Newsstand: Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named first-team All-America per The Athletic
The No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team knocked off No. 24 Louisville 74-58 Sunday, finishing the regular season with a 23-6 (13-5 ACC) record and winners of five straight.
And the Irish face off against the Cardinals later this morning at 11 eastern in the first-round of the ACC Tournament. Niele Ivey’s Fighting Irish are the No. 4 seed in the bracket, while Louisville comes in at No. 5.
A major reason for Notre Dame’s success this season has been the play of guard Hannah Hidalgo, who was named to The Athletic’s first-team All-America squad. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, USC’s JuJu Watkins and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley were the other members of the impressive first-team.
Hidalgo averaged 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 4.9 steals per game as a true freshman this year.
“From the opening tip of Notre Dame’s season-opener against still-undefeated South Carolina, Hidalgo showed why she would be one of the nation’s top players,” wrote The Athletic’s Chantel Jennings. “That night, she scored 31 points, crossing the 30-point plateau for the first of five times this season. Her relentless attacking of the basket is impressive as is her ability to create opportunities for her teammates. But Hidalgo’s impact may be even more significant on defense, where she led the nation in defensive win-shares.
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“Perhaps only Brink and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso altered opposing plans as much as Hidalgo. She hounded opposing guards, recording seven or more steals in a game six times. If she even just maintains her steals average through the remainder of her college career, she’ll finish top-five all time, and that doesn’t even account for how she’ll continue to improve over her time with the Fighting Irish.”
Hidalgo added two season-long accolades to her ever-growing treasure chest on Tuesday. The Notre Dame freshman point guard was named the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel.
Notre Dame tweets of the day
Quote of the day
“I think you have some guys that have started games. Even Charles Jagusah has started a game. But you try to create as much competition as you can, especially in the spring. We know we have to solidify positions as we go into the fall, but we want it to be competitive.
“I hope by the end of spring, we’ll be able to say, ‘Okay, here’s probably the guys you will see as the starting five. But I believe you have six, seven, or eight guys who are all going to be pushing to be the top five.”
