The Notre Dame junior shattered the NCAA Division I single-season steals record during the Sweet 16 clash against Vanderbilt, adding a second historic mark in the same game
Hannah Hidalgo did not just make history today in Fort Worth. She made it twice before the final buzzer sounded.
The Notre Dame guard broke the NCAA Division I single-season steals record during the first quarter of the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish’s Sweet 16 matchup against second-seeded Vanderbilt, surpassing a mark that had stood since 2019. Then, before the night was over, she had claimed a second record, becoming the most prolific thief in a single NCAA Tournament run in the history of the sport.
It was, by any measure, one of the most remarkable individual performances in the long history of March Madness.
The record that started it all
The single-season NCAA Division I steals record had belonged to Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs, who recorded 192 steals during the 2018-19 season. Steals became an official NCAA statistic in the 1987-88 season, meaning the record had stood for over three decades before Hidalgo entered the picture this year.
With her 193rd steal of the season, recorded in the opening minutes against Vanderbilt, Hidalgo stepped past Barrs and into the record books. The milestone arrived on the biggest stage possible, in a tournament game with a Final Four berth on the line, in front of a national audience watching the women’s NCAA Tournament’s most gripping stretch of games.
The record was not the only milestone she crossed. Hidalgo also broke the ACC single-season steals record and set a new program record at Notre Dame in the process.
A first half that defied belief
If the record itself was not enough, the manner in which Hidalgo performed around it made the night even more extraordinary. She recorded seven steals in the first half alone, pairing that defensive dominance with 16 points to personally fuel a 31-26 Notre Dame halftime lead over the higher-seeded Commodores.
By the end of the third quarter, her steal total had climbed to nine. That relentless pursuit of the basketball, repeated at every opportunity regardless of the game situation, reflects an instinct and an athleticism that coaches and defenders can see coming and still cannot stop.
Her career high in steals in a single game is 16, set against Akron on Nov. 12, 2025. For context, the NCAA Tournament single-game steals record is 14, set by Old Dominion’s Ticha Penicheiro in 1998. Hidalgo’s performance against Vanderbilt put that mark within reach with time remaining on the clock.
The second record nobody expected
As if one historic night was not enough, Hidalgo also surpassed the record for steals in a single NCAA Tournament. The previous mark of 23 had been shared by Penicheiro, set at Old Dominion in 1988, and Emily Engstler of Louisville in 2022. Hidalgo moved past that number during today’s game, adding yet another line to a record book she has been quietly rewriting all season long.
A season unlike any other
Hidalgo’s record-breaking night is the culmination of a junior campaign that has already been recognized at every level. She earned both ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors this season, a combination that reflects the full scope of her impact on both ends of the floor.
She is also the only player in Notre Dame program history to record more than 400 career steals, a number that underscores just how consistently she has operated at this level since arriving in South Bend.
What Hidalgo has built this season goes beyond any single statistic. She has redefined what defensive excellence looks like in women’s college basketball and done so while contributing offensively at a level that makes her nearly impossible to game plan against. Tonight in Fort Worth, with two NCAA records claimed in a single Sweet 16 performance, she gave the sport a night it will not soon forget.