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2026 – present
The standing, as of November 9–10, 2026: The program's fiftieth varsity season, 2026–27, opened with Notre Dame ranked thirteenth in both the Associated Press and the coaches' polls and picked fourth in the ACC's preseason poll, in the polling account carried here. Three players return from the Elite Eight team — Hidalgo, now a senior; guard Kelly Ratigan, a South Bend native in her fifth year, who came to Notre Dame from Loyola (Maryland); and sophomore Leah Macy — alongside ten newcomers. Hidalgo entered the season as the ACC's preseason player of the year, a preseason Associated Press All-American, and on the watch lists for the Naismith Trophy and the Lieberman Award.
The opening week: Notre Dame opened on November 1, 2026, in Rome, Italy, beating Villanova 99–75 at the Eternal City Tip-Off; Hidalgo scored 32 with 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and took the season's first ACC player-of-the-week honor. The home opener, on November 6, was Stonehill, and the Irish won 123–40 — the second-highest point total in program history and its largest home margin of victory — with Hidalgo scoring 27 and stealing the ball ten times, and Macy, who had missed the whole of 2025–26 after knee surgery, scoring 24 in her Notre Dame debut. The record stood 2–0 when this section was verified.
Next: Detroit Mercy, at Purcell Pavilion, on November 10, 2026 — a meeting of former MCC opponents, in a series Notre Dame leads 22–2. The season's verdict belongs to the update cycle; this entry stands as the dated present state of the record.
Sources:
- University and ACC releases and game accounts, November 2026 — the preseason polls and honors; the Villanova game in Rome (99–75) and the Stonehill game (123–40) and their player lines; the roster accounting (three returners, ten newcomers); the Detroit Mercy scheduling and series line.
- Polling accounts (Associated Press; coaches' poll; ACC preseason poll) as reported in the season previews of November 2026.