Hannah Hidlago Collects More College Basketball Awards

Notre Dame's season came to an end two weeks ago in the Sweet 16, yet Hannah Hidalgo is still making national headlines. On Wednesday, Hidalgo was named College Basketball's Defensive Player of the Year, and on Sunday, she won the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given to the nation's best point guard.

the best point guard in the country 🗣️@Hannahhidalgo is the 2026 Nancy Lieberman Award recipient #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/7fMsACKvWI
— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) April 4, 2026

Initial reaction

Just like I said after Hidalgo was named the Defensive Player of the Year, this is no surprise and is well-deserved. The junior point guard set multiple records this year, including steals in a season.

Hidalgo also became the first women's or men's player to reach the 200-steal milestone and set the record for most steals in a single NCAA Tournament with 29 despite only playing in four tournament games.

But she was just as good on offense as she was on defense. Hidalgo was third in the nation in points per game (25.3) and averaged just over seven rebounds (6.9), points per game, and just over five assists (5.2) a game.

And don't forget she nearly recorded the first quadruple-double in NCAA Tournament history and recorded multiple double-doubles and triple-doubles this year.

clear the lane, a DAWG coming thru!

📺 ABC#GoIrish // @MarchMadnessWBB pic.twitter.com/Uv8CnKcm4F
— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) March 29, 2026

There was no other point guard nearly as good as Hidalgo. But you know what was surprising? Hidalgo not winning Player of the Year honors. That award went to UConn's Sarah Strong.

Strong is a great player and may very well be a future No. 1 overall pick and better WNBA player than Hidalgo, but she didn't have a better year than Hidalgo.

Hidalgo averaged more points, assists, and steals than Strong, and she meant more to her team than Strong did. Let's face it, the Huskies probably would have still made the Final Four without Strong; meanwhile, the Irish wouldn't have gotten past the first round of the NCAA Tournament without Hidalgo.

That's how much Hidalgo means to Notre Dame.

Ultimately, though, I think voters got too caught up in UConn being undefeated at the time and lost track of who put up better numbers and who meant more to their team.

What's next for Hidalgo?

Hidalgo isn't eligible for the WNBA Draft and will have to return to college for one more season. Regardless of the sport, crazy things happen in the portal, but I expect Hidalgo to return to South Bend for her senior season and have a legit shot at winning Player of the Year Honors and setting the NCAA career record for steals.