No. 6 Notre Dame tabbed as ACC women’s basketball favorite with Hidalgo as preseason player of year

Sixth-ranked and reigning champion Notre Dame is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball race, headlined by the league’s preseason pick for player of the year in high-scoring sophomore Hannah Hidalgo.

The league released those picks following voting from media members at last week’s “ACC Tipoff” preseason media days.

The Fighting Irish got 70 of 79 first-place votes to take the top spot, coming after coach Niele Ivey won her first ACC Tournament title by beating N.C. State. This year’s team features Hidalgo as a returning Associated Press first-team All-American who averaged 22.6 points last year, and it gets back point guard Olivia Miles — a second-team AP All-American in 2023 — from a serious knee injury that sidelined her all last season.

Ninth-ranked N.C. State got eight first-place votes to finish second, coming after the Wolfpack reached the Final Four for the first time since 1998.

No. 11 Duke was third, followed by No. 17 Louisville, No. 19 Florida State and No. 15 North Carolina to round out the league’s six teams listed in the AP Top 25 poll released earlier Tuesday.

National power Stanford was picked to finish seventh in its first year in the league, followed by Miami, Virginia and Georgia Tech to round out the top 10.

Syracuse was picked 11th, followed by Virginia Tech, Clemson, California, Boston College, SMU, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh.

Hidalgo headlined the preseason all-ACC team, which featured Florida State guard Ta’Niya Latson and N.C. State’s Aziaha James-Saniya Rivers backcourt duo. Miles and Irish teammate Sonia Citron also made the cut, while FSU’s Makayla Timpson, UNC’s Alyssa Ustby, Duke’s Reigan Richardson and Virginia’s Kymora Johnson rounded out the 10-player squad.