Tag: Hannah Hidalgo

Three Notre Dame players among ESPN’s top 25 in women’s basketball

The Irish have serious talent. No doubt about it.

Notre Dame is expected to contend for a national championship this season. That’s not by accident. There are many talented players on the Irish, and at least one prominent sports media outlet recognizes that, not that others don’t.

ESPN has released its preseason list of the top 25 players in women’s basketball. The Irish were one of seven teams to have more than one player on the list. In all, three Irish players were afforded the honor.

Unsurprisingly, [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] ranks the highest among her teammates at third. Even without having played last season, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] still made the list, clocking in at 13th. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is right behind her at 14th.

To make things even more exciting, the Irish will face every player this season who is ranked alongside Hidalgo in the top five of this list. Those players are JuJu Watkins, the top-ranked player, alongside USC teammate Kiki Iriafen, Paige Bueckers of UConn and Madison Booker of Texas, which also clocked Rori Harmon in at ninth.

There indeed are some fun times in store for the Irish this season.

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Photos of Notre Dame women’s basketball exhibition win over Davenport

See how the season unofficially tipped off.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is ready for the season. That much was on display during its lone exhibition game, a 101-41 victory over Davenport.

That the Irish would dominate this game was a given well before the fans filed into Purcell Pavilion. The main attraction was the long-awaited return of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who received a warm ovation while being introduced as part of the starting lineup. Miles made up for lost time by finishing one assist shy of a triple-double: 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] scored 31 points, dished out nine of her own assists and had five steals. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag], in her first action for the Irish, scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] had 11 points and four blocks.

We should expect a lot of games like this from the Irish this season, especially against inferior opponents. For a better idea, here are some photos from this particular game:

Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron named to shooting guard award watch list

Good luck, Soni!

For all the talk about [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], there’s a third Notre Dame guard who often gets lost in the shuffle. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] has made both All-ACC and All-ACC Tournament in two consecutive seasons. She was ACC Rookie of the Year two seasons before Hidalgo arrived.

Now, there’s a possibility she could be honored in a different way this season. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the best female shooting guard in the country. Citron is one of 20 to make this year’s watch list.

Also on the list is defending winner JuJu Watkins of USC, which will face the Irish in nonconference play. If Watkins impresses as she did as a freshman, Citron will have to somehow surpass that level to have a shot at the award. Of course, the Irish will take that version of Citron if only to improve their national championship chances:

Best of luck to Citron in her attempt to dethrone Watkins.

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Three Notre Dame basketball players make point guard award watch lists

Who would you most trust to run your offense?

Even as basketball moves more and more towards a positionless game, offenses still rely heavily on their point guards. Notre Dame is blessed to have a lot of talent up top for both the men’s and women’s teams. People nationwide are starting to take notice, too.

For the past two years, one of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] or [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] has been running the Irish’s offense and done very well at it. Now, they finally will join forces for the first time this season, and there might not be a backcourt in women’s basketball that can compete with it.

So it should come as no surprise that both Miles and Hidalgo have been named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List. If either of them wins this award, which is given to the top female point guard in the country, they would be the second player in Irish history to win this award after [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] in 2012 and 2013:

On the men’s side, Markus Burton is trying to build up a campaign in which he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. The Mishawaka native is off to a good start by being named to the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, which is awarded to the best male point guard in the country. He would be the first Irish player to win it:

Point guards are not in short supply at Notre Dame. We can say at least that much when it comes to basketball.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball ranked high in preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Big things expected from this years team

The expectations are extremely high for Notre Dame women’s basketball his fall and winter, and that showed today in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

The Irish came in as the No. 5 team in the country, ranking behind South Carolina, Connecticut, USC, and Texas. There’s plenty of star power this year inside the top teams as the Juju Watkins of the Trojans, Paige Bueckers of the Huskies and Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag].

The Irish’s best player was recently named as a preseason All-American, who is coming off a fantastic freshman season. While Notre Dame didn’t get as far as they would have liked last year, losing to Oregon State in the Sweet 16, this coming season could see a return to the Final Four, the first since 2019.

This team has plenty of talent, and a star in the making in Hidalgo, which could very well result in a fantastic season for head coach Niele Ivey.

ALBANY, NEW YORK – MARCH 29: Hannah Hidalgo #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish speaks to head coach Niele Ivey against the Oregon State Beavers during the second half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at MVP Arena on March 29, 2024 in Albany, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named preseason AP All-American

The Irish truly have one of the best players in the country.

Anyone following women’s basketball knows about Notre Dame sophomore guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. She tore up the landscape as a freshman and even was named a finalist for national player of the year. She is the primary reason the Irish are expected to contend for the Final Four this season, though a returning [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] isn’t far behind.

