Hannah Hidalgo embraces her role as Notre Dame's "energy piece": "I’m trying to be consistent"

Hannah Hidalgo led No. 8 Notre Dame to a 79-68 win over No. 2 UConn, handing the Huskies their first loss of the season. Hidalgo recorded 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to power the Fighting Irish to the home victory Thursday.

After the game, the sophomore talked about her performance.

“I know I’m that energy piece for my team,” she said (via On3). “So I try and bring it, not only for every game, but for every practice. Like what you guys see in the games is kind of what I’m bringing for practice. So I know my team needs that, and I know they feed off of that. So I’m trying to be consistent, bringing that energy.”

With the win, Hidalgo became the first player in the past 25 seasons to have multiple games against UConn with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. She also tied Sabrina Ionescu for the most such games against an AP top-10 opponent, reaching these milestones before her 20th birthday.

Notre Dame HC Niele Ivey praises Hannah Hidalgo and teammates for resilience in "tough stretch" against elite teams

Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey acknowledged Hannah Hidalgo for bringing her passion and energy to the team's success against the Huskies.

"And then Hannah, fantastic," Ivey told reporters in the postgame press conference. "She plays with her heart. And then, in the first half, I thought her 3s were major. It got the crowd in the game. It really gave us so much momentum."

Ivey also praised the team for their resilience in front of elite teams. Notre Dame defeated No. 5 USC and No. 6 Texas earlier this season before the win over UConn. With recent wins over the higher-ranked teams, Ivey insisted that the Fighting Irish have done enough to be part of the elite teams in college women's basketball.

Next, North Dame will face Eastern Michigan on Sunday but will not play another elite team until next year.