South Jersey’s Hannah Hidalgo was a main attraction on a star-studded night between Notre Dame and USC
Amid several big names in attendance, the matchup featured championship-contending teams and their star sophomores in a game that "was great for women's basketball"
LOS ANGELES — An hour before tipoff, Notre Dame standout guard Hannah Hidalgo swayed as she warmed up on the court to the sounds of Kendrick Lamar.
Turn this TV off. Turn this TV off.
This moment was, in fact, very much about appointment viewing. As Hidalgo danced, the documentary series chronicling the rise of Southern California’s JuJu Watkins premiered on NBC — just ahead of the network TV matchup between two top-six teams and two guards with All-American distinctions.
Hidalgo, the South Jersey native out of Paul VI High School, was the costar. Two cameras captured images of her as she sat on the baseline with her eyes closed in meditation. Soon, Snoop Dogg would appear as part of a sellout crowd to cheer on Watkins. Actor Michael B. Jordan also came to USC’s Galen Center, alongside WNBA players and other decision-makers.
“I saw them, but I’m not so focused on that,” Hidalgo said of the celebrities. “I’m focused on winning with my team.”
They all watched Hidalgo, Notre Dame’s defensive dynamo, lead the No. 6 Fighting Irish to a workmanlike 74-61 win over No. 3 USC on Saturday. Notre Dame never trailed as Hidalgo collected 24 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, and her usual 5 steals. Watkins scored 24 points as well, but the Fighting Irish (5-0) controlled the game and forced her into a 2-for-9 shooting performance in the first half.
Hidalgo, meanwhile, entered a contest that she knew would be “a big hoopla game” and came out swinging in the first quarter. She hit two jumpers to score the game’s first points and later punched the air after her teammates hit the floor and tied up Watkins.
After dishing off to backcourt mate Olivia Miles for a three-pointer, she blew a chef’s kiss. Then she took a pass from Miles, swished a three-pointer of her own, and glared.
“I don’t want to do it angry or upset,” Hidalgo said regarding maintaining her swagger. “I don’t want to take it for granted, so I’m just excited and just having fun.
“For my team, I’m that energy. I bring that energy. I know my team feeds off of that. I know that they feed off of when I’m diving on the floor and getting stops, when I’m running in transition. And then everyone else raises their level of intensity.”
The Fighting Irish managed to slow down Watkins, one of the recognizable faces of college basketball. She’s the one who last season set the NCAA Division I women’s basketball freshman scoring record. She’s the one who appeared in a commercial with Joel Embiid in a barbershop scene in which the Sixers big man had his hair done up in Watkins’ signature bun. That docuseries? She executive produced it at age 19.
The 5-foot-6 Hidalgo, also 19, is a star as well. And as USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb noted, “They sent Hannah running around like the sort of disrupter that she is.” While it was mainly the 6-1 Sonia Citron guarding the 6-2 Watkins, Hidalgo made her presence felt.
“You feel like you’re doing a decent job on Miles, and she goes crazy in the second half,” Gottlieb said, as Miles finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. “Then you think you’re making them take a tough shot, and then Hannah gets out in transition. It’s difficult to have two dynamic guards out there.”
Said Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey of Hidalgo: “Big-time player. Big-time stage. I’m not at all shocked by what she did today. From the beginning, she guarded everybody on the court one time. Just so feisty. So energetic. It’s contagious for our group. So unselfish.”
Los Angeles loves its stars and played host to a Final Four-level slate of games over the weekend. Across town on Sunday, Dawn Staley’s No. 1 South Carolina team played at No. 5 UCLA. Gottlieb noted that the city was the “center of the women’s basketball universe for a weekend.”
“Look at this building, right?” Gottlieb said after the loss. “The sellout, the star power that’s here. The regular people who come just to watch great basketball.
“This is a great weekend for the sport in LA, and we’re glad to be a part of it.”
Caitlin Clark might no longer play college basketball, but she left a legacy of showing the potential for the women’s game to become a marquee attraction. When presented with the possibility of creating a home-and-home matchup that featured championship-contending teams and their star sophomores, Gottlieb said it came together easily thanks to Ivey and their “shared vision on what is good for basketball.”
“I thought it was great for women’s basketball in general,” Ivey said. “Lindsay and I spoke about this a year ago, just saying how incredible this matchup would be. We’re trying to help grow the game.”