Tag: Hannah Hidalgo

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo wins Dawn Staley Award as top guard

Add yet another honor for the freshman phenom.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] began her collegiate career when Notre Dame faced South Carolina in Paris to open this past season. That meant she got to make her debut with Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley watching from the opposite sideline. She aced her first exam, leading all scorers with 31 points in an Irish loss. Now, Staley gets to honor her.

Hidalgo has been named the winner of this year’s Dawn Staley Award, given to the country’s top guard. She unseats Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who had won it each of the previous three seasons. She is the second Irish player to win the award after [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag], who was the first honoree in 2013.

Staley, whose Gamecocks are in the Final Four trying to complete a perfect season, said the following about Hidalgo:

“The Dawn Staley Award goes to the player who demonstrates exceptional skills, leadership, and performance at the guard position. Hannah Hidalgo’s court vision, passing ability, ball-handling and ability to create scoring opportunities for herself and her teammates combined with her relentless defense is unmatched. She is the embodiment of a two-way force on the basketball court and the essence of what the award represents. In a season where there are several deserving candidates Hannah has separated herself from the group.“

Hidalgo will receive her award during a virtual ceremony April 11, and it’s great to know that she still is collecting hardware even with the Irish’s season over. That trophy case is gonna be awfully crowded by the time she’s done in South Bend.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named Wooden Award finalist

She had an incredible season, no?

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] racked up one record and honor after another during her freshman season at Notre Dame. Now, she’s going about as far as she can go as far as awards in women’s basketball. She has been announced as one of five finalists for the Wooden Award, which is given to the best player in the country.

Even though the winner will be announced Monday, merely being a finalist means Hidalgo will be invited to the ceremony April 12 in Los Angeles regardless if she wins the award or not. She also is one of 10 Wooden Award All-Americans.

In 35 games this season, Hidalgo became one of the country’s top scorers with 33.9 points a game. She also led the country in steals at 4.6 a game, and she averaged 5.5 assists a game. All that and more made her a First Team All-American and First Team All-ACC selection as well as the top rookie and defensive player in the ACC.

Hidalgo faces some incredibly stiff competition for this award. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the clear favorite to win it for the second straight year, but Hidalgo also is up against 2021 winner Paige Bueckers of UConn, fellow freshman phenom JuJu Watkins of USC and Stanford’s Cameron Brink. Still, the fact that she can be in the conversation with these players is a good indicator that she’ll keep the South Bend faithful coming to Purcell Pavilion for the next few years.

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo slammed refs for making her remove her nose piercing mid-Oregon State loss

Notre Dame’s freshman All-American Hannah Hidalgo missed a chunk of time during the Sweet 16 loss.

It didn’t seem like a big deal until the referees made it one, and then it still didn’t seem like a major issue.

But following Notre Dame’s 70-65 loss to Oregon State in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA tournament on Friday, Hannah Hidalgo’s nose piercing may have actually had an impact on her performance.

The Fighting Irish’s freshman star wears a small stud in her left nostril, and she’s played with the stud in for a lot of the season, including in the NCAA tournament’s opening weekend. But in the first half of the game against the Beavers, officials insisted she take it out, pointing to the rulebook forbidding jewelry.

Why they decided to enforce it this time when covering it with a Band-Aid likely would have sufficed is beyond us, but they did. And because Hidalgo had to take it out, she missed several minutes of the game itself in what amounted to more than 17 minutes in real time, according to ESPN’s Elle Duncan.

That’s not a small amount of time, and after Notre Dame’s loss, Hidalgo slammed the refs for the decision. Via ESPN:

“I thought it was B.S., because I’m on a run, I’m on a roll,” Hidalgo said. “I scored two baskets and then having to sit out for all that time, I was starting to get cold. I think [the officials] were worried about the wrong things. They should have reffed the game.”

Hidalgo said an official told her she would keep the stud in as long as it was covered, but after the first quarter, she was told to take it out or not play, ESPN also reported.

While Notre Dame’s season is over now with Oregon State advancing to the Elite Eight, Hidalgo said: “I’m going to play with it still until they tell me to take it out.”

