Hannah Hidalgo<\/a> of Notre Dame ranks third at 25.2 points per game and leads the nation in steals. She won ACC Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors.<\/p>\n And though the athletes definitely wanted to downplay any potential pressure from that matchup, Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph<\/a> admitted that she\u2019s looking forward to \u201cwitnessing greatness\u201d when her second-seeded Commodores face the No. 6 seed Fighting Irish<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHannah is also a great player in her own right,\u201d Ralph said. \u201cWhat I do know about my player, Mikayla, is I don\u2019t have to worry about her getting outside of herself. I never have, and my guess is I never will. She was built for these moments. She\u2019s prepared and ready, and it really doesn\u2019t matter who we play against.\u201d<\/p>\n Hidalgo, who faced Blakes in high school before suiting up alongside her for Team USA in last year\u2019s FIBA AmeriCup, offered her own analysis of the Vanderbilt guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe can score the ball in so many ways,\u201d Hidalgo said. \u201cObviously, we all know she\u2019s the No. 1 scorer in the country, but just the way she\u2019s able to put the ball in the hoop, it\u2019s unlike I feel like I\u2019ve ever seen. Like Caitlin [Clark]-type of level.\u201d<\/p>\n Expanding on her impressions of Hidalgo, Ralph cited her USA Basketball experience as a huge factor in the growth of her game. Hidalgo is especially skilled in pressuring the ball, averaging 5.56 steals per game.<\/p>\n Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women\u2019s Sports Daily \u201cI love the way that they play her on defense,\u201d Ralph said. \u201cIt allowed her \u2014 I said this yesterday \u2014 to be a free safety in a lot of ways. Because of her high IQ and competitiveness, she takes full advantage of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The day\u2019s second game between UConn and North Carolina will keep the focus in the backcourt, where the Huskies set an NCAA single-season record with 854 assists and an average of 23.7 per game. Junior guard KK Arnold<\/a> ranks second in the nation for assist to turnover ratio and Azzi Fudd<\/a> is 24th.\u00a0<\/p>\n Defensively, North Carolina\u2019s senior guard Indya Nivar<\/a> has helped slow down opponents with a career-high 90 steals, while typically guarding their top guards. But the Tar Heels will have their work cut out for them against the top-seeded and undefeated Huskies who average 89.1 points per game and shoot north of 50% from the field, while holding opponents to 50.3 points on average.<\/p>\n Courtney Banghart calls for more respect for ACC teams<\/p>\n North Carolina and Notre Dame are two of the record-tying five ACC teams preparing to play in the Sweet 16. And though that is the second-most of any conference, all five will take the court as the lower-seeded team, including tournament champion Duke who will face LSU in Sacramento.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the strength of our conference continues to be on display,\u201d Banghart said in an enthusiastic opening statement. \u201cObviously, we know we have a significant challenge in front of us, and that\u2019s what you live for.\u201d<\/p>\n Banghart\u2019s Tar Heels will face top-seeded defending champion UConn, which is riding a 52-game winning streak. North Carolina is seeded fourth.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, but I think the ACC has been the underdog all along,\u201d Banghart said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing that we get the four seeds and the five seeds all the time when we have more people advancing in the Big Ten, for example, year after year to the Sweet 16.\u201d<\/p>\n
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women\u2019s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women\u2019s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!<\/p>\n
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