Notre Dame exposed on both ends in 93–54 blowout loss to Michigan WBB

On a day when seemingly every conceivable offensive susceptibility got exposed and exploited, Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey chose to lament the defense of her 18th-ranked Irish.

Or lack of it.

Not that there was anything statistically salvageable from 14th-ranked Michigan’s relentless 93-54 takedown Saturday of a team that ran the Wolverines off the court in the NCAA Tournament last spring. But the most shocking aspect of the Irish Classic loss at Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit, for a team still getting a couple of key pieces up to speed from preseason injuries, was how easily Michigan squelched what was believed to be the most-finished facet of Notre Dame’s game.

That being its offense, including two-time All-American Hannah Hidalgo.

Coming off a school-record 44-point performance, the 5-foot-6 point guard finished with 12 points on 4-for-21 shooting from the field and 0-for-8 from the 3-point arc with a team-high seven turnovers. As a team, Notre Dame (3-1) shot 28% from the field, 9% from 3 and committed 18 turnovers in a game in which Michigan (3-0) never trailed and was never really challenged.

“The offense we can fix,” Ivey said. “It’s not about the offense. It’s not about the offense. That comes with time or comes within the game. We know we have capable scorers, but it’s the defensive part that I think is where we fell apart today.

“And it started from the beginning of the game. We always want to start the game with a defensive-mindset intensity, and we didn’t start — it was a 7-0 run. Had to call timeout, and we never really recovered from the way that they started the game, and it’s because of our defensive effort.”

From bad to worse

Olivia Olson scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines, who got 38 points from their bench to Notre Dame’s 2, outscored the Irish 50-26 in the paint and outrebounded Notre Dame 50-28.

Michigan led 46-29 at the half and it just got worse from there, including a 16-0 fourth-quarter Wolverines run.

“We knew exactly what Michigan was going to do,” Ivey said. “We did not have any type of fight defensively, and that’s where we have to start. Obviously, our offense was off a little bit, but it starts from the defensive end.

“Talked to the team about what we can control. We can control our effort and our discipline, and we didn’t have that. That was something I have not seen in the last couple weeks. So, we’re going to get back to work. We’re going to respond, and we have a lot that we need to fix.”

Cass Prosper led the Irish with 17 points and eight rebounds. KK Bransford added 15 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Two transfers that ND will be counting on as the season progresses, guard Iyana Moore from Vanderbilt and Malaya Cowles from Wake Forest, each played in their second game of the season after missing ND’s first two games with injuries. They both came off the bench Saturday, and combined for two points and seven rebounds.

Moore played 23 minutes and Cowles played 19.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier, with No. 8 USC up next at Purcell Pavilion on Friday night.

“I know what this team can do,” Ivey said. “I believe in this team. Obviously, it was a game [where] everything was off today. I don’t expect that every night. I expect them to respond.

“I’m going to prepare them to respond. This group is together for a reason. They put in a lot of work, chemistry on and off the court in the summertime and preseason and up to this point, so my belief doesn’t waver. My faith in them doesn’t waver. It’s a part of the game. You’ve got to respond, you’ve got to get better, and you move on.”

MICHIGAN 93, NOTRE DAME 54: Box Score