Irish Breakdown

Hannah Hidalgo Dominates North Carolina, Proving She’s Elite

Hannah Hidalgo had another monster game on Sunday after dropping 31 points, eight rebounds, six assists & seven steals against North Carolina.
Jared Shlensky|
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo brings the ball up the court during an NCAA women's basketball game against No. 22 North Carolina at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in South Bend.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo brings the ball up the court during an NCAA women's basketball game against No. 22 North Carolina at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame pulled off the upset of the day on Sunday after pouncing on No. 22 North Carolina by 23 points, but the upset victory itself wasn't really the storyline. The storyline was once again Hannah Hidalgo.

And if you didn't think the junior guard was the best player in college basketball, well, guess again. No disrespect to Iowa State center Audi Crooks, but not even the double-double machine stacks up against Hidalgo right now.

Hidalgo dropped 31 points on 13 of 25 shooting against the Tar Heels, and also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists, and recorded seven steals. Hidalgo has yet to record a quadruple-double, but don't put it past her after nearly doing it on Sunday.

Hidalgo was simply a one-woman wrecking crew and did a little bit of everything. Layups, mid-range jumpers, free throws, crashing the glass, setting up her teammates for easy baskets, forcing turnovers in the frontcourt, etc. Hidalgo did it all.

Hidalgo's magical season continues

And this isn't the first time she's had a game like this. Back in November, Hidalgo scored a career-high 44 points against Akron, and before that, she finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and four steals against Chicago State.

But this is different. Why? Because Chicago State and Akron aren't exactly on the same level as North Carolina. No disrespect to both schools, but UNC entered Sunday's contest ranked in the top 25 and 13-4 overall. For Hidalgo to perform like she did against a team like North Carolina is as impressive as it gets.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame looks like they put those two losses to Georgia Tech and Duke behind them. ND has won back-to-back games by 23+ points and might find its way back into the top 25.

How Hidalgo stacks up against the rest of college basketball

But back to Hidalgo. She's putting up unprecedented numbers and certainly making a case to be a top draft pick if she chooses to leave South Bend early for the WNBA.

Hidalgo leads the nation with 5.9 steals per game and is third in scoring with 24.7 points per game. And don't forget she's shooting nearly 50% (48.6%) from the field and over 80% from the free-throw line (81.2%) and averaging 6.1 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game.

There's no one else in college basketball who's averaging those kinds of numbers. Regardless of how Notre Dame's season ends, Hidalgo is making a strong case for Player of the Year Honors.

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster

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