Hannah Hidalgo and Vanes De Jesus combined for 49 points, practically outscoring the competition by themselves as the Irish women’s basketball team cruised to a 98-52 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in the regular season opener Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion.

Hidalgo scored 27 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals. She was 11 of 22 from the field but struggled from beyond the arc, making just 1-7 on 3s The rest of the Irish combined to go 8 of 10 from 3, led by De Jesus who hit four of her attempts and finished with 22 points overall. De Jesus also had three assists and three steals.

Notre Dame led 27-13 after the 1st quarter and then outscored FDU 23-7 in the 2nd to open up a 50-20 lead at halftime.

South Bend Saint Joseph alum Kelly Ratigan, a transfer from Loyola of Maryland, was the first player off the bench and scored 4 points, connecting on her only 3 point attempt of the game. She also had two rebounds and two assists.

Niele Ivey played just six players until the final four minutes of the game.

Gisela Sanchez was impressive with 14 points on 6-8 shooting and led the Irish with 12 rebounds. Cass Prosper scored 15 and had a team best five assists while KK Bransford made it all five players in double figures as she scored 13.

Notre Dame is next in action Sunday when they host Chicago State at 3pm at Purcell Pavilion.