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Hannah continues to hold serve at third.
For one of the few times all season this past week, an opponent was able to solve Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. NC State held the freshman phenom to a season-low 10 points.
It’s ironic that Hidalgo had her worst game when Iowa’s Caitlin Clark had her best game in which she not only broke the NCAA women’s scoring record but poured in a career-high 49 points. Alas, basketball is a funny game.
Here are the top 10 scorers in women’s basketball along with their steals numbers:
Who has most hit from downtown in Irish history?
Several months back, former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] advanced to the finals of the annual WNBA 3-Point Contest. But nobody was going to beat Sabrina Ionescu, whose final-round score of 37 was higher than even the highest score ever recorded in the NBA version of the contest. Almost immediately, many wondered how Ionescu would favor in a shootout with NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry.
This past NBA All-Star Weekend, fans got their wish. It was the highlight of the weekend with Curry needing the final rack to beat Ionescu, 29-26. There are hopes that something like this can continue next year and beyond, especially with women’s basketball increasing in popularity.
While we contemplate the future of women’s basketball and only can guess what it holds, we know who’s helped lay the groundwork for that future. Among them are the top 3-point shooters in Notre Dame history. Since 3-pointers are the latest thing to bring male and female basketball players together, let’s see who rounds out the top 10 for the Irish:
One Notre Dame representative is here.
The ACC is in its final few weeks before its tournament. If any team lying in the weeds is going to make a move, now is the time to get moving. Otherwise, they might as well just sit back and let the teams that deserve it more grab the best positions. Speaking of the best, here are the best statistical players in the conference:
Here are some Irish legends.
The sports world is abuzz with Caitlin Clark becoming the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball. She hasn’t even gone professional yet, and many already are crowning her the GOAT. That label gets tossed around very liberally these days, but it’s hard to picture many athletes who have transcended their sport the way she has.
Despite what our site editor Nick Shepkowski might have said about me, Caitlin Clark is not my sister. Athleticism is not in my immediate family’s gene pool, or I would have kept following my NBA dreams years ago. Alas, the closest I can get to organized basketball these days is to write about it and create listicles about it.
I would like to demonstrate that ability right now by assembling a listicle of the top 10 scorers in Notre Dame women’s basketball history. It’s a great way to celebrate the new scoring queen in women’s college hoops, and the timing couldn’t be more appropriate:
Nothing has changed.
Notre Dame didn’t do anything to move the needle one way or the other in the latest bracketology updates. They beat Florida State in a double-overtime thriller but lost badly at home to NC State, giving them two defeats in their past three games. While they didn’t hurt their standing with the bracketologists, they didn’t help it either.
The Irish remain a No. 5 seed for the latest projections from ESPN, Her Hoop Stats and College Sports Madness. However, they also haven’t moved off the No. 6 seed projected by CBS Sports. The possibility of hosting the first two round of the NCAA Tournament is shrinking with only five games left before the ACC Tournament.
The Irish visit Duke and host Clemson over the next week. It’s a tough situation to be in. Winning both games likely won’t do enough to move up them up the seedings. Lose either one, and you can forget about tournament basketball in South Bend this year.
All the Irish can do is play who’s in front of them and not screw up. They need to control what they can control.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89
Rough night for the Irish
Things started poorly for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team Thursday night in South Bend and they didn’t get any better throughout the evening.
The Irish were outscored by the Wolfpack 16-2 in the first 7:35 of the contest and spent the entire night just trying to get back within shouting distance.
The Irish struggled on the night, shooting just 26.9% from the floor in what resulted in a 59-43 loss.
Maddy Westbeld led Notre Dame with 14 points while Sonia Citron scored 13. Hannah Hidalgo added 10 but was just 4-19 from the floor.
Madison Hayes led North Carolina State with 15 points.
The Irish fall to 18-6 overall and 8-5 in ACC play while NC State moves to 22-3 overall.
Notre Dame returns to action Monday night when they’ll travel to Duke.
A win vs. some teams would be worth more than wins vs. others down the stretch.
Notre Dame has six games left before the ACC Tournament. Of those games, four of them really will give the Irish a chance to show it can hang with some of women’s basketball’s best teams. They need a strong showing in those games, too, because while they’re a lock for the NCAA Tournament, no bracketologist currently has them as a top-four seed. That would mean not being able to host the first two rounds as it did last year.
The Irish currently have an NET Ranking of 10th after losing to Louisville and then beating Florida State. And while their NET SOS of 47th is higher than it was a week ago, it’s still very low. As my World Series history podcast co-host Lucas Mitzel relayed to me, the average NET SOS among the top 16 NET Ranking team is 26th.
The Irish can improve their odds of being a tournament host depending on how well they finish the regular season especially. Here’s their remaining schedule and the NET Rankings for their opponents:
Another record for the freshman. What new?
There’s a new queen for weekly freshman honors in ACC women’s basketball, and it’s Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. When Hidalgo won her 11th ACC Rookie of the Week honor this week, she broke a tie with Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, who earned the distinction 10 times only a season ago.
Ironically, it likely was Hidalgo’s performance in the win over Latson’s Seminoles on Sunday that put her over the top. No, her 27 points didn’t beat the 30 she scored in the loss to Louisville, but she also had nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Additionally, she broke [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag]’ program record by bringing her steals total for the season to 115.
With the Irish having a tough schedule in the final month of the regular season, we’re about to find out just how much more Hidalgo can do in her first collegiate season. If what we’ve seen so far is any indication, it will be something special.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89
History is about to be made in women’s hoops.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark needs only eight points to break the all-time NCAA women’s scoring record. That means this coming week will be historic. But let’s see how she stacks up with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] of Notre Dame. We also
Guess who represents Notre Dame here.
We’re getting into the first full week of February now. It doesn’t seem like we already should be at this stage of the season, but we are. It’s another reminder for ACC teams that haven’t made their moves yet that the clock continues to tick. If they don’t, they’ll be put in their place by players like these conference statistical leaders:
