Hannah Hidalgo’s senior season started in Rome, and it has not slowed down since. Two games and two blowout wins have come with stat lines. Now the Notre Dame guard has added something new to an already crowded résumé, and this time it moves her up in the ACC record books.
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Notre Dame posted on their X, “for the 15th time in her career, @HannahHidalgo is the @accwbb player of the week. Her 15th ACC weekly awards rank second in conference history”
The honor comes after a 2-0 opening week for the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish. Hidalgo opened the season with 32 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and three steals in a 99-75 win over Villanova in Rome.
Back home, she followed with 27 points, six rebounds and 10 steals in a 123-40 win over Stonehill. Over the two games, she is averaging 29.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 6.5 steals.
Her scoring average is the best in the ACC and third in the country, and her 6.5 steals lead the ACC and rank second nationally.
The Stonehill game was full of milestones. Hidalgo passed 2,500 career points, becoming the sixth player in ACC history to do it. It was also her seventh career game with at least 20 points and 10 steals, the most by any player this century.
She was no stranger to big nights even before this season. Last November, she scored 44 points against Akron and set an NCAA Division I single-game record with 16 steals.
She was not alone in earning league honors. Freshman Jacy Abii was named ACC Freshman of the Week after a 17-point, 14-rebound, seven-assist, six-steal, four-block game in just 25 minutes against Stonehill.
She is the only player this season with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and four blocks in a game.
Hidalgo’s start has also put her in the conversation for one of college basketball’s biggest individual honors.
Hidalgo Enters Player of the Year Talk
Her fast start has also changed how people talk about the season. On the 54th episode of the Post Moves podcast, Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston each named an early pick for National Player of the Year. Parker said, “I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m going to say Hannah Hidalgo.”
Parker added a condition. She said Notre Dame has to win enough games, and she pointed to freshman Jenica Lewis, who can shoot from far beyond the three-point line, and Leah Macy, a newcomer who had 27 points and 14 rebounds in her Notre Dame debut. Parker said, “I think if Notre Dame can win enough games, then I think Hannah Hidalgo is my early pick.”
Hidalgo is still in the mix, though. She averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 5.6 steals last season, and the AP named her a preseason All-American for the third straight year. She is also listed with USC’s JuJu Watkins and Texas’ Madison Booker among the top talents for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
Hidalgo has her own goals for this team. After the Stonehill win, she said, “We’re young. We’re dominant, and we’re going to be fun to watch.”
Notre Dame added seven freshmen, and she is one of three seniors. She said earlier, “We have the pieces to do it right now, and not even just to make it to a Final Four, but to go to the national championship and win it all. That’s the goal.”
The program has not won a title since the 2017-18 season. Hidalgo’s teams reached the Sweet 16 in her first two years, and last year they lost to UConn in the Elite Eight. Her next chance to add to the record comes on Tuesday, Nov. 10, when the Irish host Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX.