Everyone knew this season would test the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and that is exactly what we have seen since the start of ACC play. They have already lost three of their first seven conference games and so far do not resemble the championship-caliber team they were a year ago. Hannah Hidalgo, for her part, isn’t offering excuses after the latest setback.

Last Sunday, Notre Dame shocked a lot of people by beating ranked North Carolina 73–50. It sparked hope that this team might still be capable of contending for the ACC title. Hannah Hidalgo was certainly one of those hoping that the North Carolina win would be the start of something special. But in their very next game, the Fighting Irish fell to the current ACC leaders, the No. 9 Louisville Cardinals.

When asked if a lack of depth played a role in the loss to Louisville, Hidalgo didn’t shy away from the topic in the postgame press conference. “Yeah, there’s no excuse, honestly. We know what it is. We know what we’re getting ourselves into with the small bench, and I think we can win with what we have,” she said.

She continued, “We have enough, and whoever’s on the floor is enough for us to win. It’s just a matter of everybody buying in to what we’re doing, and that’s the biggest thing. There are plenty of other teams that don’t have their whole roster, so it’s no excuse, and we’re not going to make excuses. We just have to be able to play better.”

Against Louisville, Coach Niele Ivey used only one player off the bench: Gisela Sánchez. Yes, you read that correctly. Notre Dame played the entire game with just a single bench player. Things got even tougher in the second half, when the Irish made no substitutions at all. By then, fatigue set in, and Louisville took full advantage, knocking down 44% of their threes.

And the lack of depth was partly expected given how much talent the Fighting Irish lost after last season. Olivia Miles transferred to TCU, Kate Koval chose LSU, and standouts Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld, and Liatu King all declared for the pros. That left Hidalgo and KK Bransford among only five returning players from last year.

Anyone who has watched Notre Dame this season has seen Coach Niele Ivey rely on a seven-player rotation more than once, and injuries are a major reason why. Senior KK Bransford remains out with a knee injury, with no timetable for her return. Five-star freshman Leah Macy has also announced she will not play this season so she can fully recover from a lower leg injury and prepare for next year.

This has placed almost all of the responsibility on Hannah Hidalgo’s shoulders, and while she continues to show out every game, you can’t help but wonder if she alone can help Notre Dame break the Sweet 16 curse. Hidalgo finished the Louisville game with 24 points on 8–19 shooting, along with 5 rebounds and 8 assists.

And the challenge only gets harder, with a tougher opponent waiting next.

Hannah Hidalgo and Co. Set to Face UConn Next

There is no time for Notre Dame to catch its breath, because their next game is against the best team in the country, the UConn Huskies. Hidalgo also weighed in on the matchup, which is set for January 19 at Gampel Pavilion.

“It is a completely different team now. What worked last year might not work this year. And this is gonna require a lot of different things for us to do this year in order to beat UConn. And I think we can’t have any mistakes. There are some things that we have to figure out, how to not make those mistakes when we play UConn. Because UConn, of course, is the best team in women’s basketball right now,” she said.

ESPN gives the Huskies a 96% chance of winning, and that’s fairly expected given that Notre Dame has managed only two ranked wins this season and is facing a team that hasn’t even looked close to losing so far. But basketball has a way of surprising us. Can Hannah Hidalgo inspire the Fighting Irish to an emphatic win?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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