FORT WORTH, TX The Vanderbilt vs. Notre Dame Sweet 16 matchup won’t be the first time Mikayla Blakes and Hannah Hidalgo have faced each other.
Blakes, the SEC Player of the Year, and Hidalgo, the ACC Player of the Year, are both from New Jersey. The two faced each other in high school and in AAU. Hidalgo said that she remembers winning both matchups against Blakes back then. The two have also played on the same team before as members of the FIBA AmeriCup team that won the gold medal last summer.
This matchup will have the highest stakes, though. The No. 2 seed Commodores (29-4) will face the No. 6 seed Fighting Irish (24-10) with a spot in the Elite 8 on the line at Dickies Arena on March 26 (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).
“Just her ability to do so many different things,” Hidalgo said of Blakes on March 26. “Especially on the defensive end, her ability to pick up full court and get stops was really fun, and it was different to see because I know her so well, her being a scoring guard.”
The ball-handling skills of Blakes and Aubrey Galvan will be especially tested as Hidalgo leads the country with 5.56 steals per game, nearly a steal and a half per game more than the next-closest player. Blakes herself is 23rd with 2.88 steals per game.
“We’re just going to have to use ball fakes as well,” Blakes said. “She’s really good at reading passing lanes.”
Blakes isn’t the only one who has a history with Hidalgo. Justine Pissott, who is also from New Jersey, also faced Hidalgo in AAU.
“She’s one of the best players in the country,” Pissott said. “She knows how to put the ball in the basket, she knows how to defend. She also plays with a bunch of grit and determination, and I think that just goes to show the people that New Jersey has.”
Blakes and Hidalgo aren’t overly focused on facing each other. For Blakes, the ultimate goal has always been winning, not individual awards or matchups. But it will likely be the matchup that defines which of the two teams gets to the Elite 8.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
