Hannah Hidalgo is returning to Notre Dame women's basketball with a new roster after several departures. The team has added elite freshmen and transfers to prepare for the upcoming season.
Key points
Hannah Hidalgo announced her return to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame women's basketball is reloading with new players.
The team added elite freshmen and two transfers.
Notre Dame reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight last season.
Illinois's roster remains largely unchanged.
Notre DameNorthwesternIllinoisHannah Hidalgo
Hannah Hidalgo’s return announcement on Instagram in April was simple — a photo of the Notre Dame junior guard shouting with excitement underneath the words “run it back.”
She’ll be running it back with a mostly new cast of teammates, however.
The Irish and coach Niele Ivey always were going to need to reload this offseason with so many grad students and seniors on a team that made a surprising run to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. They prepared with an elite class of freshmen and then added a pair of promising transfers last month after another couple of players departed.
The result will be a new iteration of the Irish — but the same Hidalgo, who will look to cap off one of the best careers in Notre Dame history.
With the women’s basketball transfer portal window closed, most teams have taken shape, though some additions still can be made. Here’s a look at the new rosters for Notre Dame, Northwestern and Illinois — the latter, unlike the Irish, very much unchanged from the 2025-26 version.
Notre Dame
Returning players: 5-7 G Hannah Hidalgo, 5-8 G Kelly Ratigan, 5-10 G Luci Jensen, 6-2 F Leah Macy.
Retaining Hidalgo, a three-time first-team All-American and the national defensive player of the year, for her senior season was the obvious priority. She already ranks second in career points behind Arike Ogunbowale with 2,460. Now she’ll have the opportunity to become the program’s all-time scoring leader and to build on her career steals record of 481. Ratigan and Jensen were bench contributors last season. Macy didn’t play as a freshman because of a knee injury.
Departures: 6-3 G Cassandre Prosper (WNBA), 5-8 G Iyana Moore (eligibility), 5-8 G Vanessa de Jesus (eligibility), 6-3 F Malaya Cowles (eligibility), 6-4 F Gisela Sanchez (eligibility), 5-6 G Jordyn Smith (eligibility), 5-11 G KK Bransford (portal, ), 6-3 F Bella Tehrani.
Q&A
What changes have been made to the Notre Dame women's basketball roster?
Notre Dame has added elite freshmen and two promising transfers while losing several grad students and seniors.
Who is Hannah Hidalgo and what is her role in the upcoming season?
Hannah Hidalgo is a junior guard for Notre Dame, returning to lead the team as they reload with new players.
How did Notre Dame perform in the previous NCAA Tournament?
Notre Dame made a surprising run to the Elite Eight in the previous NCAA Tournament.
Which other teams are mentioned in relation to women's basketball roster changes?
The article also discusses roster changes for Northwestern and Illinois, with Illinois remaining largely unchanged.
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Prosper opted to enter the WNBA draft, and the Washington Mystics selected her with the No. 19 pick. She, Moore, de Jesus and Cowles were the next four scorers behind Hidalgo. Bransford, though, was the surprise, transferring after four seasons with the Irish, one of them a redshirt year. She averaged 7.4 points and four rebounds and now joins defending national champion UCLA, which also has a lot of regrouping to do.
Portal additions: 5-10 G Madison St. Rose (Princeton), 6-3 F Anaya Hardy (Louisville).
St. Rose, a first-team All-Ivy League player, adds crucial experience to what will be a young team behind Hidalgo. She was a part of Princeton’s run of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and last season averaged 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 47.9% from the field. ESPN ranked her the 13th-best player in the portal. Hardy started 27 games, averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds and shot 67% from the field at Louisville.
Incoming freshmen: 6-2 F Jacy Abii, 5-10 G Jenica Lewis, 6-2 F Amari Byles, 6-2 F Bella Ragone, 6-3 F Isabella Sangha.
All five players rank in ESPN’s top 100 players in the high school class of 2026. Abii, a five-star prospect out of Texas who has experience with the USA Basketball junior national teams, leads the way at No. 9. She and Lewis, from Johnston, Iowa, were named McDonald’s All-Americans this season.
