Former teammates, now rivals: Cambridge, Ohio State face Hidalgo, Notre Dame with Sweet 16 at stake

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jaloni Cambridge and Hannah Hidalgo were teammates on the USA Basketball Under-17 national team in 2022. On Monday, they will be on opposing sidelines trying to get their teams into the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Cambridge and third-seeded Ohio State (27-7) face Hidalgo and sixth-seeded Notre Dame (23-10) in a matchup featuring both guards, who were AP All-America second-team selections last week.

“Two great guards are going against each other, so I’m excited to play,” Cambridge said before the Buckeyes practiced on Sunday.

Hidalgo — a two-time ACC Player of the Year — leads Division I in steals with 181 and is third in scoring at 25.2 points per game.

Cambridge led the Big Ten in scoring and is eighth in Division I (22.7 ppg). She is the fifth player in Ohio State history with at least 700 points in a season.

Hidalgo dominated on both ends of the court of Saturday's 79—60 victory over Fairfield with 23 points, nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists.

The eight steals by the junior were a single-game NCAA Tournament school record, surpassing the previous mark of seven which was shared by Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey.

“She can do everything, especially on the defensive end. She’s a two-way player, so I really look up to her and how she carries herself," Cambridge said. “We have to take care of the ball and make sure we're consistent on the offensive end.”

Cambridge, a sophomore, creates plenty of matchup problems due to her quickness and open-floor drives to the basket. The sophomore led the way with 21 points in Saturday's 75-54 win over Howard.

Hidalgo said trying to go toe to toe with Cambridge, especially down the open floor, was a challenge when they were teammates four years ago.

“I just remember her speed. She’s a great guard, dynamic guard. Knows how to get her teammates involved,” Hidalgo said. “I thought I was the fastest one in the camp and she beat me by a mile.”

Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff was an assistant at Notre Dame under Muffet McGraw for six seasons (1996-2002), including when Ivey was a player. Both were part of Notre Dame's first NCAA championship in 2001.

Ivey's first coaching job was on McGuff's staff at Xavier in 2005. She was an administrative assistant for two seasons before returning to Notre Dame and joining McGraw's staff.

Ivey is still close with McGuff's wife, Letitia Bowen, who also was a former ND player and assistant. Ivey is also a godmother to one of McGuff's daughters.

“One of the reasons she’s been such an effective head coach so far is when I look back at her as a player and when we won the national championship, she was certainly one of the leaders of the team,” McGuff said. “The thing that made her such an effective leader was her ability to connect with everybody on the team. I see that in her as a head coach, the way she connects with young people in recruiting, the way she connects with the young people in her program. It’s really cool to see, and I think that’s something that has put her in this position to be successful and will continue to do so.”

Ivey and Bowen have talked this week, but all of that will be put aside for a couple hours on Monday.

'I’m not friends with him tomorrow. He knows that," Ivey said. “We’re both trying to advance. We support each other outside of playing each other obviously but you know how to keep it competitive and business oriented.”

This will be the first time since 2017 the two teams have met. Notre Dame won that game 99-76 in the Sweet 16 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Notre Dame has a 4-1 edge in the all-time series, but hasn’t faced the Buckeyes in Columbus since 1997. Ohio State won that meeting 74-67.

Ohio State has lost in the second round the past two years despite playing at home. It was seeded second in 2024 before losing to Duke in the second round. They were the No. 4 seed last year before Tennessee’s victory in the round of 32.

Notre Dame has been to the Sweet 16 in its last 14 tournament trips, but this is only the second time since 2015 it has not been not hosted the first two rounds on the first weekend.

The play in the paint, where Ohio State might have an advantage.

Sophomore Elsa Lemmila led the Big Ten in blocked shots and forward Kylee Kitts has shown steady improvement since coming back from a midseason shoulder injury.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness