No. 5 Virginia Tech Receives a Wake-Up Call from No. 17 Notre Dame, 71-58
Some may believe in the luck of the Irish, but no luck was needed for Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame in last night's win over Virginia Tech.
The No. 17 Irish (22-6, 12-5 ACC) downed the No. 5 Hokies (23-5, 14-3 ACC) 71-58 in a well-contested matchup between two of the premier teams in the ACC and the NCAA.
It’s certainly been a while since Virginia Tech has felt the taste of defeat, as they had won their previous 10 ACC matchups. Notre Dame, on the other hand, has a sprinkling of losses and has had previous trouble beating ranked teams in the ACC.
With the Irish having losses to No. 22 Syracuse, No. 15 Louisville, and No. 6 NC State this past month, it was assumed that Virginia Tech would give Notre Dame some problems, but that was definitely not the case.
It was in fact the trio of “Problem Child” Hannah Hidalgo, Sonia Sitron, and Maddy Westbeld that would serve as a blockade to the Hokies potential 11th straight ACC win.
With the highly touted matchup of the freshman Hidalgo and the senior Georgia Amoore, both talented guards attempted to will their team to the win, with Hidalgo coming out on top.
Hidalgo would finish with a very impressive statline, dropping 23 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Amoore, on the other hand, would add 20 points for her squad, shooting 7-of-24 from the field.
Shooting woes would also strike Elizabeth Kitley, who finished the game shooting only 4-of-11, totaling 12 points. The two-time ACC Player of the Year had been on a tear as of recently, but this gritty Irish team made her night very unpleasant, to say the least.
Key factors in this game came on the fastbreak and underneath the basket. Notre Dame used their speed and aggressive nature to outscore Virginia Tech 18-2 on fastbreak points, as well as 34-16 in points in the paint. The Hokies would also get out-rebounded by 43–29.
This will be the first time in a while that Virginia Tech will have to handle adversity, and they still have one more regular-season game to go.
The second installment of the Commonwealth Clash is looming as the Hokies take on the Virginia Cavaliers (14-14, 6-11 ACC) this Sunday night in Charlottesville. The game is set for 6:00 p.m. on the ACCN.
