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FORT WORTH, Texas — The most terrifying sound when playing Notre Dame is the footsteps of the smallest player on the court. The quickening booms of a rushing 5-foot-6 tornado hurry a ball handler. They send the mind into overdrive. The mental spiral starts. Time condenses.
Until it fully collapses under the pressure of Hannah Hidalgo, the defensive menace who lifted the weight off sixth-year head coach Niele Ivey and the Notre Dame program. For the first time since 2018, the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish danced into the Elite Eight with a 67-64 win over No. 2 Vanderbilt in the Fort Worth 1 regional at Dickies Arena on Friday.
Vanderbilt heard too many footsteps too often, reacting poorly at both perceived and real approaches. The Commodores turned it over 10 times in the first quarter alone and a season-high 23 by the final buzzer. Not even dominating the boards could save them.
Nor could their National Player of the Year contender. In a contest billed as a battle between two of the nation’s three leading scorers, Hidalgo won handily with a monster triple-double. She had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals.
Hannah Hidalgo broke the NCAA Division I single-season record on Friday and became the first player with at least eight steals in three NCAA tournament games. (Photo by Chris Swann/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Chris Swann via Getty Images
With two quick steals in the first two minutes, she set the tone and rarely relented. Four steals in the first quarter broke the NCAA Division I single-season record, and she became the first player with at least eight steals in three NCAA tournament games. She secured hers consecutively, averaging 26.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 8.7 steals over three tournament games.
Her robberies happen in a blur. On the baseline, she hurried Vanderbilt into a pass directly to a teammate; later, she surprised a rebounder by snatching the ball, sending the posts into a visible tizzy.
Coming to help on a sideline trap, she forced another errant one into the backcourt that resulted in two of their 27 fastbreak points. Vanderbilt had nine. The Irish scored 23 points off turnovers, a credit to the mere idea Hidalgo could be nearby.
Hidalgo’s best work was delivered in the waning minutes of a tie game after Vanderbilt tied it a fifth and final time at 64. After Hidalgo killed clock and missed a tricky driving layup with 28 seconds to play, Malaya Cowles corralled the rebound for Ivey to call a timeout and set up a final play.
KK Bransford tossed it into a cutting Hidalgo in what looked across the court like an automatic turnover. Rising out of the tall crowd of white Vanderbilt jerseys was the two-way terror holding the ball.
“We talked a couple times in the huddle towards the end, down the stretch, we have to do whatever it takes,” Hidalgo said.
She lived up to it, ensuring it wasn’t a game-winning two points the other way. Everyone collapsed on her, leaving Cassandre Prosper alone on the island. She had 13 points, but was 4 of 12.
Hidalgo bounced it to her, a poetic connection for the two players who committed to Ivey a year ago amid a transfer exodus and a heavy graduating class.
“Making that pass to Cass for her to make that big bucket, she really trusts her teammate,” Ivey said. “That's something that she's really grown as far as her maturity. Her leadership is the reason why we're in this position.”
Hidalgo was intentional in building this new group’s camaraderie in a way she hadn’t been in her first two seasons. Ivey credits that bond as the reason this was the group that secured her first Elite Eight berth as head coach, rather than any previous group. They ran out two All-American guards last year as the heads of one of the most dangerous backcourts in the country.
“It took me a while to get here and I think it’s a realization that I can’t win anything by myself and I can’t do anything without my teammates,” Hidalgo told Yahoo Sports. “I had 30 at that point, and so I was like, OK, if they step up, I know Cass is gonna make the play, and I trust her. I think that's what's gotten us so far, is trusting each other and playing together.”
Vanderbilt called an immediate timeout with 22 seconds to take the final shot. Blakes took the inbound and worked around Hidalgo and the Notre Dame defense. But she dribbled it off her foot and out of bounds to end the ‘Dores chances before they could even attempt a shot.
“I saw an open lane, but I guess I moved too fast,” Blakes said.
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph stepped to her defense in the post-game press conference that it wasn’t “what lost us this game.”
The Commodores still needed more from Blakes. She started the game 0 for 9 from the field, an eerily similar start to the SEC tournament loss to Ole Miss earlier this month.
The sophomore began to find her way to the free-throw line, where she scored 12 of her team-high 26 points, while her shot failed to find the right parts of the net. Her 26.9% (7 of 26) from the floor was her worst of the season, saved slightly by a 4-of-8 fourth quarter.
“I can't perform for my team like that in a moment as big as this,” Blakes said.
As reality set in for Vanderbilt, the footsteps they heard were lighter and quieter. The smallest player on the court met her coach in an embrace, starting the timer on 24 hours of elation before another game of wreaking havoc.
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Until it fully collapses under the pressure of Hannah Hidalgo, the defensive menace who lifted the weight off sixth-year head coach Niele Ivey and the Notre Dame program. For the first time since 2018, the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish danced into the Elite Eight with a 67-64 win over No. 2 Vanderbilt in the Fort Worth 1 regional at Dickies Arena on Friday.
Vanderbilt heard too many footsteps too often, reacting poorly at both perceived and real approaches. The Commodores turned it over 10 times in the first quarter alone and a season-high 23 by the final buzzer. Not even dominating the boards could save them.
Nor could their National Player of the Year contender. In a contest billed as a battle between two of the nation’s three leading scorers, Hidalgo won handily with a monster triple-double. She had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals.
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Hannah Hidalgo broke the NCAA Division I single-season record on Friday and became the first player with at least eight steals in three NCAA tournament games. (Photo by Chris Swann/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Chris Swann via Getty Images
With two quick steals in the first two minutes, she set the tone and rarely relented. Four steals in the first quarter broke the NCAA Division I single-season record, and she became the first player with at least eight steals in three NCAA tournament games. She secured hers consecutively, averaging 26.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 8.7 steals over three tournament games.
Her robberies happen in a blur. On the baseline, she hurried Vanderbilt into a pass directly to a teammate; later, she surprised a rebounder by snatching the ball, sending the posts into a visible tizzy.
Coming to help on a sideline trap, she forced another errant one into the backcourt that resulted in two of their 27 fastbreak points. Vanderbilt had nine. The Irish scored 23 points off turnovers, a credit to the mere idea Hidalgo could be nearby.
Hidalgo’s best work was delivered in the waning minutes of a tie game after Vanderbilt tied it a fifth and final time at 64. After Hidalgo killed clock and missed a tricky driving layup with 28 seconds to play, Malaya Cowles corralled the rebound for Ivey to call a timeout and set up a final play.
KK Bransford tossed it into a cutting Hidalgo in what looked across the court like an automatic turnover. Rising out of the tall crowd of white Vanderbilt jerseys was the two-way terror holding the ball.
“We talked a couple times in the huddle towards the end, down the stretch, we have to do whatever it takes,” Hidalgo said.
She lived up to it, ensuring it wasn’t a game-winning two points the other way. Everyone collapsed on her, leaving Cassandre Prosper alone on the island. She had 13 points, but was 4 of 12.
Hidalgo bounced it to her, a poetic connection for the two players who committed to Ivey a year ago amid a transfer exodus and a heavy graduating class.
“Making that pass to Cass for her to make that big bucket, she really trusts her teammate,” Ivey said. “That's something that she's really grown as far as her maturity. Her leadership is the reason why we're in this position.”
Hidalgo was intentional in building this new group’s camaraderie in a way she hadn’t been in her first two seasons. Ivey credits that bond as the reason this was the group that secured her first Elite Eight berth as head coach, rather than any previous group. They ran out two All-American guards last year as the heads of one of the most dangerous backcourts in the country.
“It took me a while to get here and I think it’s a realization that I can’t win anything by myself and I can’t do anything without my teammates,” Hidalgo told Yahoo Sports. “I had 30 at that point, and so I was like, OK, if they step up, I know Cass is gonna make the play, and I trust her. I think that's what's gotten us so far, is trusting each other and playing together.”
Vanderbilt called an immediate timeout with 22 seconds to take the final shot. Blakes took the inbound and worked around Hidalgo and the Notre Dame defense. But she dribbled it off her foot and out of bounds to end the ‘Dores chances before they could even attempt a shot.
“I saw an open lane, but I guess I moved too fast,” Blakes said.
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph stepped to her defense in the post-game press conference that it wasn’t “what lost us this game.”
The Commodores still needed more from Blakes. She started the game 0 for 9 from the field, an eerily similar start to the SEC tournament loss to Ole Miss earlier this month.
The sophomore began to find her way to the free-throw line, where she scored 12 of her team-high 26 points, while her shot failed to find the right parts of the net. Her 26.9% (7 of 26) from the floor was her worst of the season, saved slightly by a 4-of-8 fourth quarter.
“I can't perform for my team like that in a moment as big as this,” Blakes said.
As reality set in for Vanderbilt, the footsteps they heard were lighter and quieter. The smallest player on the court met her coach in an embrace, starting the timer on 24 hours of elation before another game of wreaking havoc.
Continue reading...
