Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo go head-to-head in Sweet 16
· Yahoo Sports
The No. 2-seeded Vanderbilt women's basketball team heads to Fort Worth, Texas, to face No. 6 Notre Dame in a Sweet 16 matchup Friday and all eyes are on two of the nation’s top guards, Mikayla Blakes and Hannah Hidalgo.
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Both players have grabbed the country's attention with their talent but have yet to compete on the same floor, until now.
“When we come to the tournament, we have to continue to be us, and we’re gonna make our game plan,” Blakes said. “She’s a really good player, and we’re gonna play her like that too.”
Statistically, Blakes and Hidalgo are near mirror images. Blakes leads with 27.1 points per game, shooting 46.4% from the field. Her game is built on ball control and efficiency, and she takes over at all three levels.
Hidalgo averages 25.2 points per game, shooting 47.8% from the field. But she pairs her scoring with defensive grit. Hidalgo averages 5.6 steals per game, the tops in the country.
Blakes was named SEC Player of the Year after earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors in her debut season. Hidalgo was the 2023-24 ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, and she has since won back-to-back ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Although they haven't gone head-to-head, the athletes were teammates.
Both Blakes and Hidalgo were on Team USA’s gold medal run at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup, with Blakes earning MVP honors and Hidalgo landing on the All-Star Five.
In Fort Worth, they'll be on opposite sides for the first time.
“We’re gonna prepare like we’ve been preparing all year,” Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said. “You prepare in November, December, January … so you don’t have to get ready. You don’t have to rise to the level of the occasion, because you’re gonna fall to the level of your standard.”
Vanderbilt and Notre Dame haven’t met since a 2001 in the Elite Eight. The Fighting Irish won that game and hold a 3-1 all-time series advantage.
Now, Blakes and Hidalgo will compete for the first time Friday (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Dickies Arena, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Katie Fryburger is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo meet in Sweet 16