If you take the bait and bring a nationally ranked Notre Dame women’s basketball team to your building, maybe even put it on national television and/or primetime, you’re playing right into the Irish hands. And, likely, playing your way into a loss.

Hannah Hidalgo scored 24 points and No. 6 Notre Dame defeated JuJu Watkins and third-ranked Southern California 74-61 in a marquee matchup on the West Coast.

All offseason long, a lot of folks around women’s college basketball offered the same concern when it came to Notre Dame’s outlook this season. The common question was that, while the Irish seemed to be incredibly talented on-paper, could Hannah ...