Hannah Hidalgo continues to etch her name amongst the greats of women’s college basketball.
On Wednesday, Hidalgo was named to the Associated Press All-America First Team along with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, USC’s JuJu Watkins, Stanford’s Cameron Brink and UConn’s Paige Bueckers. Hidalgo and Watkins are just the fourth and fifth freshmen to ever earn the honor since it began in 1994-54, joining Bueckers, UConn’s Maya Moore and Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris.
Hidalgo is the first Irish player to earn First Team All-America honors since Jewell Loyd did so in 2015. Hidalgo, Loyd, Kayla McBride, Skylar Diggins and Ruth Riley are the sole Notre Dame players to ever be included on one of the nation’s most prestigious lists.
The freshman out of New Jersey has already earned numerous postseason honors this year: ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP. She has been named to All-America teams by The Athletic, Sporting News, ESPN and USBWA.
Hidalgo leads the nation with 4.6 steals per game and has already shattered the program single-season steals record previously held by Diggins. She is also averaging an ACC-leading 23.3 points and is dishing out 5.5 assists per game. The latter mark ranks third in the conference.
Hidalgo and Notre Dame (26-6) will be back in action on Saturday as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish will host No. 15 Kent State (21-10) and are 24-4 all-time in First Round games.