SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — As the college basketball offseason comes to a close, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) is wrapping up its preseason award announcements. In total, six current Irish ended up on three different watch lists this week.
Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List — Point Guard of the Year
Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles earned nods to the Lieberman Watch List, and they showed why when they debuted together on the floor in Wednesday’s exhibition against Davenport.
Hidalgo led the Irish with 31 points and 5 steals while dishing out 9 assists and notching 7 rebounds. Miles also had 9 assists and recorded a near triple-double with 15 points and 10 boards. In total, the guards had 46 points, 18 assists, 17 rebounds and 7 steals.
Both guards have already been named Preseason All-ACC as well.
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List — Shooting Guard of the Year
Senior Sonia Citron made the Drysdale list on Tuesday, adding to her already lengthy resume. Citron averaged 17.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists last year while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 91.2 percent from the charity stripe. The latter is a Notre Dame single-season record.
Like Miles and Hidalgo, Citron was named Preseason All-ACC in mid-October.
Katrina McClain Award Watch List — Power Forward of the Year
After earning a spot on last year’s McClain Award Top 10 in January, both Maddy Westbeld and Liza Karlen find themselves on the Watch List this year. They are joined by Liatu King, giving Notre Dame three players on the list. No other school had more than one player make the cut.
The 2023-24 ACC Most Improved Player, King was the star down low for the Irish in Wednesday’s exhibition against Davenport. She finished with 27 points and a team-leading 14 rebounds while shooting 11-15 from the floor on the day. King also had 3 steals.
No. 6 Notre Dame opens its season on Monday night by hosting Mercyhurst. The game will air on the ACC Network at 5 p.m.