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.
Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles are the second pair of teammates in the last 25 years to each have 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists against a AP Top-10 opponent.
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.
“I think she’s the most difficult player to guard in America,” Geno Auriemma said.
Paige Bueckers caught the inbounds pass and began sprinting up the left side of the court, with North Carolina’s Grace Townsend draped all over her like a blanket. The clock was winding down in the first quarter and Bueckers, UConn’s star guard, wanted to see if she could get one more shot up.
She stopped right in front of Tar Heels’ coach Courtney Banghart, pumped, jumped and fired over Townsend. It was an awkward-looking attempt, as the senior was leaning to her left, but there was nothing ugly about how the ball sailed through the air.
Buzzer. Swish.
Bueckers watched the ball fall through the hoop, then turned towards the North Carolina bench as her confident walk morphed into a jubilant skip.
It was one of the many highlight-worthy plays Bueckers had on Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 10,467 fans at the historic Greensboro Coliseum, where the No. 2 Huskies beat the No. 14 Tar Heels 69-58.
“Paige is really special,” Banghart said after the game. “We’ve got an opportunity to watch a generational player for a couple more games before she goes on to the pros. She’s an exceptional player. She’s unselfish. We focus our defense on her. I think she doesn’t push, she doesn’t force, she has teammates she trusts and utilizes them well.”
When asked about Banghart’s “generational” label regarding Bueckers, UConn coach Geno Auriemma responded in a way that only he could.
“Well, I’ve been around a lot of generations, so I’ve had a lot of generational players, that people described as generational,” Auriemma said with a smile on the night that one of his former stars, Sue Bird, would be announced to the Basketball Hall of Fame. In the victory over UNC, Auriemma also tied Tara VanDerveer for college basketball’s all-time wins record.
“I guess this is true,” the 70-year-old Auriemma continued. “So, what makes them that? The ability to perform at an incredibly high level, and an even higher level than you expect. And you already expect the most, and yet, (Bueckers) gives you even more than that. And I think that’s probably the best description I can give you, is that she never fails to live up to your expectations of her, and then even goes above that. Some people are just born with that gift, and she has the gift. Some people squander those gifts. Every day, she works really hard to polish those gifts.”
By using freshman Sarah Strong as a moving human shield at times to knock down 3-pointers off her screens, driving towards the rim with precision and certainty, and dishing neck-breaking assists to Huskies’ shooters like Kaitlyn Chen, this outing from Bueckers was one where she reminded everyone that she is still one of the best players – if not the best – in college basketball.
While Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese got all the attention last season, and many pointing to USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo as the sport’s rising stars, it’s worth remembering that Bueckers was the National Player of the Year as a freshman, before a knee injury forced her to miss a season-and-a-half of action. Last season, over 38 games, Bueckers ranked fifth nationally in PER (40.1), second in win shares (8.9) and 10th in scoring (22.2) as she powered the Huskies to a Big East title and a Final Four berth.
“I really do believe that, unless you foul her every time, that’s the only way you’re going to stop her from doing what she wants to do. That’s it,” Auriemma said of Bueckers. “I think she’s the most difficult player to guard in America. There may be nights like tonight where she’s going to have to be.”
This season for the Huskies feels like championship-or-bust. With Bueckers leading the way and a stellar supporting cast around her, it feels incredibly likely that we’ll see UConn playing at the Final Four in Tampa in April.
One game into the 2024-25 season, check out where the Duke women’s basketball team landed in ESPN’s projected bracket.
ESPN’s Charlie Creme released an updated bracket projection for the 2024-25 women’s basketball season on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils open the year as the No. 3 season in Region 2 Birmingham.
Duke opened its season with an 89-36 victory over Radford after sophomore forward Jordan Wood scored a career-high 13 points off the bench. Five other Blue Devils reached double-digits, and the Highlanders shot 23.3% as a team and 17.6% from distance.
“Solid first effort for us,” Lawson said after the game. “I’m sure when we look at the film there will be many things to improve on. I thought we got contributions from a lot of different players…The balance was excellent.”
The Blue Devils, in their hypothetical March Madness draw, would need to beat the Connecticut Huskies and the LSU Tigers as the top two seeds. South Carolina, last year’s undefeated national champions, also grabbed a top seed, as did the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans.
And then, down at South Carolina, the reigning national champs bring back Te-Hina Paopao, Tessa Johnson, Milaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts and other exceptional players as Dawn Staley’s side attempts to repeat.
A week ago, I turned in my preseason ballot for the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, which was announced in full on Tuesday.
Here are the 25 best teams in the country, according to me, as we enter the season:
Will Fairfield be good again?
