Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541560
48 NOV. 29, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA H annah Hidalgo's junior season wasn't ever supposed to be defined by learning curves, but she's staring them square in the face in year three. And it's not necessarily her fault. We'd call it déjà vu in the worst way for the two-time All-America guard, but it's not even that; it's worse. For her and her team. Notre Dame played in a game with special circumstances early in the sea- son, as the Fighting Irish do, and it got absolutely smacked down by Michigan. By 39 points. Ten more than the margin that set the tone for Hidalgo's freshman campaign in a 100-71 loss to South Car- olina, in Paris, France, just more than two calendar years ago. In that game, Hidalgo was a lightning rod. A beacon of hope in the sense that no matter how bad things got versus the eventual national championship- winning Gamecocks, Hidalgo would salvage Notre Dame's season to some extent. And she did; her 31 points while no other teammates had more than 12 in that season opener set up a freshman flurry in which she averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game. Notre Dame respectfully made it to the Sweet 16 in a season they didn't have the services of Olivia Miles, who was out rehabbing an injured knee. Through four games as a junior, Hi- dalgo was averaging 28.8 points, 6.5 re- bounds, 6.5 steals and 4.8 assists. But her 12 points on 4-of-21 shooting to go along with 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 7 turnovers in the 93-54 loss to Michigan spoke volumes. She didn't have her 'A' game, and her teammates didn't have … much of anything. Two bench points. Two players who played more than 1 minute off that bench, for that matter. The starters not named Hidalgo shot 35.3 percent from the field and 18.2 per- cent from three-point range. Hidalgo was 0 of 8 from deep. Again — not really déjà vu. Worse. Senior guard Cassandre Prosper called it a reality check. "This season is going to be super long, and this is what we need to expect from every team throughout the whole season," she said. "We're going to get everyone's Super Bowl. We talk about this a lot. "We have to be tougher. We have to be locked in on our scouting report, locked in on what we want to execute. But most importantly, be dogs on the court." That's the only way Hidalgo knows how to do it. She had one of the best games in NCAA basketball history im- mediately preceding one of the worst games of her career. The latter was the In The Early Going, It's Once Again About Bouncing Back WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Notre Dame's 93-54 loss to Michigan in Detroit Nov. 15 provided an early reality check for senior guard Cassandre Prosper, head coach Niele Ivey and the Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER 2025-26 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Nov. 5 Fairleigh Dickinson W, 98-52 Nov. 9 Chicago State W, 116-58 Nov. 12 Akron W, 85-58 Nov. 15 vs. Michigan! L, 93-54 Nov. 21 Southern Cal (ESPN) 6 p.m. Nov. 24 Central Michigan (ACCN) 9 p.m. Dec. 4 at Ole Miss^ (ESPN2) 9 p.m. Dec. 7 at Florida State* (ACCNX) 2 p.m. Dec. 11 Morehead State (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at James Madison (ESPN+) 4 p.m. Dec. 21 Bellarmine (ACCNX) 5 p.m. Dec. 29 at Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 1 at Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 4 p.m. Jan. 4 at Duke* (ESPN/ACCN) 12 or 1 p.m. Jan. 8 Boston College* (ACCNX) 6 p.m. Jan. 11 North Carolina* (ESPN) 1 p.m. Jan. 15 Louisville* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 19 at Connecticut (FOX) 5 p.m. Jan. 22 Miami* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 25 Clemson* (ACCNX) 3 p.m. Jan. 29 at California* (ACCNX) 10 p.m. Feb. 1 at Stanford* (The CW) 4 p.m. Feb. 5 Virginia Tech* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at Virginia* (ACCNX) 2 p.m. Feb. 15 NC State* (ESPN) TBA Feb. 19 at Wake Forest* (ACCNX) 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at SMU* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 26 Syracuse* (ACCNX) 7 p.m. March 1 at Louisville* (ESPN2) 4 p.m. ! Shamrock Classic at Detroit; ^ ACC/SEC Challenge; * ACC Game