CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Sonia Citron scored a season-high 28 points and freshman Hannah Hidalgo added 23 points, nine assists and six steals as No. 19 Notre Dame held off a late Virginia rally to beat the Cavaliers 86-76 on Thursday night.
Virginia lost its third straight game to a ranked opponent, falling to No. 6 North Carolina State and No. 20 North Carolina on the road. The Cavaliers will face a fourth-straight ranked opponent when the travel to No. 15 Florida State on Sunday and will play teams in the AP Top 25 in three of their next four games.
In her fourth game since returning from a knee sprain that saw her miss all of December, Citron was perfect from the free-throw line (12 for 12) and sparked the Fighting Irish to their third straight win after a 61-57 loss to North Carolina at South Bend.
Hidalgo, named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for a record eighth time this season on Monday, now has topped 20 points in a game in 14 of the Irish's 16 games.
Citron opened the game by knocking down a 3-pointer, and Maddy Westbeld and Hidalgo each scored six points as Notre Dame (13-3, 4-2) built a 24-16 lead after one quarter. Virginia rallied in the second quarter but still trailed 39-33 at intermission and faced a 17-point deficit to start the fourth quarter.
But the Irish went scoreless for more than two minutes early in the fourth, allowing Virginia to cut its deficit to 12. After Hidalgo and Citron each hit two free throws, Notre Dame was scoreless for almost another two minutes as the Cavaliers (8-9, 0-6) cut the deficit to single digits, 70-63. Kaydan Lawson's layup with 1:45 left made it 78-72, but Hidalgo hit a layup and four straight free throws as the Irish closed the game out.
Westbeld added 14 points and the Irish went 33 of 44 from the free-throw line.
Kymora Johnson scored 16 points with eight rebounds and seven assists to lead Virginia. Paris Clark added another 16 points, seven boards and four assists off the bench. Freshman Olivia McGhee added 14 points.
Notre Dame plays at Wake Forest Sunday.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