The Associated Press realizes how special Hidalgo is and has named her to its preseason All-American Team. She is part of the first trio of sophomores to be named to this team alongside JuJu Watkins of USC and Madison Booker of Texas. Paige Bueckers of UConn and Watkins teammate Kiki Iriafen round out the team.

Hidalgo already has been named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year for this season. She led the country with 4.6 steals a game last season and was sixth nationally with 22.6 points a game. It would be shocking for her not to build upon that this season:

Congratulations to all five players who were selected for this honor.

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Notre Dame guard Markus Burton named to Preseason All-ACC First Team

He’s the player to watch on the Irish this season.

Although Notre Dame was rebuilding a season ago, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was a clear bright spot. He led the Irish in averages for scoring (17.5), assists (4.3) and steals (1.9). Basically, he was the men’s equivalent of [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] put together.

All of that was enough for him to be named ACC Rookie of the Year as well as Third Team All-ACC. Now entering his sophomore season, a select media panel expects to produce highly once again.

Burton has been named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, receiving 41 votes. He joins a group that includes Cooper Flagg of Duke, Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest, Nijel Pack of Miami and RJ Davis of North Carolina, the unanimous selection for Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

The same panel has picked the Irish to finish 10th out of 18 teams in the expanded ACC. It’s an indicator that the Irish still have some work to do to get back near the top of the conference. It should be a fun season though.

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ESPN’s Charlie Creme highlights Notre Dame in big early-season games

Be sure to watch these games.

Notre Dame is expected to do well this season. Its No. 6 ranking in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll is evidence of that. Naturally, some of its early games will receive a lot of attention.

In light of the poll’s release, ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme has published a story that answers the question of what the biggest early-season game is for each team ranked in that poll.

Creme has the Irish’s ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge matchup against Texas as the Irish’s biggest game and gives the following reason:

“Both the Irish and Longhorns saw freshmen become stars a season ago with their team leaders out with injury. Rori Harmon is back for Texas to team up with Madison Booker, and [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] can now pair [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], returning from a knee injury. This is a dream backcourt matchup that could define which duo is meshing the best. This looks to be the best Irish team under Ivey. This game and one a week later against UConn, also in South Bend, should tell us just how good.”

The Irish also will face USC early in the season, and Creme has that game as the biggest for the Trojans, who rank third in the poll. Here’s the reason for that:

“A week before the two schools square off in football in Los Angeles, they do the same in basketball. Both the Trojans and the Irish should be in the mix for a No. 1 seed come March, and the winner of this game takes a massive advantage in that quest. One month before (JuJu) Watkins gets to go head-to-head with (Paige) Bueckers, she faces Hannah Hidalgo, the second-best freshman to Watkins a year ago.”

So yeah, there are a few game on the schedule you won’t want to miss. Simply put, don’t.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball ranks sixth in AP Top 25 Preseason Poll

Get on the bandwagon right now.

The expectations for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team couldn’t be higher. This roster is stacked, and everybody is taking notice. If this year’s Irish don’t get to at least the Final Four, this season widely will be seen as a disappointment.

The AP Top 25 Preseason Poll has been released, and the Irish rank very highly on it. Specifically, they rank sixth, which is the highest they’ve been ranked in this particular poll since they began the 2018-19 season as the top-ranked team fresh off their most recent national championship.

This season will mark the return of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], the former national player of the year runner-up who missed all of last season with a knee injury. She’ll be teamed in the backcourt with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who herself was a national player of the year runner-up a season ago. This could be the most lethal guard combo in program history.

The Irish have some injury issues of course, but every team will go through those. They’ll be ready no matter who’s available:

The regular season tips off Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst. It should be a fun few months of Irish women’s basketball.

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Injury updates provided at Notre Dame women’s basketball media day

A mixed bag of news.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team held its local media day Thursday. Irish fans undoubtedly were anxious to hear updates about injuries to numerous players ahead of the team’s open practice Friday. While the updates were in fact there, not all of them were positive.

[autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag], who tore her ACL during last season’s ACC Tournament, has undergone knee surgery, and there is no timetable for her return. It’s a tough break for someone who started every game until her injury.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] already had announced that a foot issue would sideline her for the start of the season, and we now know she likely won’t return until early in conference play, which translates into her missing the first two months of game action.

In much better news, [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who had their own seasons cut short by injuries, are fully healthy. And we already knew that [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] will be back to team with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] in the backcourt.

The Irish open play with an exhibition game Oct. 30 against Davenport, and their regular-season opener will be Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst.

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