CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Generously listed at 5-foot-7, Notre Dame senior point guard Hannah Hidalgo is far from the most physically imposing player in women’s college basketball. The senior instead has counted on agility, quickness and court awareness during her ascension to becoming a National Player of the Year contender.
Those attributes also have contributed to Hidalgo becoming the premier perimeter defender in the country and a virtual lock to be a lottery pick in next year’s WNBA Draft. She finished first nationally in steals last season and holds the Fighting Irish career record in that category, racking up 100 more than second-place Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Hidalgo’s attention to defense comes in large part from her father, who instilled a passion to excel at that end of the court. She recalled performing defensive drills with her father during her youth basketball days, including hours of lateral movement and guarding one-on-one.
The results have yielded a level of physical fitness that, according to Coach Niele Ivey and teammates, allows Hidalgo to play at a frenetic pace down the stretch even after logging extensive minutes. Last season she averaged 36.3 minutes per game, fourth nationally among players in high-major conferences.
“I think heart over height has always been my motto and the biggest thing for me, and I think that’ll always be the motto,” Hidalgo told Hoops HQ on Monday during ACC Tipoff. “Just me most likely being the smallest player on the floor — I’ve been that since I was in elementary school playing, and I’m still that, but, you know, somebody said, ‘I don’t think Hannah knows how small she is.’ I play like I’m 6-2.”
The signature performance of Hidalgo’s career came last season against Akron. She scored 44 points, a single-game school record, and collected 16 steals, the most in a game in NCAA history. She missed a triple double by one rebound, playing 27:31 before exiting with the outcome well in hand.
This season HIdaglo stands to become Notre Dame’s career scoring leader. She trails first-place Arike Agunbowale by 166 points, so based on Hidalgo’s program-best career scoring average (23.9), she should set the record before the end of this year. Hidalgo is the only player in school history to average more than 20 points per game in her career.
She needed just 86 games to score 2,000 points, becoming the fastest player in ACC and program history to reach that mark. Hidalgo is the reigning back-to-back ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. No other player in conference history has won both awards in consecutive seasons.
Advanced metrics reinforce Hidalgo’s value. She ranks first all-time at Notre Dame in player efficiency rating (35.8) and win shares per 40 minutes (.334). She’s second in overall win shares (30.9) and third in offensive win shares (20.2).
“The biggest part for me is that she’s such a phenom,” Ivey said. “I don’t ever want to take that for granted. The things that she does on a daily basis, and it’s something I see all the time, even her scoring 44 points, breaking the record at home, and having 16 steals in a game. I don’t ever take it for granted because I know that she has a gift, and that gift is on display every night.”
Ivey has a special appreciation for Hidalgo, and not simply because she’s coached her for the past three seasons. Ivey played at Notre Dame, too, starting at point guard for legendary coach Muffet McGraw and winning the national championship in 2001. She won another NCAA title while serving as an assistant on McGraw’s staff in 2018.
In accordance with her ebullient demeanor, Hidalgo has been outspoken about national championship aspirations entering in her final season. Notre Dame has not advanced to the Final Four since 2019. Last season the Irish lost in the Elite Eight, the farthest they’ve gone in the NCAA Tournament since Ivey took over in 2020.
Ivey indicated she plans to lean even more on Hidalgo for leadership this season considering Notre Dame has seven freshmen and two sophomores on the roster.
“She has really grown, and she has matured,” Ivey said. “She’s out of her shell, clearly. She’s always been confident, but now I feel like she’s done a great job of not only being confident individually, (but also) bringing players along and building them up and making players better around her.
“She’s saying the same things that I’m saying, so when you hear that from your teammate and your captain holding your team accountable, it makes my job a lot easier.”
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