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FORT WORTH, Texas — The No. 6 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the first team to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight on Friday after pulling off a thrilling 67–64 upset over the No. 2 seed Vanderbilt Commodores.
A record-breaking performance from junior standout Hannah Hidalgo secured Notre Dame’s victory. Hidalgo nearly had a quadruple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and seven assists.
In the offseason, Notre Dame had to reset after having only three players return from last season. It was a chance for the team to find a new identity, and Hidalgo became the core of it. While she is only 5’6, her game is usually the biggest on the court.
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Her dominant performances in the NCAA Tournament helped Notre Dame reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. Hidalgo told reporters postgame that she knew this season would be tough because the team was completely different, but she wouldn’t trade this group for anything else.
“We’ve been through the hard times, so in moments like these, we were able to get over the hump,” she said. “When we needed one stop, we got that stop. When we needed that one bucket, we got that bucket. It’s all a testament to what we went through in the beginning of the season that has gotten us to this point.”
Hidalgo’s stats have only increased since her freshman season with the Irish in 2022-23. She has gone from averaging 22.6 points per game then to 25.3 points per game this season. In this year’s NCAA Tournament, she is averaging 26.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.7 steals per game.
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After the win over Vanderbilt, her teammate Iyana Moore described Hidalgo as a great competitor.
“Every time she steps on the floor, she is going to compete,” the graduate transfer told The IX Basketball. “Most people think she is the same person on and off the court, but she is different off of the court, which makes it really easy to play with her. You want to fight for her and the rest of the players on this team.”
On Friday, Hidalgo was the only player who had scored in double digits until the third quarter, though teammate Cassandre Prosper finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Prosper’s efforts were just what the team needed to complement Hidalgo’s. The 6’3 senior is playing in her final NCAA Tournament. After the game, she told the IX Basketball what was different about this team compared to years past.
‘We’ve gone through a lot of challenges this season, a lot of adversity,” she said. “I feel like this [has] prepared us for this moment. We had to trust each other a lot this year because we were losing close games. I think having to revert within and hold ourselves accountable. We had to grow a lot as a team, and I think it’s showing because we’ve done all the work prior to the beginning of March Madness.”
Since taking over as head coach in 2020, Niele Ivey has led some good teams to this point in the season. In the postgame press conference, she attributed the success of this particular team to how it has grown and the fact that her players love to defend.
“They are tenacious defensively one through five,” she told reporters. “Everybody loves to be defensive; I think that is the biggest difference. Also, we’ve really grown tight. … They have done a phenomenal job of building relationships with this new team that we have and really pouring into doing things outside of what I do.”
Notre Dame is now set to face the undefeated and top-seeded Connecticut Huskies on Sunday. The Fighting Irish lost to the Huskies by nearly 40 points in January. But the teams have each won five of the last 10 matchups, and the Irish can head into the game with even more confidence after finally making the Elite Eight. Hidalgo and team defense will be the keys again to try to topple UConn.
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Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Looking for more March Madness stories? Read all our NCAA Tournament coverage at The IX Sports.
Arie Graham joined The Next in May 2021 as the beat writer for the Dallas Wings. More by Arie Graham
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