The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the ACC regular season champions for the second time in three years. Coach Niele Ivey will now look to win the second ACC tournament in a row. But has everything been smooth sailing for the Fighting Irish? Far from it! Back-to-back losses to NC State and Florida State put their regular season championship aspirations on hold. Tensions started brewing, questions were being asked. At the center of it all? Hannah Hidalgo.
For the first time since 2021, the Fighting Irish had lost 2 games in a row. A 19-game winning streak came to an abrupt end against last season’s ACC regular-season champion NC State. And a big contributing factor towards that was Hannah Hidalgo’s shooting performances.
Journalist Alexa Philippou took note of the star guard’s performances, saying,” I mean she’s shooting I think 30% over the last 5 games that’s the worst shooting percentage in any five-game stretch of her career.” In her last five games before the Louisville game, Hannah shot 22.2% against FSU, 30.8% against NCSU, 41.7% against Miami, 40% against Duke, and 16.7% against Pittsburgh from the field. This stretch of games shows that every player can hit a rough patch. Before this, Hannah was shooting close to 50% from the field, and there’s no doubt she’ll regain her efficiency.
But when you’re your team’s best player and you’re going through a shooting slump, what do you do? You still find ways to contribute! And that’s exactly what she did. Alexa Philippou continues, ” You hate to say it, but Notre Dame does go how she goes, there’s a reason why they were able to accumulate some of the best wins across the nation this season. Maybe they don’t need 30 points from her every night, I think they wanna see her, you know,w even if she’s not shooting great, how can you make an impact in other ways?
Now, that impact wasn’t seen from Hidalgo in those two games they lost, but she certainly brought her A-game against the Louisville Cardinals. While she went 6-14 from the field, she grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 6 assists, showing that she can have a big impact on the game even when she is struggling with her efficiency.
With the regular season done and dusted, the focus will be on winning the ACC tournament. Hannah Hidalgo knows this is the perfect chance to get her shooting consistency back before the Big Dance begins and the Fighting Irish know their path in the ACC tournament as well!
Hannah Hidalgo and co have their ACC Tournament Path Set
The ACC tournament brackets have been revealed with co-champions NC State getting the first seed while the Fighting Irish get the second seed courtesy of the head-to-head record. It promises to be an exciting tournament as Hannah Hidalgo and co would definitely want to win it for the second time in a row!
Notre Dame’s side of the bracket includes some tough competition. No. 3 seed Duke, No. 6 Louisville, No. 7 California, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 Stanford, No. 14 Clemson, and No. 15 Pittsburgh. Virginia and Pitt will face off in a first-round matchup, with the winner taking on California next. The winner of that game will then go head-to-head with Notre Dame in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
Let the games begin
The bracket for the 2025 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Championship is set!
https://t.co/8NZnaDHRKS
https://t.co/4f8v0N0mHb pic.twitter.com/RzrEuI9Fe3
— ACC Women’s Basketball (@accwbb) March 3, 2025
If Notre Dame wins their quarterfinal, they’ll face either Duke, Stanford, Clemson, or Louisville on Saturday for a spot in the final on Sunday.
With March Madness fast approaching, Hannah Hidalgo will be eager to get her efficiency back on track. The first step before the Big Dance? Making a statement in the ACC tournament. Do you think the Fighting Irish can win the NCAA tournament this season? Do let us know in the comments!
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