Tag: Hannah Hidalgo

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles cooked USC and looked like women’s college basketball’s best duo

The partnership between Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles has raised the ceiling for Notre Dame.

All offseason long, a lot of folks around women’s college basketball offered the same concern when it came to Notre Dame’s outlook this season. The common question was that, while the Irish seemed to be incredibly talented on-paper, could Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles coexist?

Miles, you might remember, led the way for Notre Dame at point guard in the 2022-23 season as it won the regular season ACC title. In the final game of that regular season, at Louisville, she suffered a right knee injury that required surgery to repair and sidelined her for all of last season. In her absence, Hidalgo, then a freshman, emerged and grabbed the reins for the Irish with both hands, earning an All-American nod, leading Notre Dame to an ACC Tournament crown and a Sweet 16 appearance, and established herself as one of the game’s rising stars.

Folks were asking the question about Miles and Hidalgo last March. Miles provided an answer back then. We should have listened to her.

“… No one is really ready for what’s about to happen. So, we’re kind of letting everyone talk, but it’s going to be really incredible when it actually happens.”

Against their toughest opponent so far of this season, Miles and Hidalgo gave fans the full experience of what their partnership can be and have quickly staked their claim as the best duo in women’s college basketball.

On Saturday, on the road against No. 3 USC in Los Angeles, Hidalgo and Miles were the best two players on the court as the Irish won 74-61. Hidalgo piled up 24 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals, while Miles stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Their performance was historic. And that’s not hyperbole.

 


Miles swished 4-of-5 3-pointers, Hidalgo drew wild reactions, and Irish coach Niele Ivey danced in the locker room afterwards.

What Notre Dame proved on Saturday in its impressive win over a formidable opponent like USC is that Miles and Hidalgo have no problem playing together. Against the Trojans, they looked like the best backcourt in the country. Five games into the season, Miles is 10th nationally in assists (6.8) and is shooting a career-best 54.2 percent from 3-point land. Hidalgo meanwhile is sixth nationally in points per game (24.8) and second in steals (5.2).

The question for Notre Dame now is, can it get healthy and will it have enough depth to make a deeper run in March? Can the Irish get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2019, when it lost in Tampa in the final moments of the championship bout against Baylor?

Because what was wild about Saturday’s result is that Notre Dame beat USC by double-digits without All-ACC forward Maddy Westbeld and All-Big East transfer Liza Karlen. The Irish beat USC in their house comfortably without even being at full strength.

Getting Westbeld and Karlen back in the fold would raise the Irish’s ceiling. But even without them, it’s pretty high when the Miles-Hidalgo tandem is playing like this.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball gets biggest win of young season vs. USC

This was a monster win for the Irish.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Everyone wanted to see the Notre Dame and USC women’s basketball teams play each other. The biggest reason was to see [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and JuJu Watkins go up against each other.

We got the first of what will be at least two meetings between the teams Saturday in Los Angeles, and the Irish emerged victorious over the Trojans, 74-61. With both teams expected to be national championship contenders, this was the biggest win of the season so far.

The Irish (5-0) never trailed against the Trojans (4-1), who only tied the game twice and not at all after the 4:07 mark of the first quarter. That was the result of the Irish beating the Trojans with superior defense and a high-paced offense that took far more advantage of its opportunities. Their 17-9 steals advantage contributed mightily to their 20-8 advantage in fast break points.

The Irish’s biggest lead was at 21, and the Trojans scored eight straight points at the end to make the final score closer.

Hidalgo scored 16 of her 24 points in the first half. She also had a game-high five steals, but [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] made up for missing the Irish’s last game by collecting four of her own steals as well as a game-high 11 rebounds.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] collected 14 of her 20 points in the second half. That included hitting a career-high four 3-pointers for the third time in her collegiate career and the second straight game in which she reached that mark.

