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Notre Dame freshman PG Hannah Hidalgo earns Nancy Lieberman Award Top 10 nod

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•01/22/24•

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hidalgo (3)
Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo. (Photo by Matt Cashore/USA Today)

When Olivia Miles asserted herself as one of the premier point guards in college basketball two years ago, it was a given for however long she remained at Notre Dame the Fighting Irish would have a player appear on every Lieberman Award watch list and midseason candidate drop.

Indeed, Notre Dame does have an honoree among the Top 10 layers up for the 2024 Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given annually to the top point guard in women’s college basketball.

It just isn’t Miles. It’s freshman Hannah Hidalgo.

With Miles yet to see the floor in the 2023-24 season because of major knee surgery last spring, Hidalgo was named Notre Dame’s starting point guard in October. Seventeen games into her college career, she’s already one of the best floor generals in the game — just like Miles was and presumably still will be when healthy.

Here are the 10 names the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame came up with candidates for the Lieberman Award on Monday.

2024 Nancy Lieberman Award Top 10

  • Sarah Andrews, Baylor
  • Jaylyn Sherrod, Colorado
  • McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State
  • Caitlin Clark, Iowa
  • Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
  • Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
  • Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
  • Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
  • Kiki Rice, UCLA
  • Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech

Hidalgo ranks tied for fourth nationally in points per game at 23.9. She leads the nation with 5.5 steals per game. She also averages 6.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, ranking second and first on the Notre Dame roster, respectively.

Iowa’s Clark leads the NCAA at 31.7 points per game. She’s also No. 2 in the country with 7.7 assists per game. She’s the two-time reigning winner of the Lieberman Award and a pretty good bet to pick up the hardware for the third consecutive year. Notre Dame has one winner in the 25-year history of the award; Skylar Diggins took it home in 2012 and 2013.

Hidalgo broke two of Diggins’ records last week. Diggins previously held the record for steals in a freshman season at Notre Dame with 90. Hidalgo has 94 and counting with a dozen regular season games left to play. Hidalgo has nine games with six or more steals, too. The prior program record, held by Diggins, was eight such games.

Hidalgo’s 15 games with 20-plus points is also a Notre Dame freshman record. She’s got time to set a new mark that might be out of reach for a long, long time. It might never be touched.

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