Hannah Hidalgo went off on Wednesday night in what ended up being a historic outing for the Fighting Irish star.
Hidalgo dropped a career-high 44 points and had 16 steals while leading No. 18 Notre Dame to a blowout 85-58 win over Akron at Purcell Pavilion. That marked the most points scored by a player in a single game in Notre Dame history.
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Her 16 steals not only broke Notre Dame’s program record, which Hidalgo already owned, but it set the NCAA’s single-game steals record. Several players had 14 in a game since steals became a recorded stat during the 1987-88 season, most recently when Jillian Ingram did so in 2008 with Georgia Tech.
Hidalgo had 41 of her points through three quarters, which put the Fighting Irish up by 25 entering the final period. She then quickly sank a layup on a fast break to break the program scoring record a few minutes into the fourth without any issue.
Hidalgo had nine rebounds and shot 16-of-25 from the field in the win to go with her 44 points. She went 9-of-11 from the free throw line, too. Notre Dame led the entire way in the 27-point win. Cassandre Prosper added 14 points, and Gisela Sanchez finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
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Hidalgo, who helped lead Notre Dame to a fourth straight Sweet 16 last season while earning All-American honors, has averaged 34.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game so far this fall. She’s up to 23 steals, too. It took her seven games to record that many steals last season, and she only recorded more than six steals in a single contest once the entire campaign.
Wednesday’s win pushed Notre Dame to a perfect 3-0 on the season, though it marked their third straight blowout win. They beat Fairleigh Dickinson by almost 50 points in their season-opener, and then rolled over Chicago State by 58 points four nights later.
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Hidalgo and the Fighting Irish have a pair of true tests ahead of them. They’ll take on No. 14 Michigan on Saturday in Detroit, and then will host No. 8 USC next week. While that’s a tough stretch, Hidalgo seems more than capable of carrying Notre Dame through it and proving that the program hasn’t lost a step from last season.
If nothing else, Hidalgo is already well on her way to backing up her All-American run with another fhis fall.
