Notre Dame Women’s basketball suffers their first home loss of the season to No. 9 Louisville

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Fighting Irish suffered their first home loss of the season Thursday night, falling to No. 9 Louisville 79-66 inside Purcell Pavilion.

Notre Dame got a big night from Hannah Hidalgo, who poured in 24 points and stuffed the stat sheet with eight assists, five rebounds and a steal. Iyana Moore gave the Irish a spark from deep, knocking down four of her six threes on the way to 16 points. Malaya Cowles added 12, giving Notre Dame three players in double figures.

The Irish looked in control early in the second quarter, scoring the first five points to push the lead to six — but Louisville flipped the game fast, ripping off a 15-4 run over the next four minutes.

Hidalgo tried to drag Notre Dame back, scoring 13 of the team’s 16 points in the second quarter. And the Irish made one last push late — Moore buried a three to cut it to five, 66-61, with seven minutes to go — but that’s as close as it got. Louisville pulled away in the final minutes to secure the road win.

“I think it’s a long season and I can’t dwell on the loss for too long because my team needs me,” Hidalgo said. “I hate losing, it sucks to lose, but we have to take it, learn from it, and move on.”

Up next, Notre Dame hits the road for its final non-conference game — a heavyweight matchup at No. 1 UConn Monday, Jan. 19 at 5 p.m.