29-4 (13-4) AP/Coaches: 6/6 NET: 7 |
March 27, 20261:30PM CT at Dickie’s ArenaESPN | Radio Call | Live Stats |
24-10 (?12-6?) AP/Coaches: 22/25 NET: 21 |
We are in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2009 after a rough and tough thanks 20-point win over Illinois. Sacha Washington played her final game in Memorial Gymnasium, marking the last time a pre-Ralph player (and any player I got to watch as a student) will suit up for us at home. The camera cut to her as time wound down this past Monday, and we got to see the emotion stream out of her. I am really happy for her; she worked through a lot to remain here and has said credited Shea Ralph with
having a massive impact on her life. I’ve met her a few times and thought she was great to be around, and my friend who was a manager for the team only has the best things to say about her. That win, in my mind, was for her. I hope there’s even more to come.
Facing towards today’s game, oh, what’s this? We are facing a 6-seed instead of a 3-seed? Yep, despite 13-year Vandy starter Jordyn Cambridge’s sister Jaloni’s 41-point, 7-rebound effort, the Fighting Irish cracked the Buckeyes open early and held them off to advance. That win set up a battle of giants: Mikayla Blakes versus Hannah Hidalgo.
Women’s Collegiate Basketball has become a star-centered sport the past few years, with big names dominating the headlines. “Hidalgo” has been one of those names, up there with “Juju” and “Paige” and now “Mikayla Blakes.” Blakes and Hidalgo are the first and third best scorers this year after being the eighth and fifth best scorers last year. Both make over 46% of their shots while differing in the types of shots they take: Blakes takes 40% of her shorts from beyond the arc, making 37% of them (meaning she makes 53% of shots within the arc), while Hidalgo only takes 20% of her shots from three, making 26% of them (54% if you were curious). That difference in shot selection and shooting percentages is what helps Blakes top Hidalgo in scoring, given they both attempt right under 20 shots a game. Hidalgo is a better all-around player, though, averaging 3.7 more rebounds and 0.6 more assists than Blakes.
That discrepancy could just be because Blakes has team members doing more of that for her: Washington brings in 8 boards a game while Galvan dishes on 6 scores. Hidalgo leads her team in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals while our players take on much more defined roles on the team. This has been a key difference putting us over the top in a few wins this season, like when we kept Aaliyah Chavez relatively bottled up when we played Oklahoma and severely limited Olivia Olson when we played Michigan, both games against Sweet Sixteen teams where players other than Blakes stepped up big while the opposing team had trouble figuring it out. If we can contain Hidalgo, or even if she just has an off day, I trust our team to be better than our team. And if we can’t, Blakes is gonna put up 40 on her anyways.