Watkins also scored 24 points, 19 of which came in the second half. Kiki Iriafen had 15 points and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Talia von Oelhoffen, who helped Oregon State eliminate the Irish in last season’s NCAA Tournament, added 10 points.

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Notre Dame writer evaluates Irish star Hannah Hidalgo before USC showdown

Containing Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo will we a top priority for the USC women’s basketball team in its top-5 matchup against the Irish.

The No. 3 USC women’s basketball team has a big matchup this weekend against the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Tipoff on Saturday from Galen Center is scheduled for just after 4 p.m. Eastern time. Rankings are courtesy of the USA TODAY Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll. Ahead of the matchup, Geoffrey Clark of FightingIrishWire spoke about the strength of the Notre Dame team, guard Hannah Hidalgo, who is averaging 25 points per game, ranking fourth in the country.

“Hannah Hidalgo is a scoring and steals machine, and she has proved that constantly during her collegiate career. On top of that, she has the confidence required to be an elite college basketball player, and there is no challenge she won’t take on. She quite simply would be the best player on almost every team in the country,” Clark told us.

Hidalgo, a sophomore, will be one of the top priorities for the Trojans to deal with if they want to come out victorious in the biggest game of their young season. She is one of the many pieces that will make Saturday’s game a must-watch.

Check out our new podcast with Geoffrey Clark on USC-Notre Dame, the first really big women’s basketball game of the season:

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Notre Dame women’s basketball remains perfect with win over Lafayette

Another day, another victory.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is hurting right now. That’s evidenced by the fact that it had only six rotational players available against Lafayette. But the Irish are so talented that they barely had to break a sweat in a 91-55 victory.

The Irish (4-0) never trailed the Leopards (1-3) and did just about everything to keep their perfect record intact. Their offense was in sync as it typically is, which led to a program-record 15 3-pointer. Their defense also was smothering as usual. There was nothing to indicate that the Irish would slip up in this game.

All the Leopards could do was try and give a respectable showing to their home crowd, which they said they did on their postgame TV interviews. They should say that though after only scoring one less point than the Irish in the fourth quarter.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led everybody with 29 points and five steals. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was equally lethal with 20 points and seven assists. [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] scored all 12 of her points off the bench on four 3-pointers.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] nearly achieved a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while also accumulating six assists, three steals and three blocks.

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Notre Dame guards projected top-four picks ahead of WNBA draft lottery

This would reflect quite well on the Irish.

Notre Dame guards [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] are headed for the WNBA after this season. At least that’s the expectation. The real question is how high both players will be picked in the draft.

The WNBA draft lottery will take place Sunday. The participants are the Washington Mystics, Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings and Chicago Sky. According to two projects, Miles and Citron both have a chance to be picked by one of those teams in the top four of the draft.

Tankathon has Miles and Citron going back-to-back at third and fourth, which would be an incredible accomplishment for the Irish. ESPN isn’t as optimistic with Miles going fourth and Citron projected as the final pick of the first round. ESPN previously had Miles going fifth and Citron 11th.

First things first though, both players are focused are bringing the Irish a national championship. Having [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and rising freshman [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] with them will make the journey a lot easier.

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Notre Dame forward reaches stat line achieved only by Anthony Davis

Quite a comparison.

As excited as Notre Dame fans are about [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], they want to look at a third potential star if they aren’t already. Freshman forward [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was inserted into the starting lineup during the Irish’s season opener and has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Through three games, Koval has a total of 40 points, 33 rebounds, eight assists and 15 blocks. According to OptaSTATS, only one other Division I freshman, men or women, has achieved at least that stat line over that span. That freshman is Anthony Davis, who did it in his final three games with Kentucky en route to the 2012 national championship.

Davis’ stat line objectively was better at 42 points, 41 rebounds, eight assists and 17 blocks. That won him the Most Outstanding Player award.

Only time will tell whether Koval can keep up this level of production. That she already is drawing comparisons to Davis this early though indicates that the Irish might have hit yet another home run with her.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball gets third easy win vs. James Madison

The Irish continue to prove how deep they are.

