Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo is always intense. But during March Madness, she becomes downright terrifying. To ballhandlers, she must look like a monster out of a horror movie – eyes wide, teeth grinding, advancing on opponents until they have nowhere to go.
Fairfield had to endure that Saturday. The 11th-seeded Stags (28-5) were a popular upset pick. They make 11.4 three-pointers per game – the most in the country – and have March Madness experience, appearing in their third consecutive NCAA Tournament. Plus, the No. 11-over-No. 6 upset is one of the most enticing in women’s basketball, hitting 39 percent of the time.
None of that mattered to Hidalgo. The 5-foot-6 junior finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 8 steals and 6 assists to lead the Fighting Irish (23-10) to a 79-60 first-round victory, advancing to take on host team Ohio State on Monday.
“There’s not a lot of people out there like her,” Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said of Hidalgo. “She’s very one-of-a-kind.”
Aside from Fairfield’s skills and the thrill of choosing an upset, there is another reason the Irish may not have been an alluring first-round pick: This Notre Dame team hasn’t played like Notre Dame teams are supposed to.
It started in the offseason, when the Irish experienced a mass exodus. Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld graduated, and so did Liatu King and Liza Karlen. That, of course, was expected. The departure of star point guard Olivia Miles to TCU was not. Miles averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game last season. Miles’ creative passing made her a star. In addition, forward Kylee Watson transferred to Villanova, shooting guard Emma Risch to Florida State and former five-star center Kate Koval to LSU.
Coach Niele Ivey was forced to do a complete roster overhaul, with only Hidalgo, Cassandre Prosper and KK Bransford remaining. Last season, the 6-foot-3 Prosper averaged 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while Bransford missed the 2024-25 campaign with an injury.
It became clear that Hidalgo needed to lead her team in every way.
“She got a chance to see what (leadership) looks like for two years, so this year it was her opportunity to step in and be the leader that she wanted to be,” Ivey said. “I think she’s done a phenomenal job.”
Still, Notre Dame hasn’t won at its usual rate. Last season, the Irish beat UConn and went 16-2 in ACC play. This season, they were demolished 85-47 by the Huskies and started ACC play at 5-5. But the Irish hit another gear heading into March. They won seven games in a row to end the regular season, including a major upset over Louisville, before falling 65-63 to Duke in the ACC Tournament.
“I think we really just started clicking at the right time,” Hidalgo said. “We started to have confidence in ourselves and then one another, and then it really started to show on the floor.”
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And even when Notre Dame wasn’t winning, Hidalgo was a constant. She led the Irish in scoring in all but four games this season. In fact, no other player has been Notre Dame’s leading scorer since Prosper scored 27 points against Boston College on Jan. 27.
Whatever happened, Ivey knew Hidalgo still would be Hidalgo. So did the ACC – she was both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. Fairfield also knew what it was up against: her scoring, her passing, her energy and, most importantly, her defense.
Thibault-DuDonis and guards Janelle Brown and Kaety L’Moreeaux brought up Hidalgo’s defense before facing the Irish.
“Taking care of the ball is number one,” Brown said. “We know that she leads the nation in steals per game. So, that’s really just the top of our scout sheet right there.”
It’s one thing to know Hidalgo can steal the ball; it’s another to see her quick hands in action. She just keeps coming.
In the first quarter against Fairfield, Hidalgo made a steal but missed the ensuing layup. But instead of running back to set up defensively, Hidalgo attacked the rebounder, snagging another steal; this time, she made the shot.
She’s relentless, something that becomes even more dangerous for opponents in a single-elimination tournament because Hidalgo has a way of forcing teams into compounding mistakes. One turnover becomes two, and every time she gets a steal or scores a basket, Hidalgo’s terrifying-to-the-opponent energy continues to grow.
“She is phenomenal,” Ivey said. “I’ve never seen a two-way player do what she does every day in practice. She is so intense. She’s so confident. She’s got so much swag.”
The Fighting Irish may not look like Notre Dame teams of old, but Hannah Hidalgo remains Hannah Hidalgo, and for opposing teams, that’s still a terrifying reality.
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