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Notre Dame’s season ends after falling to Oregon State in Sweet 16

Another year, another elimination in the regional semifinals.

With injuries stripping Notre Dame of its depth, it seemed like only a matter of time before that caught up. It didn’t happen during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but Albany Regional 1 posed tougher competition and thus increased the likelihood of the issue being exposed. Oregon State was the team to do it, beating the Irish in the Sweet 16, 70-65.

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A game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes was destined to come down to the end. The Irish (27-7) were in front, 59-57, with less than three minutes to play when Donovyn Hunter hit a 3 to give the Beavers (28-7) the lead for good. One possession later, Lily Hansford made another 3 off an offensive rebound, putting the Beavers up four.

The teams continued to trade free throws and layups until the Irish called a timeout down, 67-63, with 26.1 seconds left. Their final hopes were snuffed when Talia von Oelhoffen blocked a [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] 3 and promptly made two free throws after being fouled. At that point, the deficit was too big with too little time left for the Irish.

The Irish scored 26 points off 27 Beavers turnovers, but that was canceled out by losing the rebounding battle, 42-24. The Beavers also exploited the Irish’s lack of available size by winning the battle for points in the paint, 40-28. Also, three Beavers scored 14 points off the bench while [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag], the Irish’s lone reserve in this game, was kept out of the scoring column.

As expected, Raegan Beers was a problem as she scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Beavers. Also a problem was Timea Gardiner, who also achieved a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Hunter scored 11 points, and van Oelhoffen dished out a game-high nine assists in addition to her clutch block of Citron.

Citron led all scorers with 22 points and also had the most rebounds for the Irish with seven. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 19 points but picked up three of her four fouls in the first half, possibly affecting what the Irish could do on defense in the middle. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] had 12 points in her final college game.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] tied her season low with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. She might have become disconcerted when she was ordered to have her nose ring removed before the start of the second quarter and missed the first four minutes of that quarter while having the issue taken care of.

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Refs made Hannah Hidalgo remove her nose stud mid-game vs. Oregon State despite wearing it during the season

That nose stud was just minding its business, but the refs weren’t having it.

We never thought we would be typing this sentence, but freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo had to stop mid-game to have her nose stud removed during the women’s NCAA tournament.

During the season, Hannah Hidalgo has been picking pockets and dropping buckets with a small stud in her left nostril. It’s barely noticeable to the naked eye and hasn’t slowed her down or caused any issues. She even played with it in previous games during March Madness while concealing it with a Band-Aid.

However, officials in Friday’s Oregon State-Notre Dame Sweet 16 matchup alerted the Fighting Irish that they had to remove it per the NCAA women’s basketball rules handbook. The rule surrounding player equipment states that head decorations, headwear, helmets and jewelry are illegal. Hidalgo missed four minutes and ten seconds of the second quarter before rejoining the team.

RELATED: Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo slammed refs for making her remove her nose piercing mid-Oregon State loss

Here’s how social media reacted (Warning: NSFW language):

UPDATE: Per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey was informed by officials that jewelry would be a point of emphasis during the Sweet 16.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Niele Ivey, Hannah Hidalgo, Maddy Westbeld speak after Notre Dame win

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame has won 10 straight games now. Pretty much each of those wins has been more important than the one before it, and it will continue to be that way as long as the Irish keep winning in the NCAA Tournament. That latest …

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame has won 10 straight games now. Pretty much each of those wins has been more important than the one before it, and it will continue to be that way as long as the Irish keep winning in the NCAA Tournament. That latest victory came via a 71-56 final score against Ole Miss. Awaiting the Irish in their third straight Sweet 16, this one officially called Albany Regional 1, will be Oregon State.

After this win, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] met the media as she always does. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] joined her after playing the entire game, potentially her last at Purcell Pavilion, and leading all scorers with 20 points. Also taking the podium was [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], doing so for the first time in this tournament after scoring 19 points and stealing the ball four times. In short, it was a typical game for her.

