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South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo is 10th in latest ESPN ranking of women’s college basketball players

Hidalgo's freshman season at Notre Dame is getting a lot of recognition. ESPN ranked her 10th on its latest ranking of the best 25 women's college basketball players.

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo drives to the basket as South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso defends during both teams' season opener on Nov. 6 in Paris.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo drives to the basket as South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso defends during both teams' season opener on Nov. 6 in Paris.Read moreThibault Camus / AP

Hannah Hidalgo’s freshman season at Notre Dame probably couldn’t be going much better.

The Paul VI grad from Merchantville has been named ACC rookie of the week four times. Her Fighting Irish, ranked 14th, have just one loss, a season-opening defeat to No. 1 South Carolina in Paris. Her statistical averages through nine games: 23.6 points, 6.1 steals, 5.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists. Hidalgo has scored at least 21 points in all but one game.

She is fourth in scoring nationwide and first in steals.

On Thursday, her upward trajectory continued. In its latest list of the 25 best players in women’s college basketball, ESPN ranked Hidalgo 10th. She is the second-highest-ranked freshman on the list and is ahead of stars like LSU’s Angel Reese and Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is, of course, No. 1. Hidalgo, who posted her second career double-double on Sunday, was not ranked in the top 25 before the season started.

» READ MORE: South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo is showing no signs of slowing down at Notre Dame

“Imagine telling someone in the preseason that by late December, Olivia Miles hadn’t yet played and Sonia Citron had been limited to three games ... but Notre Dame was 8-1 and ranked No. 14,” ESPN’s Michael Voepel wrote. “They would say, ‘How?’ ‘Hidalgo’ is the answer.”

Hidalgo’s Notre Dame team closes out its nonconference slate Thursday night vs. Western Michigan. Then it’s a holiday homecoming. Hidalgo will be honored Friday at Paul VI, where the school will celebrate her scoring 2,000-plus points and being awarded New Jersey’s Gatorade Player of the Year.