Getty Images
A year ago to the day, Notre Dame was eliminated from the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16 by Oregon State in large part due to a rough game from star guard Hannah Hidalgo, who scored just 10 points on 4 of 17 from the field.
It was déjà vu for Hidalgo and the Fighting Irish on Saturday, as they fell to TCU, 71-62, in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament. This time, Hidalgo managed only 15 points on a 3 of 19 shooting performance that registered as her worst offensive performance of the season.
Hidalgo’s 15 points were her second-fewest this season, her three makes from the field were tied for a season-low, and her 15.8% mark from the field was the worst single-game field goal % of her career. And in the fourth quarter, when the game slipped away from Notre Dame, Hidalgo had two points and missed all five of her shot attempts.
Hidalgo was incredible this season. She made major improvements with her shooting efficiency (53.6% true shooting last season to 58.0% true shooting this season) and averaged 24.1 points, five rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.7 steals. For her efforts she became just the third player in ACC history to be named the conference’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
But for the second year in a row, she came up short on the big stage. The obvious question, then, is why? Let’s take a closer look at how TCU was able to slow down one of the best players in college basketball and punch their ticket to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history.
On Notre Dame’s first offensive possession, they went to a high pick-and-roll with Hidalgo, and TCU parked Sedona Prince deep in the paint in drop coverage. Hidalgo made a pull-up jumper that time, but the Horned Frogs’ defensive strategy would pay off as the game went along.
While Hidalgo improved as a shooter this season, she was streaky and only shot 37.2% on off-the-dribble jumpers, per Synergy Sports. In the first half in particular, TCU was happy to have Prince sit in the paint and dare Hidalgo to make pull-ups — the same strategy Oregon State employed last season. She couldn’t make them pay and shot 2 of 7 from the mid-range on Saturday and 0 of 3 from 3-point range, all on self-created attempts.
“She’s one of the most explosive scorers in college basketball,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said of Hidalgo. “But we have a team. It was Taylor Bigby, Donovyn Hunter, Hailey [Van Lith] and Agnes [Emma-Nnopu]. All four of those kids had different opportunities to guard and defend her. And then on the back end of our defense, you got the best shot blocker in college basketball that’s hanging out around the rim and impacting shots. Even when [Sedona Prince] doesn’t block it, she changes a lot of shots.
“So just incredible collective effort. She’s so talented, you just want to make those shots difficult because she’s capable of hitting a whole bunch of difficult shots.Thankfully tonight she didn’t.”
As the game went along, Hidalgo was more insistent on trying to get to the basket, but wasn’t having much success with that approach either. Whether it was in transition or in the halfcourt, her drives were often smothered by TCU defenders. She had numerous shots blocked, including one by Hailey Van Lith in emphatic fashion in transition, and more altered.
While Hidalgo shot 68.2% in the restricted area this season, an extremely impressive mark for a 5-foot-6 guard, her size does make her susceptible at times to bigger, more physical defenses.
Hidalgo did not make her way to the podium after the game, but her backcourt partner Olivia Miles refused to give credit to TCU’s defense.
“No offense to them, but it was really nothing they did to alter us,” Miles said. “Obviously Sedona’s there, she was blocking shots. That’s one factor, but we were literally just missing shots that we normally make and that’s going to happen at times… I thought my team played extremely hard and fought to the end, so I’m very proud of them for that, but yeah, it’s just shots that we should make.”
While there is some truth to Miles’ claim, TCU deserves credit for their defensive game plan and effort, which forced Notre Dame, and Hidalgo into tough shots all game long.
