No. 13 Notre Dame took care of business in Italy on Sunday against Villanova, and now the Fighting Irish get to play in front of their home fans for the first time on Friday against Stonehill.
Here's how both teams look on paper heading into the weekend.
As expected, Hannah Hidalgo did her thing in Italy, and is hands down ND's best player. She led all scorers with 32 points and also tallied eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals against Villanova.
But Hidalgo wasn't the only one who played well against Villanova.
Princeton transfer Madison St. Rose finished with 17 points on six of nine shots, including four three-pointers, and freshman Leah Macy recorded a double-double (27 points and 14 rebounds) in her college basketball debut.
Macy was ND's biggest surprise and has a chance to be ND's go-to player inside.
As a team, ND shot 43% from deep and forced 13 turnovers, but where the Irish really won the game was in the paint. ND outscored Nova 50-32 in the paint and got a ton of easy baskets inside.
And that should happen again on Friday against Stonehill.
Stonehill has been a Division I program for just five years after transitioning from the Division II level. The Skyhawks compete in the Northeast-10 Conference and have struggled over the last five seasons.
Stonehill (0-1) has finished above .500 just once since transitioning from the Division II level and lost its season opener against Providence, 79-65, on Tuesday.
However, Stonehill returns all five of its starters from last season and should be a much better team come conference play, but it might take the Skyhawks a while to rack up some wins.
Stonehill plays DePaul next week and multiple tough teams during the nonconference, including No. 9 LSU and Tulane.
Tipoff from Purcell Pavillion is at 7 p.m. (ET) and is available to watch via the ACC Network.
Notre Dame beat Villanova by 24 points on Sunday, and I wouldn't be surprised if ND wins by 40+ points on Wednesday.
No disrespect to the Skyhawks but they're not on the same level as the Irish or the Wildcats. This game is probably going to get out of hand early, and ND should be able to empty its bench and get everyone into the game.
Final Score: Notre Dame 99, Stonehill 59
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/notredame as Notre Dame vs. Stonehill Women's Basketball Game Preview .
