Despite a slow start and offensive inconsistency, head coach Niele Ivey’s No. 24 Notre Dame rebounded from last Saturday’s Michigan disaster to secure a crucial top-25 home win over rival No. 11 USC. After the Trojans led by 11 with just 11 minutes to play, the relentless Irish defense continued to turn USC over en route to a shocking comeback. Senior guard KK Bransford turned in her best showing since returning from injury to spark a fourth-quarter surge, and none other than junior guard Hannah Hidalgo connected on a contested jumper with two seconds left to seal the 61-59 victory.
After opening the season with three blowouts, the Irish were dismantled in Detroit by the Wolverines last Saturday. With only two key contributors returning from last year’s Sweet 16 crew, Notre Dame has experimented with many lineups early this season. Despite the influx of new players, Notre Dame still entered Friday evening’s showdown pacing the ACC in scoring offense and steals per game. On the individual level, Hidalgo, the 2025 ACC Player of the Year, leads the country in points and steals.
USC also has a new identity from last season’s No. 1 seed, as the Women of Troy will be without All-American JuJu Watkins for the entirety of the campaign due to an ACL tear. In her absence, highly-touted freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, who is already garnering recognition on the Wooden Award watchlist, has guided USC, averaging a team-high 15.5 points per game.
Donning the green threads, Notre Dame controlled the opening tip and started the scoring with a smooth mid-range jumper from senior guard Cassandre Prosper. The Irish would then miss their next six field goal attempts while also turning the ball over four times, with Bransford only breaking the drought over four minutes later with a paint jumper.
After the defensive debacle against Michigan, Notre Dame showed some resolve out of the first media timeout, turning the Trojans over five times in a row. The fifth USC giveaway sparked a Hidalgo runout to cap off a 13-2 Irish run. Waving their green glowsticks, the late-arriving Irish faithful were ignited into a frenzy so loud that USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb had to run on the court to request a timeout.
Speaking postgame, Ivey complimented the crowd’s impact, saying, “Thank you to our community that came out to support us today. We felt your energy. We were so happy to be home.”
The coach also commended her group’s ability to rebound from their poor performance last week, adding, “They just stayed the course and got after it. We were super competitive this week.”
Despite its seven turnovers, Southern Cal only trailed 15-14 after one quarter as it forced the Irish into six turnovers of their own. Following the opening frame, Hidalgo led all scorers with 8, but she was an inefficient three-for-nine from the floor.
After the Irish shot just one-for-eight from beyond the arc to start the game, Hidalgo opened quarter two by canning a triple to stop the slump and enter double figures. The Trojans promptly responded with a three-ball on the other end, beginning a 7-0 SC run.
Southern Cal added three more turnovers over the final two minutes of the half, but also converted on five of its last five shots. Led by 9 apiece from Davidson and junior guard Malia Samuels, the Trojans shot 54% to claim the 33-31 halftime advantage. It was once again the backcourt duo of Hidalgo and graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus spearheading the Irish, finishing the opening 20 minutes with 13 and 11 points, respectively. While the Irish as a whole shot an underwhelming 36%, the Duke transfer was red hot to go four-of-six from the field and three-of-five from deep.
Ivey targeted a true floor general in the transfer portal last offseason and knew what she was getting in the experienced former Blue Devil. Ivey noted how, despite her early-season shooting struggles, de Jesus has remained steady, commenting, “She’s very poised. She’s never gonna be too high or too low. I thought she did a great job of running the point, making great reads and then defensively just being the best on the ball.”
USC continued its sweet shooting out of intermission, using a pair of treys from senior guard Kara Dunn to push the lead to 8. The Trojan edge would balloon to as much as 11, but as forecasted by Notre Dame and WNBA great Skylar Diggins, who received a raucous ovation in her hometown return, the Irish would make a run. Turning defense to offense, Notre Dame capitalized on consecutive steals from de Jesus and Hidalgo to go 6-0 and cut the lead to 51-46 at the end of three.
Hidalgo agreed with Diggins, saying, “We know this is a game of runs. Even when USC was going on their runs, we were able to withstand their heat. I talk a lot about our defense being our identity and I think it really showed today.”
Gottlieb, one of the most respected coaches in the game, also sensed Notre Dame would up its pressure.
“We knew that run was coming. We knew that change in tempo was coming. I thought the end of third when [the margin] went from 11 to 5 was problematic,” she said.
Less than six minutes later, the lead had been erased entirely. Led by Bransford and Prosper on the offensive end, and stout defense holding USC without a field goal, Notre Dame had leveled matters at 52. Despite her seven turnovers and three critical missed free throws, Bransford, who missed all of last year with an injury, was the catalyst for Notre Dame’s late-game run. In the fourth quarter alone, the Cincinnati native scored 9 points on 4-for-5 shooting, while also adding five rebounds and two steals.
“You don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself. There’s 10 minutes left to just give it my all,” Bransford said.
Also struggling with turnovers, Davidson connected on a huge triple to tie the game at 57, before Dunn eclipsed the 20-point plateau with a turnaround jumper to regain the lead with 90 seconds to play. After both sides traded empty possessions, Bransford once again tied the game, finishing a contested layup off a slick feed from Hidalgo.
“KK had an incredible game, but also a fantastic fourth quarter. Super solid defensively and made the big free throw that put us up,” Ivey said.
The Trojans got a great look on the interior after Gottlieb called her penultimate timeout with 38 seconds remaining, but Davidson’s layup rolled off the iron and into the hands of Irish senior forward Malaya Cowles.
Niele Ivey then took a timeout of her own, drawing up an isolation for her best player with the game on the line. Sauntering near midcourt, Hidalgo broke right with six seconds to play before crossing over and knocking down a tough 15-footer to lift Notre Dame ahead with 1.9 seconds on the game clock. Utilizing its final timeout, USC had a chance to advance the ball to the frontcourt and get one last look to tie the game. Fittingly, Prosper deflected the entry pass, corralling her third steal and clinching the massive ranked win for Notre Dame.
Ivey outlined the plan for the final play, but also claimed the execution was perfect.
“We wanted to draw up a ghost screen and use the whole shot clock. It was perfectly timed and she nailed it,” Ivey said.
The Irish flipped the script in the second half, shooting 48% from the floor despite failing to knock down a three. Their stifling defense forced the Trojans to shoot just 38%, including a dismal 3-for-12 in the fourth quarter. The triumph moved Notre Dame to 10-2 all-time against USC, which includes impressive ranked wins in each of the last two seasons.
Hidalgo led the Irish with 22 points, seven rebounds and five steals, while Bransford finished the evening with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals on 5-for-8 shooting. Dunn led the Trojans in defeat, scoring 16 of her 21 in the second half, while only missing three shots. Davidson tallied a near double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds, but struggled down the stretch with turnovers and inefficient shooting.
After enduring three ranked tests away from home to start the season, Southern Cal will now return to Hollywood for a pair of buy games this coming week. It will be back in action on Tuesday to host Tennessee Tech, before welcoming the Pepperdine Waves of Malibu, California, across town to the Galen Center on Friday afternoon.
“The feel-good games where you’re beating people by 30 don’t tell you much about your team. And if anything, they might give you a false sense of reality,” Gottlieb said of her scheduling philosophy and appreciation for the series with Notre Dame.
Notre Dame will have one final test prior to a nine-day hiatus for Thanksgiving break, hosting 3-1 Central Michigan on Monday evening. Monday’s contest between the Irish and Chippewas is set for a 9 p.m. tip-off from Purcell Pavilion, with the nationally-televised broadcast presented by ACC Network.