The Clemson Tigers weren’t going down without a fight in South Bend, Indiana, on Thursday night. 

The Lady Tigers took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (27-1, 15-0) and were unable to generate enough points to win their final road game of the season.

The Irish had control in each of the four quarters of play, going 11 for 11 from the free throw line and ultimately outscoring the Tigers 71-52.

Aliyah Collier and Victoria Cardaci led the Tigers in a constant chase to keep the game within their reach. Collier tied her career-best point scoring game with 18 points and nine rebounds and began the second quarter with six points as she and her teammates worked to keep up with the Irish.

Tiger’s Head Coach Audra Smith was impressed with Collier’s performance and noted that she has impacted this team immensely regardless of what the statistics may say. 

“Aliyah has been playing well all year and she played well tonight,” Coach Smith said. 

“She gives us everything she’s got and she does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet… She’s playing her heart out and she’s been as consistent as a freshman could possibly be.”

Cardaci scored three three pointers. She has gone eight consecutive games scoring at least one shot from the three-point margin, and in the past five games has tallied 16 total.

The only answer that Smith had for the team’s loss was a reason she has been noting all throughout the season; the lack of points her team has generated. 

“The bottom line is we took 60 shots and we could not knock enough of them down tonight,” she said. 

The team has struggled throughout the season with making their shots count. On Thursday they demonstrated that they could compete with the Fighting Irish, but they couldn’t prove themselves on the court without the points to back them up.

Clemson closed the regular season 4-25 and will play Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament on March 2.