Oregon State frustrates Hidalgo and beats Notre Dame 70-65 in Sweet 16
ALBANY, N.Y. — Timea Gardiner scored 21 points, Raegan Beers added 18 points and 13 rebounds and Oregon State frustrated Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo to beat the Irish 70-65 on Friday and advance to their first regional final in eight years.
Donovyn Hunter added 11 points for the third-seeded Beavers (27-7), who will face either overall top-seed South Carolina or Indiana on Sunday.
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Sonia Citron scored 22 points and Maddy Westbeld added 19 for second-seeded Notre Dame, which finishes the season at 28-7. Hidalgo, who came in averaging 22.9 points, was held to just 10 points on 4 of 17 shooting, matching a season low in scoring.
She also missed about four minutes at the start of the second quarter after officials ordered her to remove a stud from her nose.
Oregon State led by a point at halftime, but opened the second half on and 11-2 run, capped by a layup from Gardiner that forced an Irish timeout.
The Irish came back, taking a 59-57 lead on a pull-up jumper from Anna DeWolfe with just over 4 minutes left in the game.
But a 3-pointer from Donovan put Oregon State back in front for good.
Hidalgo’s off-balance shot with a minute made it 65-63, before Gardiner found Beers underneath with 26 seconds left to stretch it to four.
Talia von Oelhoffen blocked a 3-point attempt from Westbeld and sank two foul shots on the other end.
Notre Dame has been using a six-player rotation since losing 6-foot-4 forward Kylee Watson, who tore an ACL in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
Oregon State capitalized on their height advantage early, throwing the ball into the paint. The 6-2 Beers and 6-3 Gardiner combined for 14 of the Beaver’s 17 first-quarter points and Oregon State led by three after 10 minutes.
