Notre Dame Fighting Irish star stakes her claim to best player in the sport

Remember when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team struggled a bit? When they lost to No. 17 TCU and then unranked Utah in back-to-back games? It’s safe to say the period of struggles is officially over.

On Thursday night, Noelle Ivey’s squad logged its second win over a Top 5 team in its last three contests. With a 30-point win in its conference opener added in for good measure. This time, No. 8 Notre Dame upended No. 2 ranked UCONN and did it in convincing fashion. And as it turns out there is one very good reason why it was able to topple the Huskies 79-68. That reason is, of course, Hannah Hidalgo.

Against UCONN, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish star put up 29 points, hauled down 10 rebounds, dished out 8 assists and got 3 steals. She led all scorers and had easily the best outing of the night. That was on the same night that Paige Bueckers was on the same court. Hidalgo didn’t just outperform Bueckers but made what is considered one of the best players in the sport look pedestrian.

It’s not like Hidalgo had a breakout game unlike any she’s seen this season. The guard is averaging 25 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. She’s having one of the best performances of the season in the sport.

Better than Bueckers. Better than USC’s JuJu Watkins (who she also beat head-to-head) And, Hidalgo is only a sophomore.

On Thursday night, Hidalgo did all that and lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to an 11-point win over the second ranked team in the country on the same night when fans were holding their breath over Olivia Miles leaving the game early with an apparent knee injury. 

While it’s clear the Irish can win without Miles, there’s no doubt even the best player in the sport would like to have her Scottie Pippen on the court with her. That will certainly be something to watch moving forward.