ACC names Hannah Hidalgo its Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year
Notre Dame freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo made her mark on the ACC in her first season of women's college basketball.
The conference recognized her impact Tuesday by naming Hidalgo as its Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She became the third player and first guard in conference history to win both awards in the same season following Duke center Elizabeth Williams (2012) and Syracuse center Kamilla Cardoso (2021).
Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley beat out Hidalgo as ACC Player of the Year.
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Hidalgo, who ESPNW ranked as the top point guard and No. 5 overall prospect in the 2023 class at the conclusion of her Haddonfield (N.J.) Paul VI career, set the conference record with 12 ACC Rookie of the Week honors in 17 weeks.
Hidalgo finished the 2023-24 regular season leading the ACC in scoring average with 23.8 points per game, which also ranks third nationally. By surpassing 659 points, Hidalgo set a single-season ACC freshman scoring record. She enters the ACC Tournament, in which the No. 14 Irish (23-6, 13-5) will play Friday at 11 a.m. EST in the quarterfinal round as the No. 4 seed, with 689 points scored this season.
Hidalgo also averages 5.4 assist per game (third-best in the ACC) and 6.5 rebounds per game (16th).
Defensively, Hidalgo leads Division I in total steals (141) and steals per game (4.86). She broke the Notre Dame program record for steals in a season, which was previously set by Skylar Diggins with 114 in 2012-13.
The Nancy Lieberman Award named Hidalgo as one of its five finalists for the best point guard in the country on Monday.
Hidalgo was Notre Dame's lone representative on the 10-player All-ACC First Team. Two of her teammates made the All-ACC Second Team: senior forward Maddy Westbeld and junior guard Sonia Citron.
2023-24 All-ACC Women’s Basketball Team
Player of the Year: Elizabeth Kitley, Gr., C, Virginia Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Hannah Hidalgo, Fr., G, Notre Dame
Rookie of the Year: Hannah Hidalgo, G, Notre Dame
Coach of the Year: Felisha Legette-Jack, Syracuse
Sixth Player of the Year: Oluchi Okananwa, Fr., G, Duke
Most Improved Player: Liatu King, Sr., F, Pitt
All-ACC First Team
Elizabeth Kitley, Gr., C, Virginia Tech – 1,603
Dyaisha Fair, Gr., G, Syracuse – 1,463
Hannah Hidalgo, Fr., G, Notre Dame – 1,461
Georgia Amoore, Sr., G, Virginia Tech – 1,402
Ta'Niya Latson, So., G, Florida State – 1,274
Deja Kelly, Sr., G, North Carolina – 921
Aziaha James, Jr., G, NC State – 871
Saniya Rivers, Jr., G, NC State – 815
Makayla Timpson, Jr., F, Florida State – 766
Liatu King, Sr., F, Pitt – 765"
All-ACC Second Team
Maddy Westbeld, Jr., F, Notre Dame – 715
Amari Robinson, Gr., F, Clemson – 698
Sonia Citron, Jr., G, Notre Dame – 651
Alyssa Ustby, Sr., G/F, North Carolina – 573
Kiki Jefferson, Gr., G, Louisville – 504
Kymora Johnson, Fr., G, Virginia – 437
Tonie Morgan, So., G, Georgia Tech – 358
Kara Dunn, So., G, Georgia Tech – 349
Reigan Richardson, Jr., G, Duke – 252
Olivia Cochran, Sr., F, Louisville – 224
All-Defensive Team
Hannah Hidalgo, Fr., G, Notre Dame – 326
Makayla Timpson, Jr., F, Florida State – 231
Elizabeth Kitley, Gr., C, Virginia Tech – 170
Saniya Rivers, Jr., G, NC State – 135
Dontavia Waggoner, Sr., G, Boston College – 102
All-Freshman Team
Hannah Hidalgo, G, Notre Dame – 412
Kymora Johnson, G, Virginia – 304
Zoe Brooks, G, NC State – 162
Oluchi Okananwa, G, Duke – 125
Alyssa Latham, F, Syracuse – 120
ACC Most Improved
Liatu King, Pitt – 237
Aziaha James, NC State – 226
Kara Dunn, Georgia Tech – 121
ACC Sixth Player
Oluchi Okananwa, Duke – 298
Zoe Brooks, NC State – 277
Indya Nivar, North Carolina – 98
ACC Coach of the Year
Felisha Legette-Jack, Syracuse – 293
Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech – 214
Wes Moore, NC State – 164
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