FORT WORTH, TX ― Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo made history on March 27 against No. 2-seeded Vanderbilt, breaking the single-season steals record during the first quarter of the game. Hidalgo led Notre Dame to a 67-64 upset over the Vanderbilt, pushing the Fighting Irish into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019.
Hidalgo finished the game with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and seven assists. She also dished out what would prove to be the game-winning assist with 22 seconds remaining. It was Hidalgo’s second triple-double this season – tied for second in the nation behind former teammate Olivia Miles of TCU (6).
Her parents, Orlando and Tamara Hidalgo, credit her defensive prowess to her aggressive demeanor.
“I think that’s also what frustrated Vanderbilt early,” Orlando said. “Because seeing it on TV and actually feeling it out in the game is completely different.”
Hidalgo’s aggression dates back to her childhood. Face guarding people, swatting at the ball, blocking their drives, she was a rec-league beast at 6 years old. She won championships, was named the MVP and, most notably, made the boys cry.
“She was playing with boys, and she was so dominant and aggressive that the boys would fear her,” Orlando said. “And they would cry sometimes.”
As an undersized kid, she had no choice but to be a great defender. She always played at least one age group above her own and would often play against girls twice her size.
“They thought they were going to take advantage of her because she was so little,” Tamara said.
They thought wrong.
Her steals started to take off in high school, where she averaged almost seven steals per game.
To the surprise of even her parents, she continued to rise above opponents in college.
“(Coaches) haven’t seen anything like Hannah on the floor,” Orlando said. “She’s so smart as far as when to go for a ball, how to cut a player off, how to anticipate where they’re going to make a move.”
By halftime, Hidalgo had already accumulated seven steals, with Notre Dame holding a lead at 31-26. Hidalgo’s career-high in steals in a game is 16 against Akron on Nov. 12, 2025.
The single-game record for steals in the NCAA Tournament is 14, set by Old Dominion’s Ticha Penicheiro in 1998. Hidalgo’s relentless pursuit on defense puts her well within striking distance of that historic mark. She set the record for steals in one NCAA tournament, previously held by Ticha Penicheiro at Old Dominion in 1988 and Emily Engstler at Louisville in 2022 (23).
But with all the milestones and the records broken, her historic career started with a bribe from her dad.
“She only played basketball because she wanted the Gatorade, and then when the trainers started calling her buckets, that was it,” Orlando said.
Andy Mathis and Popi Márquez are students in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
