SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — After a record-breaking campaign for Notre Dame this season, junior Hannah Hidalgo has won the 2026 Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the nation’s top point guard, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Saturday.
Hidalgo is just the second Irish player to earn the honor, joining Skylar Diggins (2012 and 2013).
The point guard adds this nod to her already lengthy list of awards this season, including Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year, WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the USBWA All-America and USA Today All-America First Teams along with making the 10-person Wooden Award All-America Team.
En route to a 25-11 season and the program’s first Elite Eight berth since 2019, Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 5.2 assists per game, becoming the only women’s or men’s player at the DI level this century to average at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals per game over an entire season. She finished the year with 909 points, breaking the Notre Dame and ACC record for single-season scoring.
Additionally on the offensive side, the junior now holds the Notre Dame records for single-game scoring (44 points against Akron), 30-point games (19), 20-point games (80) and consecutive games in double-figures (103). The latter mark is the longest active streak in the nation as well.
Hidalgo closed the season on a high note, scoring 20 or more points in each of her last 11 games and averaging 26.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.0 steals and 4.6 assists per game. She had a standout NCAA Tournament that included just the second 30-point triple-double in Tournament history (Caitlin Clark) when she dropped 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals against Vanderbilt on March 27.