Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1505336
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2023 59 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA T he future of Notre Dame women's basketball is in good hands. C l a s s o f 2 0 2 3 s i g n e e s Hannah Hidalgo and Cas- sandre Prosper went to Ma- drid, Spain, for the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup this summer. They both brought some hardware back to South Bend. Hidalgo, a five-star guard per ESPN HoopGurlz's re- cruiting rankings, won a gold medal with Team USA. Prosper, a five-star per the same recruiting service who enrolled early at Notre Dame and played in 22 games for the Irish last season, won bronze with Team Canada. Team USA beat Spain 69-66 in the championship game July 23. Hidalgo stole the ball away from the hands of one of the host country's ball handlers with 9 seconds to go to seal a victory for the Americans. She had 9 points, 7 as- sists, 4 rebounds and 1 block in the title showdown. She was even better for the duration of the tournament. Hidalgo set single-game Team USA re- cords with 8 steals in the round of 16 ver- sus Argentina and 13 assists in the quar- terfinals against the Czech Republic. She averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 3.4 re- bounds and 3.1 steals in 20.1 minutes per game over the course of seven contests. Hidalgo tied for the team lead in min- utes per game, led the team in assists and tied for second in scoring. She was named to the tournament's All Star 5 along with teammate Joyce Edwards, Canada's Toby Fournier, Spain's Iyana Martin Carrion and France's Leila Lacan. Early in the fourth quarter of the championship game, Hidalgo showed she's more than just a flashy point guard with an incredible chase-down block of a Spanish player attempting a three- point shot from the corner. Hidalgo, si- multaneously stern and stoic, crossed back over onto the court from the baseline and imme- diately got ready to finish out her team's defensive posses- sion. Notre Dame's coaches will love to see that kind of competitiveness in a blue- and-gold uniform. Prosper, meanwhile, led Canada in scoring with 16.2 points per game. She also con- tributed 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 as- sists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game. She missed the bronze medal game with an undisclosed injury, but Canada still beat France 80-73. Prosper scored 20 or more points in three of the six games she played. Prosper averaged 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season for a Notre Dame team that made it to the Sweet 16 for the sec- ond consecutive season. Prosper was the only early enrollee in a 2023 Notre Dame signing class comprised of three five-star talents, per ESPN HoopGurlz. The two others were Hidalgo and sharp- shooting guard Emma Risch. Hidalgo and Prosper went back over- seas less than a week after winning their medals to partake in the Notre Dame women's basketball program's 11-day European excursion. The team arrived in Greece on July 29 before jumping over to Croatia for the second half of the trip. Notre Dame scheduled two exhibition games against European club teams, but the rest of the trip was predicated on team bonding, sightseeing and immers- ing in different cultures. Even with so many activities on the checklist, the Irish still had time to get some practice sessions in. On the second day of the trip, for in- stance, Notre Dame held a practice at the EuroHoops Dome in the Athenian suburb of Kifissia at 4:30 p.m. That was after a guided tour of the Acropolis at 10 a.m. The team hiked 500 feet in blazing sun- light to the highest point in Athens. From there, the Irish strolled by other land- marks including the Parthenon, Erech- theion and Temple of Athena Nike. ✦ Two Irish Underclassmen Win Medals On International Stage Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup at Madrid, Spain, in July. PHOTO COURTESY FIBA BASKETBALL GAME TIME RELEASED FOR IRISH SEASON OPENER IN PARIS The countdown to Notre Dame football has been well documented and closely watched all summer. Aug. 26 can't come fast enough for Fighting Irish fans eager to watch their team play in Dublin, Ireland. Game time and TV information for another Irish season-opening overseas expedition was released in late July. The Notre Dame women's basketball team will play South Carolina at Halle Georges Carpentier Arena in Paris, France, at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 6. That's a primetime slot locally in Paris. The game will be televised stateside on ESPN. "We are ecstatic about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in Paris, and we cannot thank the city of Paris enough for its efforts in making this possible," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said in a statement. "Being able to play in a historic venue while having the game showcased back home on ESPN is another step in the right direction for women's basketball as it continues to grow both in the United States and across the globe." The Irish and Gamecocks will host a youth basketball clinic sponsored by Under Armour, both univer- sity's athletics apparel supplier, in France the weekend before tipoff. Tickets for the game go on sale Aug. 21. For more information on tickets, email billetterie@paris- basketball.net. — Tyler Horka