As this was the final time this season they spoke with the media after a game in South Bend, the questions posed them were plentiful. Here are the answers to those questions:

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Notre Dame goes back to Sweet 16 with second-round win over Ole Miss

Make your plans for Good Friday.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Never mind that it was a Monday afternoon. Notre Dame fans packed Purcell Pavilion in droves one final time this season to see the Irish play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Ole Miss. The Irish didn’t want to let their fans down, and they accomplished that with a 71-56 win that placed them in their third straight Sweet 16. They next will play Oregon State in the semifinals of Albany Regional 1 on Good Friday.

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There never really was a moment in which the Irish (28-6) were seriously threatened by the Rebels (24-9). Once [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] hit back-to-back 3s to end the scoring in the first quarter, they never led by less than double digits. They had good looks both inside and out on offense, and their defense not only forced the Rebels to make mistakes but unnerved them into unforced errors. The result was a lead that grew by as much as 23.

In what could have been her final game in South Bend, Westbeld made it count with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and the game’s only two blocks, both coming in the first quarter. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was just behind Westbeld with 19 points, and she also collected four steals.[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] advanced her reputation as perhaps the Irish’s best all-around player, achieving a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with a game-high six assists.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld speak day before next Notre Dame game

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — sonia citron and Maddy Westbeld spoke the day before Notre Dame played their first-round game for the NCAA Tournament. The next day, they went out and helped win that game. Citron got most of the attention by tying her career …

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] spoke the day before Notre Dame played their first-round game for the NCAA Tournament. The next day, they went out and helped win that game. Citron got most of the attention by tying her career high with 29 points. Westbeld finished one point short of a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds.

For those reasons as well as being the veteran leaders for the Irish, they were asked to speak with the media again the day before their second-round game against Ole Miss. While [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] is the one getting all the national attention, the Irish only will go as far as these two can take them because Hidalgo only can do so much. If they’re neutralized or foul out of a game, Hidalgo will have to do more, and a star player can’t be gassed when the next loss means your season is over.

Here are some of the things they had to say the day before facing the Rebels:

Notre Dame knocks out Kent State to begin NCAA Tournament

One down, five to go.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A No. 2 seed never had lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame had no intention of becoming the first team to do that as it battled Kent State at Purcell Pavilion. With most of the crowd backing them, the Irish held a comfortable lead almost the entire game and advanced to the second round with an 81-67 victory.

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Unlike last year’s first-round game against Southern Utah that pretty much was decided from the opening tip, the Irish (27-6) allowed the Golden Flashes (21-11) to score the first basket of this game and even keep the lead for the first three-and-a-half minutes. But the Irish were finished with generosity after that and proceeded to score 18 unanswered points with sound offense and forcing tough shots on defense.

The Irish mostly coasted from there, leading by as much as 21. There was a brief scare in the fourth quarter when the Flashes cut that lead to 12, but it was a passing threat at best. This wasn’t going to be anything but an Irish victory, especially with them scoring 23 points off 16 Flashes turnovers.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was by far the Irish’s best player with a game-high 29 points. Several of her buckets came on passes from [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who achieved a double-double in her first NCAA Tournament game of 14 points and 11 assists despite shooting only 5 of 14 from the field. She also had six steals, five of them coming in the third quarter.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, providing an early offensive spark along with Citron. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] flirted with her own double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

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Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld talk day before Notre Dame starts tourney

Everyone has been talking about Notre Dame All-American freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo. But every great basketball player needs a supporting cast in order to succeed on the team level. For Hidalgo, no supporting cast members have been greater this …

Everyone has been talking about Notre Dame All-American freshman guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. But every great basketball player needs a supporting cast in order to succeed on the team level. For Hidalgo, no supporting cast members have been greater this season than [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag].

Both players made Second Team All-ACC and First Team All-ACC Tournament. Someone need to step up in the absence of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], and they’ve done just that and then some. More importantly, they’ve provided the veteran leadership needed for the Irish to excel, especially as the roster continued to be ravaged by injuries. Both of them were injured themselves at various points this season, but they’re fully healthy now.

All this and more are why they were selected to meet the media the day before the Irish opened the NCAA Tournament against Kent State. Here is some of what they had to say: