ALBANY, N.Y. -- Anticipation bubbled over inside MVP Arena as the first NCAA Women's Sweet 16 game tipped off between No. 3 Oregon State and No. 2 Notre Dame. However, there was a stoppage 32 seconds into the game to fix a shot clock issue. Another clock review in the dying seconds of the first quarter came when Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo committed an undisciplined body foul with less than a second left.
Hidalgo wouldn't been seen on the court again until the 5:51 mark of the second quarter. That was because her training staff was using what appeared to be pliers to remove her nose ring. Before the start of the second quarter, Hidalgo had a small piece of tape covering her nose ring.
Hannah Hidalgo missed some time in Notre Dame's Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon State to have her nose ring removed. pic.twitter.com/1XF0XCCrjM
— ESPN (@espn) March 29, 2024
In a postgame interview with ESPN, Hidalgo said she was told before the game she could wear her ring as usual as long as she covered it up. However, Hidalgo was instructed to remove the ring before returning to the game, leading to her unexpected absence.
"I mean, it was hard starting the game," Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey told CBS Sports. "Felt we got a flow, got a stop, then the clock. I mean, it's part of it. We just have to pivot. But it definitely had more stoppage than I would have expected in a Sweet 16 game."
After the game, the NCAA pool reporter issued the following statement to answer why Hidalgo was required to leave the game:
"Head decorations, head wear, helmets, and jewelry are illegal," the statement read. " ... At the first dead ball, [the player] shall be required to remove the jewelry immediately or be required to leave the game and not return until after removing the jewelry. [The player] cannot 'buy' the right to wear the jewelry by being charged with a technical foul."
Ivey told media she "didn't know what happened" with Hidalgo.
"I guess it was a point of emphasis in the Sweet 16 with jewelry," Ivey said. "She's had a nose ring the entire season. Just wish we would have known beforehand. Can't control it, so we had to move on. But yeah, stoppage of play is never great when you're trying to have flow."
The game discernibly lacked flow for Notre Dame. Hidalgo had four early points but struggled to connect for the rest of the game. She ended her freshman season with 10 points while shooting 4-of-17 from the floor and 0-of-3 from the perimeter.
"I thought it was B.S., because I'm on a run, I'm on a roll," Hidalgo told ESPN. "I scored two baskets and then having to sit out for all that time, I was starting to get cold. I think [the officials] were worried about the wrong things. They should have reffed the game."
"I was not aware of that. I didn't know any of those things until now," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said postgame. "I would say I thought we did a pretty good job defensively. I was really pleased. To make her go 4-of-17, those are the types of numbers that this team has forced our opponents into all season long, and so that was in a way par for the course, and it's certainly not to take away from her. I just think our length and our discipline to stay in front of her was disruptive."
Although it is clear and understandable why the incident disrupted Hidalgo, there were things the Irish would likely want to do differently. After a brief break, Ivey's team plans to identify those things and ensure they don't happen again.
"They definitely need some time off, and we'll regroup, refocus on our vision and get to work," Ivey said. "We're going to get back to work. That's one thing you know about me. I grind, and this team, we're about business."
As for her nose ring, Hidalgo plans to continue on as she did this season. "Next season, I'm going to play with it still until they tell me to take it out."
