Notre Dame women’s basketball star Hannah Hidalgo missed nearly five minutes of the Fighting Irish’s Sweet 16 game vs. Oregon State on Friday after being forced to remove her nose ring in the second quarter.
Talia Goodman of The Next Hoops tweeted on X, formerly Twitter, that Hidalgo was being made by officials to remove her nose ring, an item she has worn during other games through the season, typically covered by a Band-Aid.
Fans took to social media to criticize the decision, with one user tweeting, “They’re damn near doing surgery to take out Hannah Hidalgo’s diamond nose ring (which she has worn all season) out before she can check back in.”
Meanwhile, other questioned why was the nose ring suddenly an issue in the third round of the NCAA Tournament when Hidalgo had played with it in for most of the season, calling the officiating an “embarrassment.”
“As someone w nose rings & having played sports where I had to take them out for games when I was younger… if that thang don’t want to come out it hurts like a MOTHER. Also, why is her nose ring only now an issue but she was playing with it all year??” one critic wrote.
Another one said, “Making Hannah Hidalgo take out her nose ring mid game when she’s been wearing it all year is an embarrassment for this game and the officials.”
Tyler Horka of On3 Sports said Hidalgo ultimately missed the first 4:09 of the second quarter so they could remove her nose ring, despite it looking like a “40 minute game for Hidalgo.” She scored the opening points of the game for the Fighting Irish.
Oregon State holds slim lead over Hidalgo, Fighting Irish at halftime
Oregon State has leveraged its superior size, depth, and power in the paint to take a slim lead at halftime against Notre Dame, with the score 32-31. Despite Oregon State’s dominance inside, their frequent turnovers have been a lifeline for Notre Dame, which, despite shooting only 36.4% from the field, has kept the game tight by capitalizing with 14 points off those turnovers, while only giving up the ball once themselves.
Notre Dame has made up for its shooting struggles by accelerating the game’s tempo, earning all of its 12 fast-break points while preventing Oregon State from scoring any in transition. Beavers’ forward Raegan Beers stands out with 12 points and seven rebounds, per Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today Sports. Beer was particularly effective in the first quarter where she scored eight of those points. On the Notre Dame side, Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld have contributed 11 and nine points respectively, with Westbeld also leading the Irish in the opening quarter.
The Sweet 16 matchup had a momentary pause right after tip-off due to a shot clock malfunction.
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