“I had seen her highlights on social media I was so impressed by her and her game is so exciting. So it’s honestly mind-blowing to me as to why she’s not getting as much media play as players like Paige Beckers and JuJu Watkins are.” Rachel DeMita recently spoke about how enamored she was after watching Hannah Hidalgo’s display against UC0nn. That’s why the title of her latest video was “Is Hannah Hidalgo The #1 Player In The Country!?”

“She is only a sophomore you guys, and JuJu Watkins is also a sophomore. but there is not enough spotlight on this player right now. This is somebody who and that’s why I wanted to make this video and kind of share her with you guys. She is exciting and that’s what we need in women’s basketball.” After a stat-line of near triple-double, the basketball content creator wanted more eyes on Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo. In fact, she also compared the play style with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year.

“It’s like that’s why I feel like one of the reasons why Caitlin Clark rose to fame as quick as she did because she plays an exciting brand of basketball.” DeMita shared with her 334k subscribers on YouTube as she discussed how the aggressive nature of CC’s gameplay is missing in other players. It was certainly so in Paige Bueckers’ display despite scoring 25 points. Hidalgo somewhat upstaged her with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

“One thing about her game as well is she is just so aggressive at all times and not only on offense but also on defense. She is so scrappy; she goes for every steal and she never gets tired.” The influencer further stated in the video that the contribution from Hidalgo was instrumental. She led the Fighting Irish in handing out UConn’s first loss of the season.

JuJu Watkins also suffered the same fate as Paige Bueckers

3 weeks ago, in a marquee matchup on the West Coast, Notre Dame guard once again showed her excellence. With 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists was enough to beat USC with 7,894 people in attendance. Watkins and Hidalgo ended the game as joint top scorer with 24 points, and the former also contributed with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

But not enough to prevent Notre Dame from handing the Trojans their only loss of the season. Hidalgo came out shooting well, hitting 5 of 8 from the floor in the first quarter and had 16 points at the break. Her backcourt partner, Olivia Miles, also scored 20 points with 8 rebounds and 7 assists to give an edge over JuJu Watkins and co.

Being the underdogs in both marquee matches, the Fighting Irish certainly showcased their fighting spirit. They made sure that UConn and USC suffered their first loss of the season. With the lights on the brightest, even Hannah Hidalgo proved her proficiency as she battled toe to toe with both JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers.