Freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo has come out firing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In her first game against South Carolina, she scored 31 points, even though the Fighting Irish lost 100-71. Hidalgo has scored 20 or more points in all six games this season.
At 5’6, Hidalgo is hard to guard. She is quick and can dribble. For her size, Hidalgo does a good job finishing in the paint and getting to the foul line, where she averages 6.4 free throws per game. She also causes havoc on defense and is good at creating ball pressure and getting steals.
So far this season, Hidalgo has averaged 25 points, five rebounds, five assists, and 6.3 steals per game.
Awards
She is one of the many impressive freshmen this season. Hidalgo is a big reason Notre Dame is 5-1 and ranked 18th in the country. Hildago has been named ACC Rookie of the Week and ACC Player of the Week. The point guard earned USBWA National Freshman of the Week.
Hildalgo is the second Notre Dame player to earn ACC Rookie of the Week and Player of the Week honors in the same week. Brianna Turner was the first to do it in January 2015. She also became the first ACC player to win the weekly honors since Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson did it on Jan. 2 last season.
It will be interesting to see if Hidalgo can keep up this outstanding play. She can quickly get into the paint and score easily with her skill set. Hidalgo’s defensive abilities allow her to turn steals into easy baskets.
If Oliva Miles recovers from her knee injury this season, she and Hidalgo would make a deadly back-court duo.
Notre Dame returns to action Wednesday against the No.20 ranked Tennessee Volunteers. It should be a very entertaining game.
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