Hannah Hidalgo’s defense had Skylar Diggins laughing her heart out. In their Sweet 16 matchup against Vanderbilt, Hidalgo took the ball from the Commodores like it was child’s play. Hidalgo had Sacha Washington clutching the ball, scared that Hidalgo was going to steal it off her any time. Diggins mimicked Washington’s action in the crowd, which was a tip of the hat to Hidalgo’s defense. Naturally, Hidalgo has earned a major award for her elite 2025-26 season.

“After one of the greatest defensive seasons in NCAA history, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo has been named the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday evening as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club,” wrote the organization. So who is the toughest player to guard for the best defensive talent in college basketball?

“One-on-one, I would say the toughest player I had to guard, I don’t know, because we play a lot of team defense,” She said. “So I wouldn’t say I had a really tough one-on-one matchup, but definitely probably a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 matchup, which was Vanderbilt or UConn. That was probably the toughest matchup.”

Notre Dame conceded 85 in their matchup against UConn earlier in the season and then 70 in the Elite 8. Hidalgo has evolved into an able leader, often crediting her team for multiple achievements. But it was Hidalgo holding down the Notre Dame defense most of the time. She broke the record of most steals in a single season with 202. She became the first college basketball player, man or woman, to cross that 200-steal mark while averaging 5.6 steals per game. 

The Notre Dame guard also averaged a respectable 6.9 rebounds per game. She was additionally named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year and a Wooden Award All-American in all three of her collegiate seasons. But her Naismith win is the most significant. But she is an offensive weapon as well, averaging 25.3 points and 5.6 assists per game. Her ball handling and passing are among the best of the players in the country. 

When asked who was the best defender that played her. She immediately answered with UConn guard KK Arnold. “Oh, KK. Definitely KK. She was just so aggressive for 40 minutes. She definitely made the game so tough,” Hidalgo said. 

KK Arnold held Hidalgo to 22 points but she needed 19 field goal attempts and another 10 free throw attempts to accomplish it. She shot 7 for 19 from the field, including 1 for 3 from 3-point range and 7 for 10 from the free-throw line. However, her legacy will be rooted in defense, as Hannah Hidalgo is not your regular defensive player of the year. 

Hannah Hidalgo’s Size Fuels Her Defensive Motivation

To understand Hidalgo’s greatness, just have a look at the awards history. She is just the second guard to win this award. She is the first to be listed under 6-foot, 2-inches, as Hidalgo stands at 5-foot, 6-inches. But in fact her lack of size was a motivation in developing this steely defense. 

“I think ever since I was younger, my parents really instilled in me that you have to be able to get stops and defense wins championships,” Hidalgo said. “So I really always took that with me, especially being the smallest player on the floor.”

She is the “best point guard in the country” according to Geno Auriemma and there aren’t many disagreeing with him. Her lack of size, which was once considered a limiter, is now just a side note. However, Hidalgo understands she needs to develop more strength before being drafted in 2027. 

“There are so many areas of growth left for me on the court. Just working on creating space, being able to finish over taller players,” She said. “And then in the WNBA, they’re all bigger, they’re stronger, they’re more athletic, and they’re more talented. So it’s about upping my game, just trying to prepare as much as I can. Building my muscle, getting stronger.” Of course, she has another season to achieve that. Now she and Niele Ivey will be back on the drawing board to develop a championship-level roster.