Hannah Hidalgo, Iyana Moore Torch NC State as Notre Dame Women Storm Into ACC Tournament Semifinals
DULUTH, Ga. — They didn't ease into it. They didn't wait to see how NC State wanted to play it. Forty-eight seconds into the game, Iyana Moore drained a three-pointer, Notre Dame took the lead, and — spoiler alert — they never gave it back.
What followed was 40 minutes of the Fighting Irish operating at a level that made a 20-win NC State team look like it was running in quicksand. When it was over, the scoreboard read 81-63, Notre Dame's win streak stood at seven straight, and Hannah Hidalgo was once again the most dangerous player in any building she walks into.
The ACC Tournament semifinals await. Duke is next. Buckle up.
Two Women, One Mission, Zero Mercy
If you came to Gas South Arena on Friday looking for a competitive quarterfinal, the first half had a brief window where that seemed possible. NC State hung around, fought for possessions, and kept the game from becoming a laugher — at least for a little while.
Then Hidalgo and Moore decided they'd seen enough.
The two combined for 33 first-half points, shooting a scorching 13-of-24 from the field while the rest of their teammates went a combined 2-of-10. Read that again. The entire rest of the Notre Dame roster made two field goals in the first half. Two. And the Irish still went into the locker room leading 40-32. That is what carrying a team looks like — two players dragging everyone else to halftime with a comfortable cushion and making it look almost effortless.
Hidalgo finished with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, going 12-of-20 from the floor in the kind of performance that has become almost routine for her. Six consecutive games with at least 25 points. Six. She is not in a hot streak — she is in a different stratosphere, and anyone scheduled to guard her this weekend should be losing sleep over it.
Moore matched every bit of that energy with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals — a complete, all-consuming performance that impacted the game in ways the box score can only partially capture. She opened the scoring, set the tone, and never let NC State feel like they had a handle on the night.
The Third Quarter Killed It
If NC State had any designs on a second-half comeback, Hannah Hidalgo had a message for them — and she delivered it 38 seconds into the third quarter with a three-point play that felt like a door slamming shut.
That basket didn't just extend the lead into double figures. It ignited something. Notre Dame erupted on a 16-1 run that turned a manageable deficit into a full-scale collapse for the Wolfpack. Cassandre Prosper — who had been a ghost in the first half, scoreless at the break — suddenly caught fire and poured in 11 points during the surge, finishing with 13 for the game. The Irish went from ahead by eight to ahead by 23 in a stretch of basketball so one-sided it had the feeling of a team not just winning, but announcing something.
By the time NC State steadied itself, the game was over in every way that mattered.
NC State Wasn't Short on Fight
To be fair to the Wolfpack — they came ready to compete, and their numbers show a team that has plenty of talent. Khamil Pierre was sensational, finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds for her 21st double-double of the season. Twenty-one. That is a staggering number, and Pierre delivered every bit of that reputation on Friday night. She battled, rebounded, and refused to disappear even when Notre Dame was pulling away.
Zamareya Jones added 14 points, Qadence Samuels chipped in 12, and Zoe Brooks contributed 10. Four NC State players in double figures on a night they lost by 18 — that tells you something about how good Notre Dame was rather than how bad the Wolfpack played. This wasn't NC State having a bad night. This was Notre Dame having a great one.
The Wolfpack's three-game winning streak ends here. Their season likely doesn't — Selection Sunday will bring a NCAA Tournament destination, and a 20-10 team with Pierre putting up double-doubles at will is a dangerous draw for anyone.
The Performers
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
Hannah Hidalgo | 25 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast Six straight games with 25 or more points. At some point the superlatives run dry and you just have to sit back and appreciate watching someone operate at this level in real time. Hidalgo is playing the best basketball of her career at exactly the right moment, and Notre Dame's semifinal ceiling rises significantly because of it.
Iyana Moore | 20 pts, 9 reb, 3 stl The opening three-pointer set the tone for everything that followed. Moore was everywhere — scoring, rebounding, disrupting — and her 20-point, 9-rebound line undersells how much she influenced the game. On a team with a player like Hidalgo, Moore's ability to complement without shrinking is what makes Notre Dame genuinely hard to prepare for.
Cassandre Prosper | 13 pts Zero first-half points. Eleven points in one third-quarter run. Prosper's second half was the kind of performance that shifts a game from competitive to decided, and her ability to catch fire off the bench gave Notre Dame a third weapon at the exact moment NC State needed the Irish to go cold.
NC STATE WOLFPACK
Khamil Pierre | 17 pts, 14 reb Twenty-one double-doubles this season, and Friday's was as hard-earned as any of them. Pierre competed at the highest level against one of the tournament's best teams and still managed to impose her will on the glass. She leaves Duluth with her head held high and her résumé more impressive than when she arrived.
Zamareya Jones | 14 pts Jones gave the Wolfpack a secondary scorer who made Notre Dame work defensively and refused to let NC State become one-dimensional. Fourteen points in a losing effort against this Irish team is no small thing.
What's Next
Notre Dame walks into Saturday's semifinal riding seven consecutive wins and carrying the momentum of a team that genuinely believes it can win this tournament. Standing in their way is No. 1 Duke — the team that handed the Irish an 82-68 loss back on Jan. 4 and has looked like the class of the ACC all season long.
Duke has the talent. Duke has the seeding. Duke has the memory of that January win.
But Notre Dame has Hannah Hidalgo scoring 25 points per game like it's nothing, Iyana Moore impacting every single possession, and a team that has won nine of its last ten games.
Saturday is going to be something.
Quick Hits
Notre Dame has won seven consecutive games and nine of their last ten
Hidalgo has scored at least 25 points in six straight games, going 12-of-20 from the field Friday
Moore and Hidalgo combined for 33 of Notre Dame's 40 first-half points
Pierre's 14-rebound performance was her 21st double-double of the season
Notre Dame faces No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals Saturday
NC State awaits its NCAA Tournament assignment on Selection Sunday