Fairfield freshman Meghan Andersen is a road runner, not a forward or a post. The Stags face Indiana in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. (Photo: Olivia Frzop via Fairfield Athletics)
Fairfield had its best season in program history last year, going 31-2. The Stags only lost two games, falling on the road at Vanderbilt, and then in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Indiana. After declining interest from some other major programs in the offseason and signing a three-year contract extension, head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis is back and so are four starters and 91% of the Stags’ scoring from last season, including Janelle Brown and Meghan Andersen.
We’ll found out pretty earlier how legit Fairfield is when it comes to competing on the national level, with non-conference games against Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Villanova.
What is Iowa without Caitlin Clark?
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 26: Associate Head Coach Jan Jensen of the Iowa Hawkeyes looks on after defeating the Louisville Cardinals 97-83 in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena on March 26, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
20. Iowa
19. Baylor
18. West Virginia
17. Creighton
16. Kansas State
It feels like a lot of folks are overlooking and dismissing the Hawkeyes simply because Caitlin Clark is no long draining logo 3s for them. And indeed, that’s a major loss, obviously. And maybe Iowa isn’t a Final Four contender this season, but they should still be a solid team in the Big Ten capable of playing in and winning meaningful games in March.
The Hawkeyes return two significant contributors in Sydney Affolter and Hannah Stuelke – the latter of whom, if you remember, scored 47 points on 17-of-20 shooting in a win last season over Penn State. And then Iowa went and got one of the best scorers out of the portal in Villanova’s Lucy Olsen, who was fourth in the nation in scoring with 23.3 points per game last season.
In this new era of Iowa basketball under Jan Jensen, Iowa will be just fine.
How fast will Kentucky bounce back under Kenny Brooks?
Kentucky Wildcats head coach Kenny Brooks hypes up the crowd during Big Blue Madness on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 at Rupp Arena.
15. Ohio State 14. Kentucky
13. LSU
12. Maryland
11. Duke
After spending nearly all of his life along the I-81 corridor in southwest Virginia, Kenny Brooks left Virginia Tech for Kentucky and the riches of the SEC.
Yes, the money that the SEC gets from its college football television contracts trickles into other sports, evidenced by Kentucky handing Brooks a contract with an annual average salary of $1.5 million, making him the third highest-paid coach in the SEC and the seventh highest-paid coach in the country. Even if Brooks had won a national championship with the Hokies, he was never going to garner that kind of dough in Blacksburg.
When Brooks left the ACC for Kentucky, he brought the player he calls his “mini-me” – firecracker Australian point guard Georgia Amoore – with him. She was an All-American last season, left the Hokies as their all-time leader in assists, and has already been named to the SEC’s Preseason First Team. Toss in other transfers, like Charlotte’s Dazia Lawrence, Oregon State’s Dominika Paurova, Teonni Key of North Carolina, and another Virginia Tech standout in Clara Strack, and Big Blue is looking pretty good on-paper.
The post-Deja Kelly era begins for North Carolina
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Head coach Courtney Banghart of the North Carolina Tar Heels coaches against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fourth quarter during the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
10. N.C. State 9. North Carolina
8. Iowa State
7. UCLA
6. Oklahoma
Six players transferred out of Chapel Hill in the offseason, and none generated more headlines than Deja Kelly’s decision to spend her fifth season of eligibility at Oregon. But Kelly leaving UNC might’ve truly been the best thing for both sides.
Kelly continues to be the focal point of an offense for a team that probably needs to make the NCAA Tournament to save Kelly Graves’ job. Oregon is also a place deeply connected to Nike, likely a plus for the business-minded Kelly, and Graves has a history of developing WNBA talent, which is also a stage she wants to play on.
For North Carolina, consider this: In games last season in which Kelly had at least three assists and attempted 14 shots or less, UNC was 9-1 – a record that includes impressive wins over N.C. State, Duke and Louisville. When Kelly had two assists or less and took 15 shots or more, the Tar Heels were 1-7. Simply put, when the ball moved, UNC won. When it didn’t and Kelly took the majority of the shots, the Tar Heels lost.
On paper, this looks like a team that will have a by-committee point guard as they brought in fifth-year guard Grace Townsend from Richmond to pair with Kayla McPherson and Reniya Kelly, and freshman Lanie Grant. Additionally, now healthy for the Tar Heels is former five-star recruit Ciera Toomey, a long and versatile forward who can score inside and out and should complement returning All-ACC Swiss-Army Knife Alyssa Ustby, sharpshooter Lexi Donarski, and an imposing center in Maria Gakdeng.
What does South Carolina do at center?
Apr 7, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Bree Hall (center) reacts during the trophy presentation after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals of the Final Four of the womens 2024 NCAA Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
The Gamecocks deserve the benefit of the doubt here. They steamrolled their way to an undefeated season and national title last year and return a significant number of contributors, from defensive ace Bree Hall to floor general Raven Johnson.
But last season, that team revolved around Kamilla Cardoso, who led the Gamecocks in scoring, rebounding and blocks. She was the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four. In the national semifinals against N.C. State, Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins combining for 30 points and 31 rebounds were a big reason why the Gamecocks won.
With Cardoso in the WNBA and Watkins’ situation unclear, questions remain in the front court for the Gamecocks. Dawn Staley’s best teams – from A’ja Wilson to Aliyah Boston to Cardoso – have had dominant and skilled centers. Who fills that void? Is it 6-foot-5 freshman Adhel Tac? Is it Sania Feagin, Sakima Walker or Maryam Dauda? Is it highly touted freshman Joyce Edwards? Or is it a combination of a few or all of them?
A rematch against N.C. State in Charlotte on Nov. 10 should give us a good indication of the answer.
Watkins was charged with assault and battery in the first degree and kidnapping.
South Carolina women’s basketball player Ashlyn Watkins was arrested and charged with assault and battery in the first degree and kidnapping on Saturday morning, according to Richland County court records reviewed by For The Win.
Watkins posted a $30,000 bond and was instructed by the court to have “no direct or indirect contact with the victim,” and to stay at least 1,000 yards away from the alleged victim’s home, work, school and place of worship. The court did grant Watkins – a 6-foot-3 junior who played a key role on the Gamecocks’ undefeated national championship-winning team this past winter – permission to travel out of state for games and practice.
According to The State and the Post & Courier newspapers, South Carolina has a policy in which an automatic suspension is triggered whenever an athlete is arrested.
Court records show that Watkins is set to appear in court again on Oct. 25, 2024, just days before the Gamecocks open their title defense in Las Vegas, Nevada, against Michigan on Nov. 4.
Here’s what we know and what we don’t know.
What is South Carolina saying?
So far, as of Saturday afternoon, not much. A spokesperson for the university told the State newspaper they are “aware of the situation and continuing to gather information.” The university gave a similar statement to ESPN.
Gamecocks’ coach Dawn Staley, known to be active on social media, has yet to make a comment through her own channels or the university.
What other details are in police documents?
According to warrants filed by the University of South Carolina Police Department that were obtained by the State newspaper and TV station WLTX, Watkins is accused of “forcefully grabbing (the victim’s) face, pulling her by her arms, and pushing her” and grabbing “the victim’s head and forced her to walk down the hall, thus controlling her movement while preventing her from leaving.”
The alleged victim, according to the warrant, got away from Watkins and pulled a fire alarm, prompting police to arrive. The victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the Post & Courier, the incident occurred at 650 Lincoln Street which is a student housing residence where all Gamecocks basketball players live.
What don’t we know?
We don’t yet know if Watkins will be suspended, kicked off the team or face any punishment at all from her arrest and the allegations that prompted it. We also don’t know what sort of relationship Watkins had with the victim or who the victim is.
Who is Ashlyn Watkins?
A forward for the South Carolina women’s basketball team, Watkins played an integral role in helping the Gamecocks go undefeated in the 2023-24 season, which concluded with them winning their third national championship, beating Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Cleveland, Ohio. Watkins’ play was incredibly crucial in the Final Four, where she grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds and scored eight points in a win over N.C. State.
Watkins averaged 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game as a sophomore and was due for an even bigger role this year with former frontcourt mate Kamilla Cardoso leaving South Carolina for the WNBA.
She played her high school basketball at Columbia, South Carolina’s Cardinal Newman School where she became the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 and rose to No. 12 on ESPN’s recruiting rankings.
Dawn Staley was overjoyed watching two of her former players battle.
While everyone else had their minds positively blown by a motivated A’ja Wilson one-upping Chennedy Carter with an absurd game-winner, Dawn Staley was just a proud coach watching the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky square off.
The South Carolina legend has, of course, established the best program in women’s college basketball. Two of her best players in recent years have been Wilson (the No. 1 overall selection in 2018) and 2024 No. 3 overall pick Kamilla Cardoso.
Well, conveniently, Sunday afternoon’s thriller pitted Wilson in a heated paint matchup against Cardoso.
Even while Wilson is the current MVP favorite, the rookie Cardoso more than held her own with five blocks, as she really made Wilson earn every point en route to an 8-of-28 shooting performance (28 percent!). From start to finish, Staley loved watching every second as she beamed with pride for two of her finer pupils after the game:
@_ajawilson22 with the game winner! @Kamillascsilva with the monster game. @GamecockWBB did not lose today. The @WNBA is better because the product is truly one to watch every DAMN game! It’s WOMEN’S SPORTS and WOMEN’S SPORTS to STAY! Come on!
