Hannah Hidalgo registered 24 points, eight assists and six steals and Maddy Westbeld added 24 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 16 Notre Dame to a 79-68 victory over Illinois on Saturday in the Shamrock Classic at Washington.
KK Bransford added 11 points and seven rebounds for Notre Dame (3-1). The Fighting Irish prevailed while without standout Sonia Citron (20.3 points per game), who injured a knee in Wednesday’s victory over Northwestern. Citron is expected to miss at least two more weeks.
Notre Dame star Olivia Miles (knee) has yet to make her season debut. She was injured in February.
Genesis Bryant poured in 31 points for the Fighting Illini (2-2). Adalia McKenzie added 17 points and eight rebounds and Makira Cook had 14 points.
Illinois shot 48 percent from the field but never once held the lead. Notre Dame shot 47.5 percent.
No. 4 Utah 101, Alaska Anchorage 56
Gianna Kneepkens poured in 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting as the Utes cruised to a victory over the Seawolves in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska.
Alissa Pili supplied 18 points for Utah (3-1), which shot a stunning 61.3 percent from the field while hitting 11 of its 24 3-point attempts. The Utes were especially impressive in the third quarter, going 10-for-12 from the floor.
Jazzpher Evans finished with 14 points as the only double-figure scorer for Alaska Anchorage (2-2). Kya Pearson contributed nine points as the Seawolves never led.
No. 5 Colorado 84, SMU 69
Aaronette Vonleh canned 10 of 15 shots en route to 23 points to lead the Buffaloes to a win over the Mustangs in Dallas.
Vonleh, the sister of former NBA forward/center Noah Vonleh, also had five rebounds for Colorado (4-0), which led by at least eight for the final 20:03 of the game. Jaylyn Sherrod and Quay Miller chipped in with 18 points apiece.
Tiara Young’s game-high 30 points were not enough to prevent SMU (3-1) from taking its first loss of the season. Chantae Embry flirted with a double-double for the Mustangs, finishing with 14 points and eight boards.
No. 17 North Carolina 68, Elon 39
Alyssa Ustby recorded 16 points, 11 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals to help the Tar Heels cruise past the visiting Phoenix at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Maria Gakdeng and Deja Kelly had 13 points apiece for North Carolina (4-0). The Tar Heels forced Elon to commit 21 turnovers. North Carolina had just 11 miscues.
Jessica Booth and Maraja Pass scored eight points apiece for the Phoenix (1-3). Elon shot just 30.4 percent from the field and 1 of 14 from 3-point range.
No. 23 Ole Miss 67, Howard 54
Madison Scott scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and collected 14 rebounds to help the Rebels knock off the Bison in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Marquesha Davis added 12 points for Ole Miss (3-1). The Rebels won despite making just 2 of 22 3-point attempts and shooting 35.9 percent overall.
Iyanna Warren scored 18 points and Tyana Walker added 10 for Howard (1-4). The Bison tied the score at 54 on Warren’s 3-pointer with 5:24 left before Ole Miss scored the game’s final 13 points.
–Field Level Media
