Notre Dame junior guard Hannah Hidalgo has been named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. She is the first Fighting Irish player to ever win the award.
Exceptional Season
This past season, Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 5.2 assists per game. She is the only Division I women's or men's player since the 1999-00 season to average at least 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals per game over an entire season.
Hidalgo set an NCAA women's basketball record as the first player to ever record more than 200 steals in a single season, finishing with 202 during her 2025-26 campaign. She helped guide Notre Dame to a 25-11 record and the program's first appearance in the Elite Eight since 2019.
Accolades
Previously, Hidalgo was named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, as well as a USBWA All-America and USA Today All-America First Team.
As a junior, Hidalgo set the Notre Dame record with 481 career steals, while becoming the fastest player in ACC and program history to reach 2,000 career points, doing so in 86 games.