Hannah Hidalgo never accepts losing. Syracuse saw it firsthand Thursday.
Hannah Hidalgo ran rampant versus Syracuse with 27 points and seven steals. But that’s nothing new for Hidalgo, who’s one of the nation’s top players. Courtesy of Fighting Irish Media
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Losing never sat right with Hannah Hidalgo. Backyard battles with her four brothers shaped her, and her opponents grew to fear her. If she lost a pickup game, she always ran it back. No negotiating.
Under her father Orlando’s guidance, Hidalgo matched up against future NBA players and embraced the idea that losing was a choice. She refused to surrender if there was time left on the clock.
“She’s always been a fighter,” Orlando said. “She didn’t care what it was. She always competed. And she moved her way up by just having an opportunity.”
That mentality followed her into college. Hidalgo’s used to winning, but this season has brought a new challenge. Notre Dame entered Thursday’s matchup against Syracuse at 18-9. It’d done enough to crack the NCAA Tournament for the third time in Hidalgo’s three years, but ND’s nine defeats were the most she’d ever experienced.
Orlando said it’s been difficult for his daughter to see her team play how it has. But the Hidalgos believe everything happens for a reason. This season may just continue to fuel the making of a monster.
“I hate losing more than I love winning,” Hidalgo told Andscape.
Though the Fighting Irish’s (19-9, 11-6 Atlantic Coast) season was once spiraling, they’ve now won four straight games after beating Syracuse (21-7, 11-6 ACC) 72-62 Thursday. The defeat starts SU’s first losing streak this season, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the Orange were in desperate need of a Quad 1 win to boost their NCAA Tournament resume.
Laila Phelia dropped 23 points, while Uche Izoje added her 12th double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 boards. But regardless of Syracuse’s individual performances, the spotlight belonged to Hidalgo.
“She’s special,” Legette-Jack said postgame. “We brought the ball down to her level, and she made us pay every single time. She is the best player in our conference.”
Legette-Jack knew SU would have its hands full against the Fighting Irish. Players like Hidalgo don’t have off games. They attack every moment they get. So, while Notre Dame’s lead grew to 11 in the fourth quarter, Hidalgo never stopped pressing.
Her 27 points and seven steals led the game, while she added eight rebounds, tying Sophie Burrows for the contest’s second most. In four career meetings with the Orange, Hidalgo has averaged 26.5 points, 6.8 boards and 4.8 steals. She’s grown accustomed to dominating Syracuse, yet it’s just another stop on her path of destruction.
“She does the work. She’s relentless. She doesn’t stop,” Legette-Jack said of ND’s guard Wednesday. “I’m just smitten by her.”
Hidalgo’s 24.9 points a game lead the ACC, and her 5.6 steals top the nation. She’s at the pinnacle of the women’s basketball world and has her sights set on the 2027 WNBA Draft, where she’ll likely be a top pick. But Hidalgo’s preparation started long before college.
When Hidalgo was 7 years old, she often tagged along to her older brothers’ practices, participating in one-on-ones and team workouts. Orlando, their head coach, remembers a conversation with Pervis Ellison, the first pick in the 1989 NBA Draft and an assistant for the Nike EYBL team.
“She’s gonna be different,” he told Orlando. “Keep an eye on her.”
Hidalgo’s development sent shockwaves through the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. She made opponents cry before she faced them and regularly won championships and MVP awards. But the road wasn’t perfect.
As the youngest of five siblings, Hidalgo learned to embrace an underdog mentality. She was smaller than everyone else and saw girls ranked higher than her. She felt she never had a real shot at showing who she was compared to others in her class.
When she did get her shot, though, she didn’t let it go to waste. Hidalgo played for the inaugural USA women’s team in the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit. With each performance, she moved up the rankings, reaching a peak of fifth in the 2023 class, Orlando said.
Winning the McDonald’s All-American Game MVP Award — in a field that featured USC’s JuJu Watkins, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley — was Hidalgo’s long-awaited statement. But she still didn’t receive the recognition the other stars did.
“That’s what makes her a fighter,” Orlando said. “That’s what makes her wanna strive and play hard and never give up.”
Well, the recognition has definitely come in college. She’s earned six ACC Player of the Week awards this year and is the fastest player in conference history to reach 2,000 points. She was the ACC Preseason Player of the Year and is a two-time First Team All-American.
She set an NCAA record with 16 steals in Notre Dame’s win over Akron in November 2025 and paired it with 44 points. Hidalgo’s made it difficult for basketball enthusiasts to dislike her. That includes Legette-Jack.
SU’s head coach refers to opposing players by their numbers, a way to keep distance from those trying to dismantle her team. She only uses a player’s name when she’s fallen in love with their game.
But Hidalgo’s one of the best. She makes it impossible to keep that distance. And if she hadn’t already, her performance Thursday surely left Legette-Jack with no choice but to acknowledge her by name.
“She (plays) with eloquence. She’s so little and yet she’s so big,” Legette-Jack said. “Nobody in the country is like (Hannah) Hidalgo.”
