Women’s Naismith Favorite

Hannah Hidalgo has moved from star to front-runner in the national Player of the Year race, and it’s not just the points. The 5'6" junior guard is the early favorite for the Naismith because she’s authoring complete, high-leverage games every night. The headline number—34.3 points per game—sets the tone, but the totality of her box score is what warps scouting reports: 7.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and a staggering 7.7 steals per game in the early going, punctuated by 16 steals in a recent win over Akron. Even if the rebounds and steals normalize, the narrative is already cementing: she controls tempo, flips possessions with her hands, and finishes like a star.

Context matters in awards, and Hidalgo’s has two edges. First, her usage is earned: Notre Dame can score (five players in double figures), which keeps defenses honest and ensures her efficiency isn’t just empty-calorie volume. Second, the race’s other elite talents—Sarah Strong, Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd, Olivia Miles—play within deeper, share-the-ball ecosystems that naturally cap counting stats. They’ll win a lot, but matching Hidalgo’s raw production across points, steals, and on-ball creation will be difficult.

There is one challenger built to hang on the stat page: Audi Crooks at Iowa State. Her points-rebounds profile can generate the kind of nightly totals that keep voters’ attention, especially if Iowa State stacks ranked wins. But Hidalgo currently holds the two factors that decide close POY races: signature moments (the 16-steal eruption and closing-time shot-making) and possession impact (turning defense into offense without sacrificing distribution).

Awards voters ask three questions: Who drives winning? Who owns the biggest moments? Whose production holds against top competition? Right now, Hidalgo grades highest on all three. Regression may trim the extremes, but the inside track is hers—and as long as Notre Dame keeps winning, the trajectory points to Hannah Hidalgo as the 2025 national Player of the Year.