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Big Ten dominates NCAA tournament with six teams to Sweet 16 | ChicagoLIVE
The Big Ten Conference has tied a record with six teams advancing to the Sweet 16 in the 2026 NCAA tournament, including Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Hannah Hidalgo made a little March Madness history and went deeper in the NCAA Tournament than she had in her first two years at Notre Dame before running into a tough draw against UConn in the Elite Eight.
The fiery defensive savant, who also just happens to be one of the leading scorers in the country, now looks forward to her final season and getting the Fighting Irish back to the Final Four, where they haven't been since 2019.
"I think it gives us motivation," Hidalgo said after a 70-52 loss to the Huskies in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final Sunday. Notre Dame lost in the Sweet 16 each of the star guard's first two seasons.
"It’ll be a different roster than it was this year, completely different, but we finally got over that hump," Hidalgo said. "We know that the people coming in next year, they’re going to have to raise their level because we know what it feels like to get to the Elite Eight. And now we’re going have to get over that hump. The same that we felt with getting to the Sweet 16 two, three times, and just wanting to get over that hump."
Hidalgo was the only double-figure scorer for the sixth-seeded Irish with 22 points and had 11 rebounds against UConn, but the undefeated defending champs on a 54-game winning streak neutralized what made the 5-foot-6 sparkplug's tournament run so special.
For the first time in 10 career NCAA Tournament games, Hidalgo had more turnovers (five) than steals (three).
In the first two rounds, she became just the second player with multiple tournament games of at least eight steals, then recorded 10 in a Sweet 16 victory over Vanderbilt while breaking the NCAA single-season record for steals.
She's the first in Division I with 200 steals in a season, finishing with 202, and already had the most in a single tournament before facing the Huskies. That record is 29.
"She is one of the best players in the country," backcourt mate Vanessa de Jesus said. "It just helped me grow, learning from her how to score, how to read defense, she’s just really inspirational. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her."
Hidalgo squared off with national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes of the Commodores in the Sweet 16, getting the upper hand in that showdown with a 31-point triple-double that included 11 rebounds and those 10 steals. She also had seven assists, the last on what turned out to be the winning bucket in the final minute.
No matter how far the Irish go in the NCAA tourney next year, Hidalgo, who was third nationally at 25.3 points per game, will have work to do to top this magical March.
"I think she’s still going to continue to grow with her leadership," coach Niele Ivey said. "I think that was the biggest separator for her was her maturity. I think you’re going to see her being even more poised, more composure. We’re going to work on that this summer as far as continuing to build that trust with a brand new team." - Schuyler Dixon, Associated Press
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - MARCH 29: Hannah Hidalgo #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish falls to the court a during the third quarter in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Dickies Arena on March 29, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. …
The backstory:
The ninth NCAA tourney meeting between the Huskies and the Irish was their first with a spot in the Final Four on the line. They had both made it that far the first eight times they met in March Madness, the last in 2019 when Notre Dame won a semifinal game over UConn and then lost to Baylor in the title game.
This meeting in the Fort Worth Regional 1 final was the first time Notre Dame had made it past the Sweet 16 since then.
While the game was closer than January 19 when UConn won by 38 points in the most-lopsided game in the 57-game series (UConn leads 41-16), the Irish couldn’t overcome the rolling Huskies.
"They’re very, very physical. They try to take away every option that you have," Irish coach Niele Ivey said. "They’re very disciplined. They play well together, and they just play hard."
Missing and staying ahead
During a nearly five-minute stretch in the third quarter when UConn went scoreless while missing 11 consecutive shots, the Irish got no closer than eight points. Hidalgo had a jumper and two free throws for their only points, but also was responsible for three of their four turnovers in that span.
That included UConn guard Azzi Fudd’s steal from Hidalgo and Jana El Alfy’s layup that ended the scoring drought and put the Huskies up 40-30 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
UConn took its first double-digit lead with six points in a 59-second span in the second quarter, soon after Hidalgo furiously responded when she thought she was fouled on a 3-point attempt that was instead a blocked shot by Strong.
That led to a driving layup by UConn freshman Blanca Quiñonez, who followed by rebounding a miss by Hidalgo and assisting on a breaking layup by Allie Ziebell. Quiñonez, the Big East freshman and sixth player of the year, than had a steal that led to a pullup jumper by Fudd for a 30-20 lead with 2:56 left in the first half.
"As always, I just try to bring something to the court, impact the game, as coach says," Quiñonez said. "And I think everyone was locked in and I think everybody was ready to play that game." - Stephen Hawkins, Associated Press