The early part of Notre Dame’s schedule was set up in such a way that it seemingly wouldn’t be challenged early on. So far, that has proved to be the case. After cruising to easy wins over Mercyhurst and Purdue, the Irish continued that trend with a 92-46 victory over James Madison.

For the third time in as many games this season, the Irish (3-0) proved to have far more talent than their opponent, even with injuries tightening their rotation at the moment. That rotation might be tightened further after a hard knock to the floor caused [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] to leave the game early in the fourth quarter with a head injury. Hopefully, she won’t be lost for very long if at all.

The Dukes (3-1) took their lone lead on a 3-pointer early in the first quarter. Most of the time though, the Irish had double the points of the Dukes or close to it. While the Irish were their usual strong selves on both ends, the Dukes did themselves no favors by making only 15 field goals and shooting a putrid 21.7% from the floor:

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a typical game of 24 points, six rebounds and four steals. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] also played typically with 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] quickly is becoming an early contender for ACC Rookie of the Year. A night in which she had a line of 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks will do that.

King scored 11 points before she went out, and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] also had 11 points to go with seven boards off the bench.

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Hannah Hidalgo added to another key award watch list

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo is being watched for a prestigious award.

Notre Dame sophomore guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] is on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Wade Watch List. She’s among 15 players being watched as a potential winner of the oldest, most prestigious player of the year award.

She was a Region I finalist for the 10-member WBCA Division I Coaches All-American team last season. Hidalgo is averaging 23.5 points per game, 8 rebounds per game, and 6 steals per games through two games so far this season.

She had 28 points against the Purdue Boilermakers on Sunday, which lead the Fighting Irish in scoring during their victory.

Hidalgo has already been named an AP Preseason All-American and the Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

If Hidalgo keeps it up, her trophy case could look mighty full when it’s all said and done.

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo adjusts her headband during an exhibition game against Davenport on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Notre Dame won 101-41.

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Notre Dame, USC to be featured throughout NBC tripleheader Nov. 23

Don’t make any plans for that day.

Notre Dame and USC make up an intersectional rivalry unlike any other in the country. One upcoming Saturday will showcase both schools on national TV perhaps like never before.

NBC Sports has a longtime association with Irish football, and USC now is part of a Big Ten which has its games broadcast by the same company. And the stars are aligning for one heck of day.

NBC will kick off a tripleheader of coverage involving both schools with the Irish and Trojans women’s basketball teams meeting in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. EST. All eyes will be on that to see whether [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] get the best of JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen. Both duos are incredibly dangerous.

Next will be the Irish football team’s annual Shamrock Series game with Army at Yankee Stadium. Wrapping up the day’s coverage will be the Trojans football team facing UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Both games will be the teams’ last before playing each other at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the following week.

Clear your schedule for Nov. 23, Irish fans. It will be the right day to do so.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball clobbers Purdue on road for second win

Make that two blowout wins to start the season.

If an opponent isn’t contending for an ACC or national championship, Notre Dame is likely to run it out of the gym. That’s exactly what happened during the Irish’s first road game of the season against Purdue. Much like with the football team less than two months earlier, this game was never close as the Irish won, 102-58.

The Irish (2-0) scored the game’s first nine points before jumping out to an 18-3 lead and never looking back. Every time the Boilermakers (1-1) got any sort of momentum going, the Irish answered and often expanded their lead. They gave themselves more scoring chances with plays on both ends of the floor and took full advantage.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a trademark night with 28 points and six steals. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] did a tall player’s impression of Hidalgo, scoring 18 points and recording four steals. She also achieved a double-double with 15 rebounds.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] scored 17 points, which included this ridiculous shot from beyond half-court as time expired on the third quarter:

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] added 14 points in her season debut after missing the opener with an injury, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] grabbed 10 rebounds while coming within two-points of a double-double.

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