Tag: Hannah Hidalgo

Two incoming Notre Dame players named McDonald’s All-Americans

Congrats to both players!

The future of Notre Dame basketball is very bright. The men’s team has one of if not the best 2025 recruiting class to look forward to. That same year, the women’s team will return a lot of talent from this year’s national championship contender.

Two players part of that promising Irish future are [autotag]Jalen Haralson[/autotag] and [autotag]Leah Macy[/autotag]. Both have been invited to play in their respective McDonald’s All-American Games. The rosters for those games were announced Monday.

This game is a regular thing for incoming women’s basketball players as the Irish have been represented every year except one since 2009. The men are featured far more infrequently with Haralson being the first incoming men’s player selected since JJ Starling in 2022.

Haralson is ranked 19th on ESPN’s recruiting ranks for the 2025 class and has a four-star rating. Coincidentally, Macy also has a ranking of 19th on ESPN’s 2025 girls list. She has a five-star rating there.

For good measure, here are some highlights of [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]’s co-MVP performance in the 2023 girls game:

Congratulations to Haralson and Macy on this great honor.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball keeps up winning ways vs. Boston College

This fell under the “typical victory” category for the Irish.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is proving time and again this season that no opponent is safe. Someone might give the Irish a scare for a time, but they’ll find a way to overcome that and win. Boston College learned this the hard way in an 89-63 Irish victory.

The first quarter saw the Irish (17-2, 8-0) locked in a tight battle with the Eagles (12-9, 3-5), who found themselves with a one-point lead at the end. But the Irish took the lead on the opening possession of the second quarter and never gave it back.

Though the Eagles kept the game within striking distance for the rest of the first half, the Irish stayed on the gas pedal in the second and built their lead to the point where it was insurmountable. While there weren’t a lot of highlights that will be watched over and over, that was fine because the Irish did everything they needed to make this game a blowout by the end:

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a typical night, leading all players with 23 points and five steals. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] picked up two first-quarter fouls but stayed away from fouling the rest of the game en route to scoring 16 points.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], making her third start of the season, continued to show she’s all the way back from her injury with 14 points. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] came agonizingly close to a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds to go with a game-high six assists

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Is Hannah Hidalgo playing today? Injury updates for Notre Dame star guard

Do the Irish women get their star guard back tonight?

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team has been fine without its star guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], but it looks like the Irish are getting good news for Sunday’s contest against SMU.

According to Sean Stires, the radio play-by-play broadcaster for women’s basketball, Hidalgo will be back in the starting lineup after missing the last two games with an ankle sprain.

The sophomore has dominated when on the court this season, averaging 25.7 points-per-game with 6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Notre Dame has won its past 10-games, and while they haven’t missed Hidalgo, they will more than welcome the return of its star.

The Irish women will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. ET as the game will be played on the ACC Network.

Dec 12, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) reacts as time expires in the win over the Connecticut Huskies at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame plays without Hannah Hidalgo again but beats Georgia Tech

The victories continue to pile up in all circumstances.

With [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] still out with a sprained ankle, Notre Dame needed to rely on other players to defeat Georgia Tech. An Irish win would have showcased just how deep the team is. If that was indeed the goal, the Irish accomplished it with an 81-66 victory.

Despite never trailing, the Irish (15-2, 6-0) saw the Yellow Jackets (15-3, 3-3) tie the game early in the second half, completely erasing what had been a 13-point lead. The Jackets were intent on proving they could give the Irish a challenge, especially with Hidalgo out, and even if they didn’t win, this game looked like it wouldn’t be decided until late.

Finally, the Irish found the wind they needed to bring the win home. Nursing a four-point lead late in the third quarter, they went on a 19-4 run that lasted into the fourth. Although the Jackets never showed any quit even after that stretch, the Irish continued to answer them until the clock ran out on this convincing victory:

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] led all players with 21 points and six assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], starting in place of Hidalgo in only her fourth game of the season, made up for lost time with 20 points. [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] came off the bench and just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.

This wasn’t one of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag]’ better games, at least not at the start. However, she came alive in the second half with 11 of the 13 points, including seven in the fourth quarter. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] grabbed a game-high 12 boards.

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Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo out for second straight game

So much for a one-game absence.

The hope for Notre Dame was that it only would miss All-American guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] for one game. Her absence against Clemson proved a footnote as the Irish picked up a win on the road.

However, the sprained ankle Hidalgo suffered against Wake Forest the week before still was bothering her ahead of the Irish’s next game against Georgia Tech. Consequently, Hidalgo missed her second consecutive game. That allowed [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] to make her first start of the season in the fourth game she’s played since coming back from her own injury.

The question is how long the Irish can survive without their best player. There’s no doubt [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] can be equally lethal in Hidalgo’s absence, but the Irish have been unstoppable with both of them in the backcourt.

Even taking Miles out of the equation, Hidalgo has had plenty of on-court highlights so far this season. Here are a few of them:

Hopefully, Hidalgo won’t be out for much longer.

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Notre Dame has to grind out tough win vs. Clemson without Hidalgo

This one wasn’t always easy.

