chastadie Barrs’ mark of 192 set with Lamar in 2018-19. Hidalgo got that in the first quarter and ended the game one shy of being the first with 200 in a season.
She’ll probably hit that milestone in the regional final.
Hidalgo was already just the second player to have at least eight steals in multiple NCAA tournament games. She had eight in each of Notre Dame’s first two tourney wins, over the Fairfield Stags and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Three of Hidalgo’s steals came quickly against Vanderbilt midway through the second quarter.
She grabbed the ball out of Sacha Washington’s hands and went in alone for a layup, then stole a bad pass near midcourt. Her seventh steal soon after led to another easy layup for a 23-11 lead.
Hidalgo, the third-leading scorer in the country, had 16 points at halftime as the sixth-seeded Irish led No. 2 seed Vanderbilt 31-26.
Vanderbilt was 3-for-20 from the field and 0-for-9 on 3-pointers midway through the second quarter when Galvan hit consecutive shots behind the arc after a spectacular layup. She flipped the ball over her head as she turned away from the basket, part of a 12-2 run that erased most of a 12-point deficit.
The Commodores were down six early in the fourth quarter when Blakes converted a three-point play and Galvan hit a tying 3.
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