Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1515937
10 MARCH 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME 1 Player in the NBA, WNBA and Division I men's and women's basketball has produced a 12-game stretch with at least 280 points, 70 rebounds, 70 assists and 70 steals in the last 25 years, per OptaSTATS: Notre Dame freshman point guard HANNAH HIDALGO, who achieved the feat in the first 12 games of her career. Hidalgo — who boasted averages of 25.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 5.1 steals per game — was one of only two major confer - ence women's basketball players who was averaging at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game through Feb. 12. The other was Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark, who was posting 32.1 points, 8.3 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. 1 Also the number of freshmen on the men's and women's Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch lists: Hannah Hidalgo, who leads the country in steals with 118 as of Feb. 12, was the only one. 118 Steals and counting for Notre Dame freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo through 23 games this sea- son. That is already the most ever by an Irish fresh- man, and eclipsed Irish legend Skylar Diggins-Smith's previous mark of 90. Hidalgo has also set a school record with 11 games (in 23 career outings) with at least 6 steals, surpassing Diggins-Smith who did it eight times in 124 contests with the Irish from 2009-13. On Feb. 11, Hidalgo also surpassed Diggins-Smith's single-season school record of 114 steals in the 98-94 overtime win at Florida State. 34 Points for Hannah Hidalgo in Notre Dame's 82-67 victory at UConn Jan. 27. That was the most points ever scored by an Irish freshman in a single game, snapping the previous mark of 33 set by Michelle Marciniak in 1991. In the Irish's next outing five days later, Hidalgo one-upped herself with a 35-point performance in an 85-48 win at Georgia Tech. Hidalgo has scored 30 or more points four times this season, which is also a Notre Dame freshman record. She has scored at least 20 points in 18 of Notre Dame's first 20 games and was on pace to smash the Notre Dame freshman scoring record of 17.9 set by Beth Morgan in 1993-94. She has a variety of ways to score. She's obviously play- ing with a tremendous amount of confidence. It took a lot of guts to come in here and do what she did. She's damn good." — UConn head coach Geno Auriemma on freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo, who scored 34 points to lead the Irish to an 82-67 win over the Huskies Jan. 27 1st I n t h e n at i o n i s where Notre Dame football finished in pass efficiency defense (97.09) for the 2023 season. Notre Dame paced the country for the first time since the NCAA started tracking that stat in 2013. Its previous best finish was sixth in 2018. The Fighting Irish also finished the season ranked second nationally in red zone defense (.706), third in pass- ing yards allowed (157.3), fifth in total defense (276.3 yards given up per game) — the best ranking for the Irish since 1980 (No. 4) — seventh in scoring defense (15.9 points allowed per game), eighth in defensive touchdowns scored (four) and 10th in interceptions (16). 5 Fighting Irish earned a spot on Inside Lacrosse's preseason list of the top 50 players in the nation for the 2024 season: graduate student goalie Liam Entenmann (No. 4), graduate student attack Pat Kavanagh (No. 5), senior midfield Eric Dobson (No. 13), junior midfield Ben Ramsey (No. 34) and junior attack Chris Kavanagh (No. 37). Only Duke placed more players (six) on that list. 28 McDonald's All-Americans for the Notre Dame women's basket- ball program since 2002 (the inaugural year for the girls game), after five-star center Kate Koval was among the 24 players se- lected this year. Assuming everyone returns, next year's Irish squad will have seven McDonald's All-Americans on the roster. Koval, the reigning New York Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year, also was one of 25 players named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year Midseason Team in mid-January. Bertrand sees things well and has the ability to diagnose and drive, which he showed on multiple occasions during practice. But what also stood out was his communication with his teammates — providing coaching, encouragement or praise between drills. A two-time captain for the Irish, Ber- trand's intangibles will set him apart from other similarly graded linebackers in this draft." — The Athletic's Dane Brugler on Feb. 3 following Notre Dame linebacker JD BERTRAND (27) being named the top LB on the National team at the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP