Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2025 45 rebounds while Notre Dame had 26 — luck does not make up for the disparity. "It's on me," Westbeld said. "It's on the leaders, what we have to do to rally us. Just taking accountability for myself is really all there is to it." Hidalgo is one of those leaders even if she's only in her second season. She's Notre Dame's heart and soul, a true "go as she goes" type of talent. That's a word she couldn't care less for at the moment, though. "We have a lot of talent," Hidalgo said. "It's not a matter of talent. It's just a matter of working hard." Notre Dame outworked USC, Texas and UConn in a two-week stretch in late November and early December. Those are three teams anyone who follows the sport closely enough would declare na- tional championship contenders. Notre Dame is one of those in its own right, too, but the Irish are playing the worst basketball of them at the wrong time. It's mental, Hidalgo said. The Irish team that knocked those heavyweights down is still has that ability within them somewhere. They've got to find it, tap into it and unleash it again. "We were just playing together," Hi- dalgo said. "We had a little more fight in us. We've gotten away from that." Between the ACC Tournament loss and the commencement of the NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame essentially has two weeks to get right. The season is not over. It'll just be over the next time the Irish don't show up in full force and/ or allow the opponent to have its way. Maybe a true back-against-the-wall, do-or-die scenario could be good for this group. Maybe desperation is Notre Dame's version of "Michael's Secret Stuff." "I think it's exactly that," Citron said. "The good thing about this is we have one more chance to play. We have a lot of time to work on our game, get better. If we don't give everything we have, give 100 percent of ourselves, then I don't know what we're doing here." Citron said the Irish need to turn the page. If they do so correctly, they'll be another page to turn in a more jovial manner thereafter. Then, perhaps, a few more pages until the final one yields words of a setting in Tampa, Fla., with four teams still playing for a national championship — and Notre Dame is one of them. That's always been the goal for this star-studded team, and even though it's limping into the tournament the ultimate objective has not changed. It's Final Four or bust. "I'm still all in on this team, and I re- ally believe that we can go all the way in March," graduate student Liza Karlen said. ✦ Point guard Olivia Miles and the Fighting Irish struggled down the stretch, losing three of their last five games after starting 24-2. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 2024-25 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (26-5 Overall, 16-2 ACC) Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 4 Mercyhurst W, 105-61 Nov. 10 at Purdue W, 102-58 Nov. 13 James Madison W, 92-46 Nov. 17 at Lafayette W, 91-55 Nov. 23 at Southern Cal W, 74-61 Nov. 29 vs. TCU^ L, 76-68 Nov. 30 vs. Utah^ L, 78-67 Dec. 5 Texas% W, 80-70 (OT) Dec. 8 at Syracuse* W, 93-62 Dec. 12 Connecticut W, 79-68 Dec. 15 Eastern Michigan W, 118-49 Dec. 22 Loyola Maryland W, 97-54 Dec. 29 Virginia* W, 95-54 Jan. 5 at North Carolina* W, 76-66 Jan. 9 Wake Forest* W, 100-64 Jan. 12 at Clemson* W, 67-58 Jan. 16 Georgia Tech* W, 81-66 Jan. 19 SMU* W, 88-64 Jan. 23 at Boston College* W, 89-63 Jan. 30 at Virginia Tech* W, 77-61 Feb. 2 at Louisville* W, 89-71 Feb. 6 Stanford* W, 96-47 Feb. 9 California* W, 91-52 Feb. 13 at Pittsburgh* W, 88-57 Feb. 17 Duke* W, 64-49 Feb. 20 at Miami* W, 82-42 Feb. 23 at NC State* L, 104-95 (2OT) Feb. 27 Florida State* L, 86-81 Mar. 2 Louisville* W, 72-59 Mar. 7 vs. Cal$ W, 73-64 Mar. 8 vs. Duke$ L, 61-56 Mar. 21 or 22 NCAA Tournament first round TBA ^ Cayman Islands Classic at George Town, Cayman Islands; % SEC/ACC Challenge; * ACC game; $ ACC Tournament at Greensboro, N.C. Fighting Irish Receive Multiple All-ACC Honors There's no doubting who is the best player in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It's Notre Dame sopho- more guard Hannah Hidalgo, winner of the 2024-25 ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards, the league announced March 4. At the time of voting from the league's Blue Ribbon Panel, a collection of media members who cover the conference, Hidalgo was averaging 24.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.7 steals per game through 27 appearances this season. She was shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three-point range and 86.2 percent from the free throw line. She was second in the conference in scor- ing, first in steals and fourth in free throw percentage. In addition to Hidalgo's award wins, Notre Dame was represented on the regular-season awards list by senior guards Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles making the All-ACC first team along with Hidalgo, graduate student forward Liatu King earning an All-ACC second-team nod and freshman center Kate Koval landing on the All-ACC Freshman team. Citron also was tabbed to the All-ACC Defensive team. Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey was beat out for ACC Coach of the Year by NC State's Wes Moore. — Tyler Horka