The Fighting Irish star was spotted in the crowd at Washington’s pre-season game with Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever on Saturday, where she provided her full support to this year’s third overall pick in the WNBA Draft
20:06, 04 May 2025Updated 20:11, 04 May 2025
Former Notre Dame star Sonia Citron made her debut for the Washington Mystics this weekend
Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo made sure she was on hand to witness Sonia Citron’s Washington Mystics debut this weekend following her move to the WNBA.
The former Fighting Irish star waved goodbye to Niele Ivey’s side this spring as her college basketball career came to an end, seeing her selected as the third overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft last month as a result of her impressive final year in South Bend. There may have been no March Madness title, but Citron more than played her role as Notre Dame was crowned ACC regular season co-champions and ended the 2024 campaign with a 28-6 overall record.
Alongside Hidalgo and fellow guard Olivia Miles, who has since transferred to TCU for her final year of college eligibility, Citron formed one of the most formidable trios at the collegiate level. Now, however, she has a new set of teammates to play alongside and will hope to create a similar impact as she takes her career to the next level.
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With such a quick turnaround between the end of the college basketball season and the start of the new WNBA campaign, Citron hasn’t had a great deal of time to integrate with the Mystics since last month’s draft, but her new fans got their first taste of watching her in action on Saturday as she played in Washington’s pre-season friendly with Indiana.
In a game that finished 79-74 to the Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, who were without Caitlin Clark, Citron managed to score 15 points on her professional debut, better only by teammate Brittney Sykes, who scored a game-high 18 points. Stefanie Dolson added a further 10 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat for the Mystics.
Nonetheless, Citron’s performance generated plenty of applause and none more so than from Hidalgo, who had courtside seats for the contest. Taking to her Instagram Stories while at the game, the Notre Dame ace uploaded a snap of her former teammate in action. “Big mf Sonia,” she wrote. “She’s doing so good.”
Hannah Hidalgo uploaded a picture of Citron in action to her Instagram story on Saturday(Image: Instagram – Hannah Hidalgo)
Following her move to the Washington Mystics, Citron opened up on her “amazing” four years with Notre Dame and how much the growth of women’s basketball has meant to her, having firmly established herself as one of the program’s best players to ever grace the court in South Bend.
“I think I’ve definitely fallen in love with the league just more and more because I never thought that I could be here truly, and so I mean, it’s just amazing to be here and as for the viewership and the growth of women’s basketball, I think it means everything to me, and I think I can talk for all players when I say that we work so hard for our craft, and to see people finally realizing that and appreciating that, it means a lot.”
During her time with Notre Dame, the 21-year-old became the only Fighting Irish player to ever record 1700 points, 700 rebounds, and 300 assists. In her final year, she averaged 14.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals in 32 games and, with her draft selection, became the 21st player in Notre Dame history to be chosen and the 11th to be selected in the opening round.
Personal highlights throughout her time in Ivey’s side include an ACC Tournament title in 2024 and regular season titles in both 2023 and 2025, while there were countless personal accolades, including the 2022 ACC Rookie of the Year and All-America Honorable Mention status in both 2023 and 2025. Citron was also a three-time All-ACC Selection.
Citron managed to score 15 points on her professional debut as Washington fell to a 79-74 to the Fever in a pre-season friendly
Forwards Maddy Westbeld and Liatu King, who played equally important roles during their time in South Bend, also entered this year’s WNBA Draft, with Westbeld going 16th overall to the Chicago Sky and King heading to the Los Angeles Sparks as the 28th overall pick in the third round.
Since then, Notre Dame has moved quickly to sign their replacements, bringing in Gisela Sanchez, Malaya Cowles, and Vanessa de Jesus for the 2025-26 college basketball season. Sanchez has transferred from Kansas State, Cowles has transferred from Wake Forest, and De Jesus has left Duke after four seasons.
As for Hidalgo, she remains a Notre Dame player for another year, at least, having only just ended her sophomore year at the Indiana-based institution. Speculation had previously abounded that the youngster could enter the transfer portal, following the lead of Miles, Kate Koval, and Emma Risch in joining the exodus, but the highly-rated guard has instead decided to return to the program next season, putting an end to rumors over her future.