What to know, how to watch Notre Dame women's basketball vs. Pitt
Notre Dame goes for the season sweep of Pitt on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion. Here’s everything you need to know about the rematch of a 71-66 victory for the Fighting Irish on Jan. 4.
Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Pitt game info
- Teams: No. 14 Notre Dame (16-4, 6-3 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh (7-15, 1-8)
- Head coaches: Niele Ivey (76-29, fourth year at Notre Dame); Tory Verdi (7-15 overall, 210-169 at Pitt; 13th year)
- Date: Feb. 4, 2024
- Location: South Bend, Ind.
- Time: 2 p.m. ET
- Television: ACC Network
- TV broadcasters: Jenn Hildreth & Kelly Gramlich
- Radio: 99.9 WQLQ-FM in South Bend
- Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires
Matchup notables
• Notre Dame has never lost to Pitt in South Bend. The Irish are 16-0. They’re 35-4 overall against the Panthers.
• After Sunday’s matchup, Notre Dame’s next four games are against teams with winning records in ACC play. That’s the stretch of the slate that will define the Irish’s regular season and lay the foundation for what the postseason will entail from a seeding perspective.
• That said, Notre Dame needs to take advantage of the team with the second-worst ACC record making the trip to South Bend. Pitt has lost 10 of its last 12 games. The only wins were against Le Moyne on Dec. 28 and Virginia on Jan. 25.
• The Panthers rank second to last in the ACC in points per game (63.0). Notre Dame ranks first at 83.4.
• Pitt only has one player averaging double figures in scoring. Forward Liatu King averages 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. King ranks fifth in the ACC in the former category and second in the latter.
• King erupted for 34 points and 13 rebounds the last time these two teams met in January. It’s imperative Notre Dame’s post players have a better go at her in round two. Irish center Kylee Watson is coming off her best game of the year with 19 points and 9 rebounds against Georgia Tech this past Thursday.
• What Pitt does in the post won’t matter if Notre Dame freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo continues on the way she’s been going the last two games when she averaged 34.5 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Hidalgo had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals against Pitt last month. It’s her turn to put the spotlight back on herself after fellow freshman JuJu Watkins of USC scored 51 points against Stanford this weekend.
