Newsstand: Two Notre Dame women's basketball players earn national honors Wednesday

With one month left in the regular season, Notre Dame women’s basketball players are landing on all kinds of awards nomination lists. Two more major ones came down Wednesday.

Senior Sonia Citron is one of 10 finalists for the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year award. Sophomore Hannah Hidalgo is on the watch list for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

Citron has taken a bit of a back seat to the Hidalgo + senior guard Olivia Miles show; she’s averaging 13.1 points per game, her lowest mark since averaging 11.8 as a freshman. She’s still a trusted defender, though — perhaps the Irish’s best woman-to-woman on-ball defensive player — and she’s the Irish’s best free throw shooter at a 92.2 percent hit rate for the season. She’s good for 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game, too — a little bit of everything.

Hidalgo, meanwhile, is the walking, talking, human embodiment of a lot a bit of everything. She ranks second nationally in steals per game at 4.05. She absolutely gives Citron a run for the best on-ball defensive player on the roster, too, if she doesn’t already hold that subjective title herself.

Offensively, Hidalgo is just as brilliant in putting up 26.1 points and 3.8 assists per game. She ranks tied with Miles for second on the team in rebounds per game, too, with 5.9.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

Sticking with Fighting Irish women’s basketball — how cool is this?

Notre Dame women's basketball — the No. 3 team in the country with a 19-2 overall record, 10-0 ACC record and current 14-game winning streak — was the subject of a recent @Allstate commercial.

Truly feels like so much of the NCAA WBB scene runs through South Bend this season. pic.twitter.com/wBjn8bAMdm

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) February 5, 2025

Fighting Irish football finished No. 12 in On3’s recruiting rankings for the class of 2025.

Final On3 Industry 2025 Team Recruiting Rankings after National Signing Day‼️

Read: https://t.co/2E0PFWBKal pic.twitter.com/XbHjbXFTYr

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) February 5, 2025

Why did former Fighting Irish general manager Chad Bowden leave South Bend to take the same position at USC? He explains in his introductory press conference in Los Angeles here.

Here’s the full clip of USC GM Chad Bowden explaining why he left Notre Dame for USC.

“Notre Dame did everything they could to keep me there. USC, for me, it meant more to me. … USC kind of held something in my heart.” pic.twitter.com/DiKCz43iJ1

— Ryan Young (@RyanYoungRivals) February 5, 2025

Fighting Irish quote of the day

“Me and my wife, I told her the other today, this is the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. I’m just excited to get to work here.”

— Chad Bowden on starting anew in his career at USC after leaving Notre Dame

Blue & Gold headlines of the day

• What is Notre Dame getting in 2026 OL commit Sullivan Garvin?
• Five things we learned about Notre Dame football recruiting in January
• ‘Stabilizing force’: Why Ohio State writers believe new Notre Dame DC Chris Ash helped win 2014 national championship

• Key takeaways: Ohio State writers answer frequently asked questions about new Notre Dame DC Chris Ash
• How Notre Dame will face a version of itself annually with Chad Bowden at USC
• Four-star Sunshine State WR Jayden Petit reacts to recent Notre Dame offer