The clock inside Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena read 14.2 seconds to play. Notre Dame star junior guard Hannah Hidalgo pointed at the hardwood and told her teammates, “One stop. Right here.” This was the fifth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance for the Irish under Niele Ivey, a national champion as a player under Muffet McGraw. The previous four trips ended right there, but Ivey couldn’t ask for a better scenario with Hidalgo, the nation’s best defender, needing one stop to propel Notre Dame over the hurdle.
In what was an up-and-down season for the Irish, it was only fitting that this Sweet 16 battle with Vanderbilt was an up-and-down affair. Yet, after Ivey and Hidalgo both faced immense criticism following 2025’s collapse, they had just 14 seconds separating them from a March miracle for the history books.
Already sitting on a triple-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals and 7 assists, Hidalgo’s relentless pursuit and energy forced two Commodore misses in those final 14 seconds. As the buzzer sounded, Hidalgo launched the ball in the air and sprinted for an embrace with Ivey at midcourt. “It was such a magical moment,” Ivey said.
That magical moment, with the weight of the world lifted off her shoulders, seemed impossible for Ivey just two months prior, and even a year earlier on the exact same stage. “Every year, I’m thinking, ‘how do I get over this hump?’ It’s really hard getting to the Sweet 16, so you never discredit the work we’ve done, but we definitely had hit a wall,” she said, looking back on the previous season’s crushing Sweet 16 defeat to TCU.
That 2025 Irish team arguably possessed the greatest collection of talent in program history, yet Hidalgo and senior forward Cassandre Prosper were the only returners heading into this past season. Despite some institutional restrictions, Ivey had to navigate the transfer portal to fill out a competitive roster. “I’ve been here for so long, so I’ve got experience identifying the right type of player that can be successful at Notre Dame. Identifying fit is number one, but you have to find players that value and understand the magnitude of a Notre Dame education,” Ivey stated.
She also [needed] positional fit with the voids vacated by stars Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles. “I needed another ball handler — Vanessa [De Jesus] fulfilled that. I needed somebody off the ball that could be a three-level scorer — Iyana [Moore] did that, and brought some SEC experience. And then I needed some depth and versatility in the frontcourt — Gisela [Sanchez] and Malaya [Cowles] did that with the back-to-the-basket presence.”
Looking back at the transfer class as a whole, Ivey asserted, “I thought they all brought a level of culture for us; very much underdogs with a chip on their shoulders. I thought that was complimentary to the three returners that we had.”
Although Ivey was high on her group, the national expectations for Notre Dame were dampened heading into the season. The early reports of Notre Dame’s demise seemed to be accurate, as the Irish were bludgeoned 93-54 by Michigan on Nov. 15. Following that lifeless performance, the Irish had six days to prepare for No. 11 USC at home. Ivey recounted how her team responded to the Michigan embarrassment, saying, “You have to learn from it. We had to grow from those moments, and I always stress having the right approach of getting better and getting back to work.”
They certainly learned from it, and once again led by Hidalgo’s heroics, the Irish came from behind to stun USC with a 61-59 victory. A game-winning shot with less than two seconds remaining punctuated Hidalgo’s 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
Notre Dame steadied the ship to end the calendar year, but a rough start to conference play left the Irish with a 3-6 record at the end of January. Once again having to battle external noise, Hidalgo’s leadership willed the Irish off the NCAA Tournament bubble with a blazing hot February. Hidalgo’s performance on both ends of the court is apparent to all, but Ivey was struck by her off-the-court improvements, saying, “Her maturity and leadership last year was phenomenal. This year, she’s gonna come in with an even bigger hunger because she got that taste of the Elite Eight.”
Following that tumultuous January, the Irish won 12 of their final 15. They knocked off Miami and NC State to reach the ACC Tournament semifinals, and also bested Fairfield and Ohio State before toppling Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament. While Hidalgo’s season averages of 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.6 steals earned her ACC Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, the late-season surge was complemented by many of those ancillary pieces. Prosper finished her season with averages of 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds, and the 12-3 finish coincided with the return of senior guard KK Bransford from injury.
Ivey attributed the success to her team trusting the process of improvement. “With a new roster, everything takes time. It takes time to trust each, and we started to build that over time, started finding success and stringing wins in a row,” she said.
Although Notre Dame was outclassed in the Elite Eight by the juggernaut UConn Huskies, Ivey is confident heading into 2027, and for good reason. “We have the best player in the country coming back,” she said.
Notre Dame has also hit the portal hard again, as they look to add impact pieces to pair with the star-studded incoming freshman class. “We’ll have depth in different positions. We’ll have size and athleticism with our incoming freshmen,” Ivey said of recent additions, which include Anaya Hardy from Louisville and Madison St. Rose from Princeton.
“We’re hungry. The Elite Eight is inspiring for us. I know that’s motivating Hannah, and our freshmen, and the players that just joined our program. They want to be a part of it, they want to contribute, and everybody’s gonna have the right mindset,” Ivey said.
But before they can return to the madness of March, a summer of work and a winter of consistency will have to precede. The opening test will be on Nov. 1 in Rome, as both the men’s and women’s programs will head just miles from the Vatican for a doubleheader with Pope Leo XIV’s alma mater, Villanova. “I’m all about having the student-athletes have a great experience while they’re in college and to do things that they normally might not have the opportunity to do,” Ivey said of the trip to Italy.
Once they return to home soil, the Irish will embark on yet another highly anticipated campaign with Niele Ivey and Hannah Hidalgo at the reins. But they don’t view it as pressure; rather, they see it as an opportunity. “The standard is the standard. Every year, there is always the expectation to win championships. I’ve had the opportunity to do that as a player and an assistant. So I don’t think it’s pressure. When you recognize the standard as the legacy you’re a part of, in a way that’s healthy,” Ivey said.
She continued to say, “I’m gonna push them in a way that will have them prepared to go into battle. I want it to be intense, but in a healthy way where we focus on the work, focus on the process, and focus on your habits, and the rest will take care of itself.”
That battle will be a six-month process spanning from Rome to Columbus, the site of the 2027 Final Four. And if the rest takes care of itself, Notre Dame will return to its position atop the college basketball world and atop the ladders, cutting down the national championship nets.
