Following their unexpected victory over the No. 3-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes in round two of the NCAA Tournament, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish continued their Cinderella story in the Sweet 16. This time around, they faced the No. 2-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth and beat them 67-64.
For their part, the Vanderbilt Commodores were coming off a victory over the No. 7-seeded Illinois Fighting Illini in their second-round game (Notre Dame is the No. 6 seed). The Irigh will now likely have a tough time in the Elite Eight, as they face the winner of the game between UConn and North Carolina. The most likely scenario is that they will face the undefeated Huskies of Geno Auriemma.
Vanderbilt vs. Notre Dame Women’s Full Box Score
Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball Full Box Score
| STARTERS | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| Sacha Washington | 11 | 3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Aubrey Galvan | 39 | 24 | 7-16 | 3-7 | 7-9 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Mikayla Blakes | 40 | 26 | 7-26 | 0-5 | 12-13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda | 14 | 3 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Justine Pissott | 37 | 2 | 1-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| BENCH | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| Aiyana Mitchell | 19 | 2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| Ava Black | 9 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jada Brown | 32 | 4 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| TEAM | 64 | 19-54 | 5-18 | 21-25 | 44 | 9 | 23 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 13 | |
| 35% | 28% | 84% |
Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Full Box Score
| STARTERS | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| Malaya Cowles | 33 | 8 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Hannah Hidalgo | 39 | 31 | 14-25 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
| Cassandre Prosper | 34 | 15 | 5-13 | 0-2 | 5-8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Vanessa de Jesus | 29 | 3 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Iyana Moore | 36 | 4 | 2-11 | 0-8 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| BENCH | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | OREB | DREB | PF |
| Gisela Sanchez | 8 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| KK Bransford | 21 | 6 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| TEAM | 67 | 28-66 | 1-17 | 10-13 | 30 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 18 | |
| 42% | 6% | 77% |
Vanderbilt vs. Notre Dame Game Summary
The first quarter of the game was a bit of a back-and-forth, which ended 15-11 in favor of Notre Dame. The game started with the schools trading the lead every other minute, until the Irish started to dominate between 5:47 and 1:45, when their lead grew from 6-5 to 15-7.
The second quarter was an even tighter affair, although it didn’t start like one. While it ended 16-15 in favor of Notre Dame, for a moment, it looked like the Irish would extend their lead even more. From 8:22 until 6:12, they grew their lead from 17-11 to 23-11. It took them a while, but eventually the Commodores cut the deficit to 25-22, with 2:29 left on the clock. Then, they traded points back and forth again, with the final score of the first half being 31-26.
Through the third quarter, the Commodores attempted to close the gap but were unable to retake the lead at any time. They ended the quarter 50-44, with the score of the particular quarter being 19-18 in favor of Vanderbilt. In the last quarter, the Nashville school put the heat on the South Bend team. With 5:15 left, they tied the game 57-57. With two minutes left on the clock, they took the lead 60-59.
They then traded the lead a couple of times, until with 56 seconds left, the game was tied 64-64. The Irish won the game 67-64, courtesy of a two-pointer and a free throw by Cassandre Prosper.
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