Hannah Hidalgo and No. 3 seed Notre Dame look to get their fight back in March Madness

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame dropped to a No. 3 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament after the Fighting Irish stumbled at the close of the regular season, losing three of their last five games after being ranked No. 1 in the country behind the dazzling play of Hannah Hidalgo.

Coach Niele Ivey is eager to see the Fighting Irish get their fight back when Notre Dame (26-5) starts its March Madness run on Friday by hosting No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin (29-5).

“I think those were setbacks for us, lessons for us,” said Ivey, whose team beat No. 1 seeds Texas and Southern California and No. 2 seeds UConn and Duke this season. “It was definitely hard the last couple weeks trying to get back to who we are, our identity.

“As long as you learn from those lessons, those failures, they can always provide growth. That’s what I’m looking for for our team.”

Notre Dame leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 39.5% but shot 14 of 55 (25.5%) beyond the arc in its three late losses.

Hidalgo averages 24.2 points per game, fourth best in the country, and Olivia Miles is the only player in the country with at least three triple-doubles this season. She averages 16.2 points, 5.8 assists and 5.9 rebounds.

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Stephen F. Austin also loves to shoot the 3. The Ladyjacks attempted a program-record 320 shots beyond the arc.

Faith Blackstone averages 14.9 points and 6.2 rebounds a game to lead SFA, which is on a 15-game winning streak.

“I think we have to be dialed in on the defensive end and ultimately, you don’t win the game if you don’t score more points, so we’ve got to put the ball in the bucket,” Stephen F. Austin coach Leonard Bishop said. “I think no matter if it’s a 3, a layup, a free throw, we’ve got to be hitting (Friday). We’ve got to be dialed in and I think feeding off of our defense can allow us to create some offense as well.”

Small ball

Also Friday, No. 6 seed Michigan (22-10) brings its five-guard offense to Notre Dame’s home court when it faces No. 11 seed Iowa State (23-11).

“It’s fun playing with five guards,” Wolverines coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Two years ago, you would have never convinced me that we would do that. But I think as a coach, and this is something we’ve learned in this landscape more than anything else in college athletics, is that we better evolve and we better be willing to change.

“Now we play through our guards. If we get a dominant post player, I’m going to feed the dominant post player the ball, I promise you that.”

Iowa State will face a dramatically different pace than it did when the Cyclones beat Princeton in Wednesday’s First Four game. Iowa State rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to win 68-63, the 800th victory for coach Bill Fennelly.

Unlike Michigan, Iowa State has a strong post player in 6-foot-3 center Audi Crooks, who averages 23.3 points and 7.5 assists.

“We have to keep the ball in front of us,” Fennelly said. “Transition defense is going to be critical.”

Freshman phenoms

Michigan is the only team in the country with a pair of freshmen who are averaging at least 15 points a game — Olivia Olson (16.2) and Syla Swords (16.1).

Barnes Arico has been impressed by their maturity.

“For them it’s another game,” Barnes Arico said of the tournament. “This is what they’ve prepared their whole life for. I remember the South Carolina game was scheduled. I called Syla, ‘We get to play South Carolina to open the season.’ She’s like, ‘That’s great, coach, that’s what I want. I can’t wait to play South Carolina.’”

South Bend memories

Fennelly grew up a Notre Dame fan and previously was an assistant under Fighting Irish coach Muffett McGraw.

“My parents, God rest their souls, they were not real happy with my chosen profession,” Fennelly said. “But as soon as I got to Notre Dame, my parents were really proud.

“The two years I was here, my parking spot was next to (former Notre Dame football coach) Lou Holtz. My parents thought that was the coolest thing ever. They’d take pictures of Coach Holtz’s car. I’m like, ‘Mom, he gets a new car every month.’”

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