Notre Dame never trailed Clemson after the first four minutes of the game. But the Irish were missing their best player in [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. That was the result of her rolling her ankle in their previous game, so she was ruled out for this one.

The result was a game that almost never truly felt safe. At least the Irish won, 67-58.

The Irish (14-2, 5-0) didn’t reach their biggest of 12 until there was just over a minute left in the contest. That was the result of Hidalgo’s absence disrupting the flow on both ends, and the Tigers (10-7, 3-3) were only too happy to stick around to the point where they nearly tied the game early in the fourth quarter. The good news was the Irish had the clear edge in talent, and the remaining healthy players proved to be enough to carry them across the finish line.

[autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] showed why the Irish valued her this past offseason, leading all players with 23 points and 11 rebounds:

Without Hidalgo to help her in the backcourt, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] came close to her own double-double thanks to 17 points and nine assists.

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Notre Dame standout Hannah Hidalgo out vs. Clemson with ankle injury

Let’s hope it’s not too serious.

Since [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] arrived at Notre Dame, the Irish have been able to count on her availability. That’s a good thing considering she’s become one of the best players in women’s basketball. That luck finally ran out though.

Hidalgo rolled her ankle late in the Irish’s victory over Wake Forest, and she had to come out of the game. That ankle has not fully healed, so she was ruled out for the Irish’s road game against Clemson, the first game she has missed in her collegiate career. [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] took her place in the starting lineup.

Hidalgo has picked up right where she left off from her freshman All-American season. She is second in the ACC in scoring (25.7 points a game), and she leads the conference in steals (4.1) and minutes (35.3). She’s a major reason the Irish are ranked third in the country.

She has great personality, too. Even though Christmas is over now, let’s enjoy her rendition of a holiday classic one more time:

Hopefully, she’ll be able to recover in time for the Irish’s next game against Georgia Tech.

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Notre Dame beats North Carolina for fourth win over ranked opponent

The Irish simply have more talent than the Tar Heels.

Typically, ACC play signifies tougher competition for Notre Dame. But the Irish have played so many quality teams already that they might be on the easy part of their schedule now.

That said, the Irish had to fight hard against North Carolina to earn their fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season, 76-66. Then again, that should be expected in such a game.

The Irish (12-2, 3-0) never trailed after the Tar Heels (13-3, 1-2) scored the first four points of the game, but even their biggest lead of 14 never truly felt safe. Perhaps energized by playing on their home court, the Heels went on a few second-half runs that prompted [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to call timeouts.

This game ultimately came down to talent, and the Irish have women’s basketball’s best backcourt in [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who scored 24 and 19 points respectively with five 3-pointers apiece. Miles’ five 3s represented a career high for her.

[autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] scored nine points apiece, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] tied her season high with 15 rebounds while also collecting eight points:

The Irish also got a boost from the return of [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who made her season debut after recovering from a foot injury. She had one rebound, one steal and one block in 13 minutes off the bench.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball reaches milestones in win over Virginia

A lot was accomplished in this game.

It’s hard to pinpoint the most impressive part about Notre Dame’s ACC home opener against Virginia. So we’ll just say everything was great. Still, we’ll talk about what made this 95-54 win so great.

Initially, the Irish (11-2, 2-0) appeared they would get a competitive game from the Cavaliers (8-6, 0-2), who scored the first four points and deadlocked the score at 9 midway through the first quarter. It was all Irish after that though as they rattled off 28 consecutive points. The Cavaliers didn’t score again until near the halfway point of the second quarter.

The game was never remotely close after that, and [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] became the fastest coach in both Irish and ACC history to reach 100 career victories. That only was the tip of the iceberg for the Irish’s accomplishments though.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] recorded the sixth triple-double of her career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, which tied a career high. She also became the third player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Only [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] and [autotag]Lindsay Allen[/autotag] had done it before her.

Miles also tied the ACC record for career triple-doubles. Alyssa Thomas was the first to reach that total during Maryland’s final years in the conference.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] tied her season highs with 25 points and 11 rebounds. She also set her season with five 3-pointers.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led all scorers with 28 points. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] scored 12 points and blocked three shots before fouling out, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] came close to a double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

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Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo spins Christmas tale about her steals

Will this story become a holiday classic in your family?

Notre Dame star [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] flaunts her devotion to God regularly. So it stands to reason that she embraces the Christmas season. And as a new video released by the Irish proves, she has no problem doing anything to help celebrate this time of year.

Reading a giant book in a chair next to a Christmas tree, Hidalgo spins a holiday-style poem about how frequently she steals the ball. It’s completely understandable as she led the country in steals last season (4.6 a game) and is at the top again so far this season (4.2 a game).

Indeed, scoring, steals and her ability to play almost the entirety of games are well-documented by this point. Those are among the many things she’ll be known for long after she has moved on from the Irish. But she seems particularly fond of being able to steal the ball with such ease.

If you’re looking for a story to liven up your holiday, try this one on for size:

Let’s hope she has a great Christmas and uses it to recharge for ACC play.

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