“Love her game and grit”: Fans laud Hannah Hidalgo's resilience in Notre Dame's tough game against Utah
After a strong 5-0 start to the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish suffered back-to-back losses against TCU and Utah. However, Hannah Hidalgo's statistical performance has improved from last year despite this. After a solid freshman year, the guard is averaging 23.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.6 steals, while shooting 45.7%, including nearly 40% from the 3-point line.
In Sunday's game against Utah, which ended in a 78-67 loss for Notre Dame, Hidalgo scored just 16 points, the fewest in her last seven games. However, even with the reduced scoring, she remains undeterred, as evidenced by her Instagram post on Monday, which featured a few pictures from the matchup, alongside the caption:
"Reaping rewards for all the faith."
Fans flooded the comment section to laud the 2023-24 ACC Rookie of the Year:
"Keep that energy! You’re a star 👏✨⭐️," a fan wrote.
"Love her game and grit ❤️🔥👏," another fan commented.
"Time to respond to the critics," another fan wrote.
The barrage of praise continued.
"HANNAH the TRUTH!!!! 🙌🏾🔥🙌🏾🔥🏀🏀🏀🏀👏🏾👏🏾✊🏾✊🏾🫡🫡," a fan commented.
"I became a fan as soon as I watched you on the U19 USA team. 🔥🔥🔥," another fan wrote.
"Best player in the country...standin on that," another fan commented.
Hannah Hidalgo was named Player of the Week by Associated Press
Hannah Hidalgo is a major reason behind Notre Dame's early outburst. Despite the team's recent losing stint, the program made noise in the Division I circuit when it defeated JuJu Watkins and the USC Trojans (74-61) on Nov. 24. Hidalgo posted 24 points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals.
With that, the guard was named the National Player of the Week by the Associated Press for Week 3 of women's basketball.
"I’ve been with the team for a minute, even though it really is a whole new team now, but we’re adjusting to each other," Hidalgo told WNDU last week. "I’m more comfortable, a lot more vocal, so it’s been a lot easier."
Hannah Hidalgo has solidified herself as a leader in her sophomore season, as much of the Fighting Irish offense steers through her. She is one of their best perimeter defenders and leads the team in scoring, 3-point shots and free throws. Hidalgo is the fourth-best scorer in Division I and leads the circuit in steals per game.