Hannah Hidalgo's triple-double stats barely scratch surface of Notre Dame superstar's brilliance

The audacity was on a whole different level.

Vanderbilt had the basketball in a tie game in the Sweet 16, and Notre Dame superstar Hannah Hidalgo was guarding away from the ball. But there she went, darting with a speed no one else on the court has, stealing the ball and going the other way for a layup and the lead.

The most eye-catching part wasn't the play itself, though. It was the number that popped up on the ESPN broadcast moments later: 10 steals.

Yep, her 10th steal of the game was a bold, lightning quick swipe that no one else in the country would've even attempted at that stage in the game.

Hidalgo played the game of her life on Friday afternoon in Fort Worth, and it was just enough for 6-seed Notre Dame to upset 2-seed Vanderbilt.

The final line for the Fighting Irish's star with more fight than everyone else on the court combined:

• 31 points
• 11 rebounds
• 10 steals
• 7 assists
• 1 block

It's the second triple-double with steals in tourney history, along with Old Dominion's Ticha Penicheiro in 1998 (22p/15a/14s).

But the Hidalgo experience isn't about the stats. It's about the whole show.

She gets steals so fast that announcers can't keep up. During the first half, as they told viewers Hidalgo had just nabbed her sixth steal, she was already snatching her seventh before they had finished the sentence.

She gets rebounds amidst players that tower over her. No one Hidalgo's size should get double-digit rebounds in a game of this magnitude, but she has the will, anticipation, quickness and leaping ability to do it.

Those instincts came in handy on a non-rebound, too -- tie game, shot clock off, a lofted inbound pass toward Hidalgo and two taller players. She somehow squeezed between them, came away with the ball and had created a 2-on-1 advantage for a slick bounce pass for the go-ahead basket.

Hidalgo moves around the court at a different speed than everyone else.

She gambles on defense because she knows that the house always wins, and she's the house.

She goes from 0-to-100 on offense like nobody else, leaving even defenders who know what she's about to do in her dust.

And in back-to-back rounds, Hidalgo has pulled upsets.

The Fighting Irish won in Columbus against 3-seed Ohio State, and they now have knocked off Vandy and the nation's leading scorer, Mikayla Blakes.

At this point, it's hard to doubt Hidalgo. 

If chalk holds, 1-seed UConn would be next. That seems an impossible task.

Hidalgo doesn't answer to impossible, though. On plays over and over again where others wouldn't even consider it, Hidalgo only sees possible.

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