ATLANTA — Notre Dame standout Hannah Hidalgo has been named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Tuesday.
The junior is a menace on the defensive end of the floor, leading the country in steals per game with an outrageous clip of 5.85.
The next closest player is averaging 4.06 steals per game, meaning there is a larger gap between Hidalgo and the second-ranked player as there is between the second-ranked player and the 100th-ranked player (averaging 2.28 steals per game).
Hidalgo set the NCAA record for steals in a game earlier this season, recording 16 against Akron. The junior has three games this season with double-digit steals and four games with 30+ points and 5+ steals. The rest of the ACC has one total this year, and there have only been 20 such total performances in women’s college basketball this season. Just one other player has two, and no other player has more than one.
The guard has already broken the Notre Dame program record for steals in a career, as she currently sits at 396, passing Irish legend Skylar Diggins’ mark of 381 earlier this season.
Hidalgo and the Fighting Irish head out west for a two-game California road swing on the coast, as they take on Cal at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 29 in Berkley. The game will be streamed on ACCNX.