"Playing every game like it's our last game": Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles share NCAA tournament goals for Notre Dame

Notre Dame star guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles shared their goals for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, with the Fighting Irish emerging as one of the top favorites to win the national title.

In a Slam Online feature on Wednesday, Hidalgo and Miles made their intentions clear to win the championship after losing to Oregon State in the Sweet 16 last season.

Hidalgo, Notre Dame's scoring and steals leader this season, emphasized playing like it's life or death in tournament play, pledging that she will do everything to help the team win every game.

"Just going out and playing every game like it's our last game especially when we get into tournament play like because every game could be our last," Hidalgo said.

Miles, meanwhile, made it clear that the team is determined to fight for the title and that their 17-2 start is just the start of something big. The playmaker pointed out the team is armed with lessons of the past and that consistency is key to progressing this season.

“Consistency is the biggest statement we can make," Miles said. "We've struggled with that in years prior, going out early in the tournament, not when we should have, losing to teams that we probably shouldn't have as well. Just being consistent and bringing our same identity every day is a statement for us.”

Hidalgo knows that the team has the tools to win the 2025 national title, and that's the biggest objective of the Fighting Irish in the second half of the season.

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Hannah Hidalgo takes pride to be a part of Notre Dame's high-octane offense

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo is proud of her team's performances this season despite losses to Utah and TCU. Following the setback in the Cayman Islands, the Fighting Irish became locked in, playing its swarming defense with conviction and executing its offense with precision.

The reawakened Fighting Irish are on a 12-game winning streak and leads the ACC standings with an 8-0 mark, beating top squads like Texas, UConn, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

Hannah Hidalgo believes that her teammates' ability to score in bunches, make it difficult for other teams to contain Notre Dame. Apart from Hidalgo and Miles, the Fighting Irish have Sonia Citron, Liatu King and freshman Kate Koval they can depend on during games.

“If I score 15 this half, I can expect Liv to come out and she's gonna start knocking down threes,” Hidalgo said. “Now she's gonna have 15 or 16 this half and even Soni throwing in points, too. And Soni will have, like, 30, and you won't even know it. So again, just pick your poison.

"We have so much firepower, especially with the guard play, and that's not even talking about the bigs who can pop and shoot and stuff like that,” she added.

The second half of the 2024-25 women's college basketball season will be critical for Notre Dame's campaign. Staying healthy will be a key factor in the Fighting Irish's quest to win its first title in seven years.

Notre Dame will hope that the team will keep its healthy personas going into the rougher grind of the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. It's optimistic about having enough firepower to avoid last season's disappointing finish and go on to win its third national title and first under coach Niele Ivey.