Notre Dame Women’s Basketball faces Duke in ACC semifinal as seven-game streak meets noon tip
notre dame women’s basketball is back on the floor Saturday with a trip to the ACC Tournament title game on the line. The No. 5 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (22-9) will face top-seeded Duke (22-8) at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, with tip set for 12 p. m. ET. The game will air on ESPN2, with Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli on the call.
Seven straight wins set the stage for Notre Dame Women’s Basketball vs Duke
Notre Dame enters the semifinal riding a seven-game win streak, a run that has pushed the Irish into a high-stakes matchup against Duke. The ACC Tournament setting raises the stakes immediately: the winner advances to the title game, and the loser’s run stops short of the final.
The matchup also frames two teams with nearly identical records, with Duke at 22-8 and Notre Dame at 22-9. The contest is being played at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., and the broadcast window is locked for midday—12 p. m. ET—placing the semifinal squarely in the national TV spotlight.
Live game flow: defense pressure, foul trouble, and rebounding swing
As the semifinal unfolded, the Irish ramped up defensive pressure, and Duke reached nine turnovers in the stretch described in live updates. But Duke also created separation by pushing in transition and capitalizing when Notre Dame was slow getting back, building what was described as a double-digit lead at one point.
Rebounding emerged as a major divider. Duke held a 16-5 advantage on offensive rebounds in the in-game account, repeatedly extending possessions and generating extra scoring chances.
Notre Dame’s response came in bursts. The Irish opened one half with the first four points, and later put together an 8-0 run that included back-to-back three-point makes to seize their first lead of the game at that moment. However, the Irish depth was flagged as a potential pressure point when Malaya Cowles picked up her fourth foul of the game.
In the fourth quarter sequence captured in the updates, Hannah Hidalgo opened with a steal and layup, while Duke answered with a three. Hidalgo later checked out with 7: 16 left for her first breather of the period, noted as potentially brief. Elsewhere in the in-game action, Notre Dame went cold briefly, missing three straight field goals before De Jesus hit a three-pointer to pull the Irish within one.
Immediate reactions on the court: key names and pressure points
On Duke’s side, forward Toby Fournier was highlighted as a test for Notre Dame’s front court, a direct challenge in a game already tilted by Duke’s work on the offensive glass. For Notre Dame, Hidalgo’s activity showed up across multiple moments—finishing inside, creating a steal-to-bucket sequence, and converting an and-one opportunity described in the live notes.
Notre Dame’s three-point makes also surfaced as a critical counterpunch during momentum swings, including shots referenced from De Jesus and a “KK” make from beyond the arc in the live game thread.
Quick context
Notre Dame entered this ACC Tournament semifinal on a seven-game winning streak and with the chance to play into the title game. The Irish had also endured a 5-7 stretch from mid-January through early February before flipping form in the run-up to this moment.
What’s next
The next development is immediate: the winner advances to the ACC Tournament title game, and the broadcast continues to frame the stakes in real time on ESPN2. For notre dame women’s basketball, the path forward is defined by whether the Irish can hold up against Duke’s pressure points—especially the offensive rebounding edge and the strain of foul trouble—while sustaining the defensive aggression that helped force turnovers.
