Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and No. 6 Notre Dame defeated JuJu Watkins and third-ranked Southern California 74-61 on Saturday in a marquee matchup on the West Coast. Watkins and the Trojans (4-1) fell behind early and were down 21 points in the fourth quarter.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and No. 6 Notre Dame defeated JuJu Watkins and third-ranked Southern California 74-61 on Saturday in a marquee matchup on the West Coast. Watkins and the Trojans (4-1) fell behind early and were down 21 points in the fourth quarter. She had 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Last year, USC's JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo were two of the nation's top freshmen, and they've kept that momentum going in their sophomore seasons. Both rosters also got more dangerous ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, but more on that below.

Despite a 24-point effort from JuJu Watkins, No. 3 USC fades in the fourth quarter of a 74-61 loss to No. 6 Notre Dame.

The No. 6 Notre Dame women’s basketball team (4-0) has breezed through the first 2 ½ weeks of the season, annihilating opponents by an average of 47.5 points. It’s hard to know what’s more impressive about the Fighting Irish.