In my opinion, there was no better women’s basketball player this year other than Notre Dame guard, Hannah Hidalgo. So while the Naismith Award for that didn’t include her as a finalist, they did for the best defensive player — and of course she stole it.
Hannah Hidalgo Wins Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year
ATLANTA — After one of the greatest
defensive seasons in NCAA history, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo has been named the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday evening as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Hidalgo became the first player in program history to earn the award.
The standout has already been named the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year along with Naismith All-America, USBWA All-America and USA Today All-America First Teams.
Hidalgo set multiple NCAA steals records over the course of the season, including the single-season record with 202 during the 2025-26 campaign. She became the first women’s or men’s player to reach the 200-steal milestone in a season since steals became an official stat in 1988.
The Merchantville, New Jersey, native also set the record for most steals in a single NCAA Tournament with 29 over the course of four games. Hidalgo had back-to-back eight steal performances in wins over Fairfield and Ohio State before setting the program record for steals in an NCAA Tournament game with 10 in the win over Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen. Hidalgo then added three more against UConn in the Elite Eight.
The junior also broke the single-game NCAA and program record for steals, recording 16 in the win over Akron to go along with her program-record 44 points in the win.
In just three seasons, Hidalgo has already claimed the program record for career steals with 481.
