Hannah Hidalgo came within one rebound of making NCAA Tournament history todday, and even without achieving it, she still put together one of the most complete individual performances the first round has seen in years.
The Notre Dame junior finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and eight steals as the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish led from start to finish in a 79-60 win over 11th-seeded Fairfield at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The eight steals set a Notre Dame single-game tournament record, breaking a mark previously held by Skylar Diggins. Hidalgo sat out the final six minutes.
Hidalgo’s dominance started early and never let up
Fairfield, a three-time reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, is the best three-point shooting team in the country. Notre Dame’s answer to that strength was Hidalgo’s defensive pressure, which helped hold the Stags to 2 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half and 9 of 25 for the game, two makes below their average.
The Irish took control early. After Fairfield pulled within two at 12-10, Notre Dame responded with a 12-3 run that opened the game up. By halftime, the Irish led 36-24, with Hidalgo accounting for 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals before the break.
The second half removed any remaining doubt. Notre Dame opened with a 9-2 run to push the lead to 19, and the Irish eventually stretched the advantage to 23 points. They outscored Fairfield 43-36 in the second half and closed out the win without Hidalgo needing to play the final stretch.
Supporting cast stepped up when it mattered
Graduate student Iyana Moore hit three three-pointers in the first half to put herself in double figures early. She finished with 18 points and four threes. Senior Cassandre Prosper added 17 points, with 11 of them coming in the second half after a quieter first 20 minutes. The contributions took pressure off Hidalgo and kept Fairfield from finding any way back into the game.
For Fairfield, MAAC Player of the Year Kaety L’Amoreaux fought back at moments, scoring the Stags’ first five points of a brief second-quarter run. Meghan Andersen led the team with 21 points, Jillian Huerter added 12 and Janelle Brown contributed 10. But the Stags were simply not equipped to match Notre Dame’s combination of defensive intensity and offensive efficiency.
The loss ends the season for Fairfield at 28-5, snapping an 11-game winning streak. The program falls to 0-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances. Graduate students Brown, Alli Campbell, Lauren Beach and Jalyn Sackrider, along with senior Sydney Scott, played their final game in a Fairfield uniform today.
What Notre Dame brings into Monday
The Irish move to 23-10 on the season and have now won eight of their last nine games. They advance to face third-seeded Ohio State on Monday at the Schottenstein Center, with the Buckeyes having beaten No. 14 Howard 75-54 in their opener. A fifth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance is on the line for Notre Dame.
The Ohio State matchup carries its own history. Head coach Kevin McGuff served as an assistant on Notre Dame’s 2001 national championship team under Muffet McGraw. Current Irish head coach Niele Ivey was the starting point guard on that same team 25 years ago.
What Hidalgo’s season has already built
Today’s performance was not a surprise to anyone who has tracked Hidalgo’s junior season. She entered the tournament averaging 25.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.4 steals and 5.3 assists per game, a statistical combination that no women’s Division I player has produced since the 1999-00 season. She earned ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, and collected first-team All-America recognition from multiple organizations including the USBWA and Sporting News.
She is only the third Notre Dame player to earn All-America honors in three seasons, joining Diggins and Ruth Riley. The company alone says something about the tier she occupies within the program’s history.
Ohio State faces a player who is difficult to plan for because her impact does not live in one category. She scores, defends, creates and disrupts all at once. Monday’s second-round matchup will be one of the better tests the tournament offers for measuring whether any team has found a way to limit her.