Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 14 Notre Dame crushes Purdue

 

[December 18, 2023]  After a statue of former coach Muffet McGraw was unveiled outside Purcell Pavillon, Hannah Hidalgo scored 23 points to help No. 14 Notre Dame top visiting Purdue 76-39 on Sunday in South Bend, Ind.

Hidalgo, the star freshman for the Fighting Irish (8-1), flirted with a triple-double as she also notched eight assists and 10 rebounds. Maddy Westbeld added 15 points and 12 rebounds in the eighth straight win for the Irish, while Natalija Marshall chipped in 14 points.

Purdue (6-5) was led by eight points from Abbey Ellis.

Notre Dame never trailed and led by as many as 40 points as it shot 50.8 percent from the floor and outscored Purdue 44-14 in the paint.

No. 22 Florida State 76, Drexel 56

Ta'Niya Latson scored 22 points to lead the Seminoles to a road win over the Dragons in Philadelphia.

O'Mariah Gordon added 14 points and seven assists for Florida State (8-3), while Mikayla Timpson had 10 points and six rebounds. Brooke Mullin powered Drexel (4-4) with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists. FSU outscored the Dragons 46-16 in the paint.

The game marked the first time Florida State and Drexel had played each other in any sport since 1992.

No. 7 LSU 81, Northwestern State 36

Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow each had double-doubles as the host Tigers routed the visiting Demons in Baton Rouge, La.

Reese scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds, while Morrow had 16 points and 14 boards of her own in the 11th consecutive victory for LSU (11-1). Flau'Jae Johnson added 13 points while Mikaylah Williams had 14. Sharna Ayres led Northwestern State (4-6) with 10 points and five rebounds.

LSU outscored the Demons 52-6 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 50-26. The Tigers tallied 21 steals and forced 31 turnovers. Hailey Van Lith remained sidelined for LSU with an injury.

No. 16 Virginia Tech 84, Rutgers 59

Matilda Ekh made seven 3-pointers en route to 25 points and the Hokies won their third straight game by surging past the host Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, N.J.

Georgia Amoore contributed 18 points and eight assists, Elizabeth Kitley collected 11 points and eight rebounds, and Olivia Summiel added 18 points add 11 rebounds off the bench as Hokies coach Kenny Brooks earned his 500th career victory. Rutgers was led by Kaylene Smikle's 22 points, Kassondra Brown's 15 and Chyna Cornwell's nine points and 11 rebounds.

Virginia Tech (8-2) was tied with Rutgers (6-8) through the first quarter and trailed 15-13 in the first minute of the second quarter before outscoring the Scarlet Knights 25-11 in the period for a 38-24 lead at halftime.

No. 19 Marquette 99, Appalachian State 91

Jordan King had 29 points as the Golden Eagles outlasted the visiting Mountaineers in Milwaukee, Wis.

King also had five rebounds and five assists while shooting 6-of-8 from 3-point land to lead undefeated Marquette (11-0). Liza Karlen added 24 points for the Golden Eagles, while Frannie Hottinger had 14 points and a season-high 21 rebounds. Six players scored in double figures for App State (5-5), including Emily Carver and Faith Alston, who each had 19 points.

The Mountaineers used a 22-9 run in the first quarter to take a brief six-point lead, a stretch that included a trio of 3-pointers from Carver. The second frame belonged to Marquette, as it used a 21-6 run to take a 10-point lead. App trimmed the deficit to one point early in the fourth, but never tied the game.

No. 20 Creighton 89, Drake 78

Emma Ronsiek scored a season-best 31 points as the Bluejays beat the host Bulldogs in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ronsiek made 13-of-19 shots to power Creighton (8-2). The Bluejays also got 22 points from Lauren Jensen and 19 points from Morgan Maly. Katie Dinnebier led Drake (6-4) with 26 points and seven assists, while Anna Miller had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Drake led by three points early on, but Creighton responded with a 13-2 run, and then went on to lead by as many as 17 points. The Bluejays made 14 shots from behind the arc and turned the ball over just five times.

No. 21 Gonzaga 83, South Dakota State 58

The Bulldogs raced out to a 24-8 first-quarter lead and went wire-to-wire in cruising past the visiting Jackrabbits in Spokane, Wash.

Eliza Hollingsworth scored a game-high 17 points in 27 minutes for Gonzaga (11-2), which improved to 5-0 at home. Yvonne Ejim added 16 points, Brynna Maxwell 15 and Kayle Truong 11.

While South Dakota State (6-4) didn't have a starter reach double-figure scoring, Mesa Byom and Jenna Hopp came off the bench to score 12 points apiece.

All 10 Gonzaga players who played scored at least two points. The Bulldogs owned a 38-27 advantage on the boards and forced 17 turnovers while committing eight. The host squad shot 10 of 25 from 3-point range, to 4 of 11 for the Jackrabbits.

--Field Level Media

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