No. 3-ranked Notre Dame continued a disappointing holiday week with a stunning 78-67 loss to unranked Utah on Friday in the third-place game at the Cayman Islands Classic. This was the second loss in as many days for Notre Dame, who fell to No. 17 TCU in the semifinals on Friday. The last consecutive games the Fighting Irish lost came on Feb. 28 and March 4 of 2021.
Notre Dame jumped out to an early 13-4 lead, then controlled the second quarter to take a five-point edge into halftime. Their offense disappeared after the break, however, as they didn't score for the first four minutes and 35 seconds of the third quarter and managed just 30 total points in the second half.
Utah, meanwhile, opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take the lead and never looked back. They pushed their advantage up to double digits early in the fourth quarter and were comfortable the rest of the way.
This certainly wasn't a classic, as the two teams combined for 41 turnovers and 70 missed shots, but it's a win the Utes will long remember. This was just the third time in the last 20 years that they defeated a top-five team and the highest-ranked road win in program history.
Top 3 Win Celebration >>>#NCAAWBB x 🎥 IG / @UTAHWBB pic.twitter.com/pPuAPIWdNh
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) December 1, 2024
They forced the Fighting Irish into 22 turnovers and converted those takeaways into 25 points, won the 3-point battle by 12 points and held star guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles to just 24 points on 24 shots. Gianna Kneepkens led the way in the scoring department for Utah with 16 points, while Kennady McQueen hit three 3s en route to 15 points and Jenna Johnson controlled the paint with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Utes were expected to take a step back this season after losing star forward Alissa Pili to the WNBA, and were dealt a further blow when coach Lynne Roberts left the team early in the season to take the Los Angeles Sparks job. They are now 6-2, however, with a signature win on their resume. A fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance could be in the cards after all.
As for the Fighting Irish, they have hopes of competing for a national title and looked every bit a contender in their big road win over then-No. 3 USC earlier this month. They have not won since then, however, and the road does not get any easier. Up next is No. 5 Texas on Thursday in the SEC-ACC challenge, then they'll travel to Syracuse before hosting No. 2 UConn.
