How Hannah Hidalgo's frustration turned into defensive intensity in NCAA Tourney opener

SOUTH BEND — A frustrated Hannah Hidalgo can still be a dangerous Hannah Hidalgo. Maybe even more so.

In the third quarter — when the rest of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team was largely and suddenly slumbering during its 81-67 first-round NCAA Tournament win over Kent State on Saturday afternoon in front of a virtual full-house crowd at Purcell Pavilion — Hidalgo flat went off like fireworks defensively.

The freshman All-American piled up five of her six steals during that 10-minute window, keeping the Golden Flashes from doing further damage in a period that they somehow outscored ND 16-10 anyway to trim a 49-30 halftime deficit to 59-46.

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“I think I was just frustrated,” Hidalgo said of the third quarter, “and when I get frustrated like that, I don’t know, my defensive intensity just picks up.”

Making her NCAA Tourney debut, Hidalgo replied to the moment with a career-high 11 assists, several of the slick variety, against three turnovers and tossed in 14 points to go with her half-dozen acts of thievery.

The second-seeded Irish (27-6) won their ninth straight game while the 15th-seeded Golden Flashes closed 21-11.

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“I tried to look at it as just another game,” Hidalgo said. “I don’t want to stress myself out thinking, ‘Hey, it could be our last game of the season, win or go home,’ so I just looked at it as another game where I was giving my heart, but the atmosphere was definitely different, of course, being the NCAA Tournament. The fans were hyped and I loved it.”

As for that frustration she was nonetheless feeling in that third quarter, it stemmed in part from a bit of an off shooting day for Hidalgo at 5-of-14 from the field to go with 2-of-5 at the line (1-of-4 during the quarter specifically), and from ND letting up some.

“We just have to do a better job of locking in on defense for all four quarters,” Hidalgo said. “We got kind of laxed defensively after a nice start (10 points allowed in the first period, but 57 the rest of the way) instead of playing hard and aggressive, but basketball is a game of runs, so we knew they’d go on theirs. We just had to do a good job staying poised, keeping the lead. We did a good job (down the stretch) of getting back into our game.”

Regarding her own play defensively in that third period after a steal-less first half by the nation’s leader in steals, she said she felt like a bit of a self-imposed harness came off.

“I had a quick foul the first half,” Hidalgo said of the one whistled on her just 2:37 into the game, “and didn’t want to get another one, and then in the second half, I was able to be a little more aggressive.”

It was as if, just like Kent State coach Todd Starkey warned a day earlier, the bell for recess suddenly rang.

“She looks like a kid at recess on a sugar high,” Starkey had said of Hidalgo. “She’s just buzzing all over the court and just seems like there’s three of her out there at times.”

Citron ties top total

Junior guard Sonia Citron poured in 29 points for the Irish, matching the career high she scored early in her freshman season at Michigan State.

Citron finished 13-of-20 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers. She also grabbed six rebounds, dealt four assists and made two steals.

During ND’s 18-0 spree that turned an early 5-4 deficit into a 22-5 lead, she netted seven straight points.

“I think my teammates were just finding me,” Citron said, “and I was just getting good positions to shoot, and I was knocking them down. I think I was getting a lot of my points off of just transitioning.”

Indeed, the Irish finished with a whopping 22-3 advantage in fast-break points and with a 23-9 edge in points off turnovers on a day they committed nine of their own to 16 by the Flashes, but Citron was also wickedly good in sets.

“She was fantastic tonight, and she’s exactly what we needed as far as just settling our offense down,” ND coach Niele Ivey said of Citron. “I thought when the ball went through her hands, something great happened. She shot with confidence. She took the right shots. She played with great pace.”