A full co-sign to Staley’s thoughts. South Carolina basketball did not lose Sunday, and the WNBA product continues to be formidable and edge-of-your-seat in every single game.
Here’s to watching Wilson and Cardoso clash in remarkable battles for years to come.
Well, they’re both in their 40s now and several years into retirement. But we’re about to see their surnames on the back of jerseys in Louisville, Kentucky.
Mackenly Randolph (a 6-foot forward) and Izela Arenas (a 5-foot-9 guard) have been high school teammates at Sierra Canyon in California. And now, they’re going to join forces at Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Feel old yet?
Always great to see our girls [and our program] get some recognition‼️
Both players are tabbed as top 100 recruits in the 2024 class, and they’ll be paired with a third top-ranked prospect in Tajianna Avant-Roberts of IMG Academy. All three will play in the Jordan Brand Classic on April 21 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Here’s what Walz – who has guided Louisville to four Final Fours since 2009 – said about them…
On Randolph:
“Mac displays a relentless pursuit of excellence. She is a tremendous leader on and off the court and brings with her a championship mindset. Her energy is contagious, and her versatility will be showcased in our system. If you need a rebound, she will pursue it. Need a bucket, she’ll manufacture points. She will win the hearts of the Cardinal faithful with her hustle, toughness and determination. She is a bonafide winner.”
And on Arenas:
“Izela is a bonafide scorer on an elite high school team. She hunts shots and is creative off the bounce. She also is an unselfish teammate and a great facilitator on the break. Izela is a consummate gym rat and has a love affair with the game. She is a proficient scorer from the 3-point line and can also attack off the bounce. Her toughness and grit are unmatched, and she will no doubt light up a room with her presence.”
Randolph chose Louisville over offers from Notre Dame and her father’s alma mater Michigan State, among others. Arenas also had offers from her dad’s school, Arizona, as well as Oregon and Iowa State.
Louisville was upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament this season by Middle Tennessee State. With Randolph and Arenas in the fold, expectations will be high for the Cardinals.
Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince and Madison Conner – all on the same team.
A lot of eyes were already going to be on TCU’s women’s basketball team next season.
The Horned Frogs’ first campaign under head coach Mark Campbell was an eventful one this past year as TCU went 13-0 and was ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll for five weeks before the season was derailed by a three-game losing streak that also saw key players like Sedona Prince get injured. In fact, so many TCU players suffered ailments that the team had to forfeit two games – purely because the lack of able bodies – and then had to hold tryouts for walk-ons. Arizona transfer Madison Conner had a strong year, Prince eventually returned, and TCU won 20 games for the first time in four seasons.
So, a lot of folks were ready to see the encore with the roster as it was.
The addition of Van Lith makes TCU a team that we absolutely have to pay attention to in the 2024-25 season.
While Van Lith’s strugglesat LSU this past seasonwerewell-documented as she tried to turn herself into a pass-first player playing alongside Flau’Jae Johnson and talented posts in Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow, we shouldn’t forget all that she’s accomplished in her career. Consider that, in each of Van Lith’s four college seasons, she’s been to at least the Elite Eight in every one, and helped Louisville reach the Final Four as a sophomore in 2022. Van Lith has played in 17 NCAA Tournament games, averaging 15.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists across those contests.
And she’s joining a TCU squad that looks stacked, on paper anyways.
Conner was on the Arizona team that went to the national title game in 2021 and was second in the nation in 3-pointers made this past season with 3.7 per game. Prince, while battling that injury, averaged 19.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while finishing fifth in the nation in blocked shots.
A lot of folks will also be watching this TCU team because of, well, the content!
The two star players here – Van Lith and Prince (with all due respect to Conner) – have massive followings on social media. Just look at these follower numbers:
Van Lith: 1.1 million on Instagram, 372,000 on TikTok
Prince: 172,000 on Instagram, 2.7 million on TikTok
Expect the posts to flow out of Forth Worth the same way that 3-pointers do this upcoming season.
In fact, Staley is so influential that she’s now got one very appreciative super-fan: Beyoncé.
On Wednesday, Staley posted a video to her Twitter account revealing that the superstar singer sent her beautiful flowers, swag, and a message about how closely she followed Staley and South Carolina throughout this past entire season. It’s clear that Beyoncé put a lot of effort and thought into her appreciation of Staley.
Needless to say, Staley was jubilant to get her literal flowers from one of the greatest entertainers of all time.
Whether your a lifelong South Carolina fan, recently hopped on the bandwagon, or just want to celebrate this incredible level of women’s basketball, this cover can become the ultimate piece of wall art.
Never forget the moment the Gamecocks completed their undefeated season and won the 2024 National Championship, with this ultimate symbol of South Carolina fandom.
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