ATLANTA ― Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo seemingly dreams of creating chaos for opponents.
As Glorilla’s “Let Her Cook” fittingly blares through the speakers at McCamish Pavilion, Hidalgo isn’t hard to spot. Her signature puff is tied up, ever so lightly bouncing, as the junior guard awaits the opening tipoff. Just one minute and 20 seconds into a New Year’s Day matchup against Georgia Tech, Hidalgo does one of the things she does best ― picks her opponent’s pocket.
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As the minutes tick away, Hidalgo eventually gets another steal and zooms down the hardwood. With no one around her, she stops on a dime and drains a pull-up triple. It’s a regular day at the office for one of the best two-way players in the country. Hildago leads the nation in steals (5.9 per game) and is second in scoring (25.5 ppg) behind Iowa State’s Audi Crooks. As her junior season unfolds, Hilalgo says she’s matured as a person and player under Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey.
“My biggest thing was that next play mentality and being able to manage my emotions, and then also be able to manage my teammates’ emotions and not be so worried about myself,” Hildago told USA TODAY Sports. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot in that area, especially from a freshman to now. I still think I have a lot of growth to do … but I think that’s the area I’m most proud of.”
Since her collegiate debut in 2023, Hildago has been the ultimate competitor. She scored 31 points and three steals in her first college basketball game ― against then No. 6 South Carolina. The Notre Dame guard shared she’s had one goal since that day: “strike fear into my opponents’ eyes.” A self-described “dawg,” Hildago has lived up to her objective.
She has added numerous accolades to her name, including an ACC Player of the Year Award, two ACC Defensive Player of the Year trophies and the Dawn Staley award, given to the nation’s best guard. Hidalgo broke the Notre Dame record for consecutive games scoring in double figures (now 81 matchups and counting). She also set the program record for most points in a single game (44 against Akron on Nov. 12) and eclipsed the Division I record for steals in a game with 16. On Dec. 29 in a victory over Pitt, Hidalgo passed her coach on the Notre Dame career steals list. Ivey had 248 career steals from 1996-2001. Hidalgo now has 261 and is within 20 steals of all-time Irish leader Skylar Diggins.