Illinois
Returning players: 6-1 F Berry Wallace, 5-11 G Gretchen Dolan, 6-3 F Cearah Parchment, 5-6 G Destiny Jackson, 5-9 G Jasmine Brown-Hagger, 6-0 G Maddie Webber, 6-7 C Lety Vasconcelos, 5-7 G Aaliyah Guyton, 6-3 F Irene Noya Catoira, 6-3 F Manuella Alves, 5-11 G Mia Zenere.
The Illini return their top nine players from a team that made the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. That includes first-team All-Big Ten forward Wallace, who averaged 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore. Parchment, who joined Jackson on the Big Ten’s all-freshman team, broke out for 13.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Jackson, a point guard from Young, averaged 9.9 points and 4.3 rebounds and had 176 assists to 88 turnovers. Dolan, the team’s No. 3 scorer, played in 18 games but tore her meniscus, which required surgery.
Departures: 5-11 F Gisela Segura (eligibility), 6-6 C Hayven Smith (portal, Western Kentucky), 6-2 F Naomi Benson (portal, Cincinnati), 6-0 G Erica Finney (portal).
Only three Illini players hit the portal, and none of them averaged more than 3½ minutes last season. Finney missed her freshman season after undergoing bilateral knee procedures and never played for Illinois. Smith, from Lincoln-Way East, averaged 4.3 minutes over 36 appearances in two seasons.
Bourrage played in 24 games as a freshman, averaging 2.1 points and 1.7 rebounds for LSU’s Sweet 16 team. ESPN ranked her the No. 12 prospect in the country out of Davenport North High School in Iowa.
Incoming freshmen: None.
Illinois did a major reboot last season after losing its core group of seniors and was the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament in 2026. With only one senior among last season’s group, the Illini focused on retention more than additions.
Northwestern
Returning players: 5-11 G Casey Harter, 5-7 G Xamiya Walton, 6-1 G/F Kat Righeimer, 6-0 G Claire Keswick, 6-2 F Crystal Fuqu Wang, 5-9 G Amparo Lopez, 6-3 F Rachel Mutombo, 6-1 F Sandra Moreno.
New coach Carla Berube arrives from Princeton to try to revive a team that went 8-21 in longtime coach Joe McKeown’s final season before retiring. Harter and Walton are returning starters. Harter put up 10 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, and Walton, from Butler College Prep in Chicago, averaged 7.1 points and made a team-leading 43 3-pointers.
Departures: 6-4 F Grace Sullivan (eligibility), 5-9 G Caroline Lau (eligibility), 5-9 G Tate Lash (eligibility), 6-3 F DaiJa Turner (eligibility), 5-6 G Sammy White (eligibility), 6-5 F Lauren Trumpy (eligibility), 6-3 F Tayla Thomas (portal, Minnesota), 5-10 G Angelina Hodgens (portal).
Sullivan had the third-best scoring season in Northwestern history, averaging 21.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. The second-team All-Big Ten selection, who ranked 14th nationally in scoring, was invited to Dallas Wings training camp this spring. The Wildcats also lose Lau — a 29-game starter — and Lash to graduation. Thomas averaged 9.7 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds.
Portal additions: 6-2 G Lexi Blue (Kentucky), 5-8 G Camdyn Nelson (Syracuse), 6-1 F Jasmyn Cooper (Syracuse), 5-11 G Lily Carmody (Boston College).
Carmody joins Northwestern after a season each at Butler and Boston College. She averaged 12 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Eagles. Blue was a four-star guard out of high school in 2024. She came off the bench in her first two seasons at Kentucky, averaging 2.1 points and one rebound as a sophomore last season for the Wildcats, who made the Sweet 16. Nelson and Cooper arrive together after coming off the bench for NCAA Tournament team Syracuse. Cooper averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds as a freshman.
Incoming freshmen: 5-11 G Xyanna Walton, 6-3 F Brooke Golden.
Both Walton and Golden committed to Northwestern before knowing who would replace McKeown. Walton, a four-star guard from Butler College Prep, joins older sister Xamiya on the Wildcats.
