FORT WORTH, Texas — Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo broke the NCAA Division I single-season record for steals during Friday’s Sweet 16 win over Vanderbilt.
Hidalgo finished with a triple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals on the afternoon, setting yet another mark in the process — total steals in one NCAA tournament, breaking the previous record of 23 held by Ticha Penicheiro at Old Dominion in 1988 and Emily Engstler at Louisville in 2022.
Notre Dame needed the stat-sheet-filling effort from Hidalgo to hold off Vanderbilt 67-64 to advance to the Elite Eight, where the Irish will face the winner of Friday’s North Carolina-UConn matchup.
Hidalgo had seven steals in the first half alone — moving her past Lamar’s Chastadie Barrs, who held the previous single-season mark of 192 steals in 2018-19. Steals became an official NCAA stat in 1987-88. She was up to nine steals by the end of the third quarter of play, finishing with 10.
She was already just the second player to have at least eight steals in multiple NCAA tournament games. She had eight in each of Notre Dame’s first two tourney wins, over Fairfield and Ohio State.
Hidalgo won ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors this season, and she already owns the ACC single-season steals record and the Notre Dame career record for steals — the only player in school history to have more than 400 steals.
Cassandre Prosper added 15 points for the Irish in the win. Mikayla Blakes led Vanderbilt with 26 points and eight rebounds in a losing effort.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
