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Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo wins ACC Rookie of the Week

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•01/15/24•

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hidalgo (12)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) goes up for a shot in the first half against the Miami Hurricanes at the Purcell Pavilion. (Photo by Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

Death, taxes, snow in South Bend in January and Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo winning ACC Rookie of the Week. They’re all a given.

Hidalgo won the award for the eighth time on Monday, expanding upon her own program record. She set that mark last week at seven.

Hidalgo had 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in a 98-48 Notre Dame win over Boston College last week. Sunday, she scored 25 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, stole the ball 7 times and dished out 2 assists.

For the season, Hidalgo is averaging an ACC-best 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.7 steals and 5.5 assists. She leads the country in steals. Sunday marked the eighth time this season she had 6 or more steals in a single game. That tied the Notre Dame record for such instances. The next time Hidalgo gets to that mark, she will stand alone ahead of Irish Ring of Honor inductee Skylar Diggins-Smith.

It took Diggins-Smith an entire career — and an immaculate one at that — to get to eight games of 6-plus steals. It took Hidalgo 15 games.

“It’s unbelievable what she’s doing,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said Sunday.

Hidalgo has been a season saver for the Irish to this point. Junior point guard Olivia Miles has yet to see the floor coming back from a severe knee injury in the regular-season finale last year. Graduate student guard Jenna Brown has not played this season either. Junior guard Sonia Citron missed nine games after she tweaked her knee on Nov. 15.

It goes on. Senior forward Maddy Westbeld missed a game with a concussion. Freshman guard Emma Risch‘s season is over after hip surgery. Sophomore combo guard Cass Prosper has been out since late November.

Through it all, Notre Dame is 12-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play because of Hidalgo. She has scored at least 20 points in 13 of 15 games. It’s not all on volume, either; yes, Hidalgo shoots more than any other player on the Irish roster, but she makes 49.8 percent of all of her attempts. That’s second on the team among guards trailing only Citron (50.0 percent), who has only played in six games.

There just isn’t much, if anything, Hidalgo can’t do. It shows up on the stat sheet every night, and it has certainly become apparent in the form of ACC Rookie of the Week nods. It sure feels like her eighth will not be her last.

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