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Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo named defensive player of the year semifinalist

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•about 17 hours•

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hidalgo (29)
Notre Dame freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo goes for a steal against Purdue. (Photo by Matt Cashore/USA Today)

She was recently named the best defensive player — and best overall player, for that matter — in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Could she soon be named the best defensive player in the entire country? Possibly. Notre Dame sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo is that good on that end of the floor.

Or, really, the entire floor. She play’s base line to base line defense. And that’s why she was named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award on Tuesday.

Here’s the entire list of candidates.

2025 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year semifinalists

NAMECLASSPOSSCHOOLCONFERENCE
Lauren BettsJuniorCUCLABig Ten
Talaysia CooperSophomoreGTennesseeSEC
Rori HarmonSeniorGTexasSEC
Hannah HidalgoSophomoreGNotre DameACC
Aneesah MorrowSeniorGLSUSEC
Sedona PrinceSeniorCTCUBig 12
JJ QuinerlySeniorGWest VirginiaBig 12
Taylor ThierrySeniorFOhio StateBig Ten
Makayla TimpsonSeniorFFlorida StateACC
JuJu WatkinsSophomoreGUSCBig Ten

Hidalgo was a semifinalist for this award as a true freshman in 2024, too. She’s one of three sophomores who made the cut this year. There were not any freshmen who made it this time. Hidalgo and West Virginia’s Quinnerly are the only players appearing on the 2024 and 2025 semifinalist list.

Hidalgo’s 3.7 steals per game put her fourth nationally in that statistic. She’s reached 5 steals in 11 games this season and has 108 since the start of the campaign. A Notre Dame player has only reached 100 steals in a season four times. Hidalgo owns two of those instances.

Notre Dame was bounced from the ACC Tournament in the semifinals on Saturday. The Duke Blue Devils beat the Fighting Irish, 61-56, then went on to win the tourney by beating NC State, 76-62. Against Duke, Hidalgo had 23 points, 6 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. She was the only consistent force for the Fighting Irish in the ballgame.

The Irish have reached an inflection point in their season. Not just because the NCAA Tournament starts in a week in a half but because they’re not playing their best basketball of the season on the precipice of it. Far from it, in fact. It’ll take the usual heroics from Hidalgo plus much more for Notre Dame to settle into the postseason and make the deep run that so many thought was inevitable just a few weeks ago.

Notre Dame will know its postseason path Sunday when the bracket is unveiled.

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