TCU rallies late to defeat No. 3 Notre Dame WBB in the Cayman Islands Classic

It might take the entire flight home from the Cayman Islands later this weekend for No. 3-ranked Notre Dame (5-1) to find out exactly what happened Friday night.

A 14-point lead late in the third quarter and an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter?

Then Notre Dame pounces. When his energy and talent usually take over.

But it all fell apart on Friday with a 76-68 Cayman Islands Classic loss to No. 17 TCU, which matched the school’s best win over a ranked team.

Things went downhill quickly for Notre Dame, which never really figured out how to get around, through or over the defense of the Horned Frogs’ 6-7 sophomore transfer Sedona Prince.

Coming off a win over then-No. 3 USC last Saturday, the Irish shot 50% from the field and were out of rhythm offensively.

Before a sparse crowd at the 2,000-capacity John Gray Gymnasium in George Town, Cayman Islands, the Irish shot just 34.7% from the field, including 5 of 15 on 3 shots.

Hannah Hidalgothe third-leading scorer in the country, scored 27 points (9 of 22), a few points above her average. Olivia Miles had 16 (7 of 14) and Sonia Citron had 14 (6 of 14), including a couple of threes. Those were the double-digit results for Notre Dame, which entered the contest with six players averaging double figures.

But Prince was a brick wall in the alley. She blocked eight Irish shots and influenced the rest.

Liatu Kingthe 6-0 Irish forward, who averaged 14.5 points and shot 71% from the field, was held to eight points on 2-for-9 shooting and a 6-5 freshman center Kate Kovalwho averaged a double-double, went scoreless while going 0-for-9 from the field.

Prince matched her average with 20 points, added 20 rebounds and stayed out of foul trouble as she played all but 22 seconds. The other half of a strong duo, former LSU and Louisville guard Hailey Van LithShe scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half, nine in the fourth quarter and finished the game with seven assists.

“Thanks to TCU,” Irish coach Niele Ivey said. “I thought they came out and played really, really well, a really smart game. They shot the ball really well in the 3rd minute. Prince was fantastic and Hailey had an incredible fourth quarter.

“I just didn’t think we played a full game for 40 minutes, so we have to go back to the drawing board.”

As the Irish entered the final quarter with an 11-point lead, they allowed eight straight points in less than two minutes, making it a three-point game.

The Irish led 61-57 at 6:50, but with the offense out of sync, they didn’t score again until 4:05 on a 15-footer from Miles.

A 3-pointer from Agnes Emma Nnopu With 3:45 to play, TCU took its first lead since the first minute at 64-63. From there, the Horned Frogs capitalized on an Irish drought that lasted from Miles’ shot at 4:05 to Hidalgo’s basket with 44 seconds left in the game. Most of those shots came from the perimeter as Prince blocked off the roadway.

The Irish defense fared much the same, struggling to keep Van Lith away from the basket as the Horned Frogs shot 61% in the final quarter and outscored the Irish 31-12.

Second year coach Mark Campbell led the Horned Frogs to a 21-12 mark last season after TCU finished the season 8-23 before his arrival. His squad includes 11 players who started their careers elsewhere.

The game was another big test for Koval, who entered the game leading the league with 24 blocks.

“Kate got into foul trouble, so I thought she got a little hesitant,” Ivey said. “But Prince is playing really great basketball right now, so she was really a problem for us, averaging 20 points and 20 rebounds. It’s a tough duel. You know she’s someone who has a lot of experience dealing with Kate.”

The Irish will face Utah (5-2) on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. EST.

TCU 76, NOTRE DAME 68: Box Score