Breaking Records (Good) and Breaking Records (Bad)

On Wednesday, history.

Hannah Hidalgo scored 44 points and recorded 16 steals in a blowout win over Akron. The points were a program record, and the steals were an NCAA record. She did it in just 28 minutes.

On Saturday, history.

Notre Dame took on Michigan in the Shamrock Classic, the Fighting Irish's first matchup against upper-level competition. Notre Dame lost by 39. It was a record-breaking day for both teams.

Rarely does one week of a regular season feature such dramatic highs and lows in the way Notre Dame's just did, but both games feel like they taught me something about where this team's at right now, and where it will need to get better to make an impact later on.

On Wednesday, Hidalgo took over.

Offensively, she easily led the way for the Irish with 25 shots and 16 made field goals. Her next closest teammates were at 11 (Vanessa de Jesus) and six (Cassandre Prosper), respectively. Hidalgo went 9 for 11 from the line, both team highs, and ended up with 44 of her team's 85 points.

She was bullying Akron getting to the rim, using her speed and athleticism to make tough finish after tough finish. She also used her gifts to turn Akron over at a historic rate. Hidalgo is one of the all-time best at forcing steals because she is truly relentless and is always hunting.

Her steals against the Zips came in all forms. There were interceptions in passing lanes, moments of catching the ballhandler napping and a few where she simply ripped it out of their hands. Most of these ended in baskets going the other way.

It was a full display of just how much she is capable of pulling off on her own.

On Saturday, Hidalgo took over.

She led Notre Dame with 21 shot attempts and finished with a team-high four assists. Against the Wolverines, Hidalgo finished with 12 points on 4-of-21 shooting in 38 minutes, only hitting double figures late in the fourth quarter with the game well in the balance.

Michigan completely suffocated her abilities out of the game. The Wolverines did turn the ball over 19 times — including three Hidalgo steals — but Michigan was also much more resilient on keeping the Irish from getting easy shots the other way.

At halftime, the Wolverines led 46-29, and Hidalgo was 1 for 9 with just one steal and four turnovers. It was evident how much Kim Barnes Arico planned on containing the star guard, and it paid off in a historic ranked win for the program.

Hidalgo finished with seven turnovers against the Wolverines, which was only a slight decline from the six she committed on Wednesday. She's currently averaging 4.0 turnovers per contest, up significantly from her 2.7 per game last season, and in less minutes (35.5 in 24-25, 31.3 in 25-26). She's being asked to do more in the Notre Dame offense, and it's resulting in more extremes both ways so far.

On Wednesday, the rest of the Irish roster struggled.

Hidalgo had more than half of her team's 85 points, both because she put on an incredible scoring display and due to some of the rest of the roster having an off shooting night.

In total, the rest of the Notre Dame lineup shot 15 of 44 (34.1%) from the field on the day, including 1 of 14 (7.1%) from three, where Hidalgo was 3 of 6. Hidalgo's six turnovers were also part of a 20-turnover game on the whole for the Irish.

Of course, there were positives. Cassandre Prosper had an efficient 14 points (6-8 FG), and the team forced 30 total steals and 38 Akron turnovers. The end result was also a comfortable 85-57 win, but it felt like it could have been more against a winless Akron team in the midst of a historic performance from Notre Dame's star.

On Saturday, the rest of the Irish roster struggled.

Similar to the Akron game, Notre Dame's supporting cast shot 13 of 39 (33.3%) overall and 2 for 14 (14.3%) from deep, except this time they weren't buoyed by a generational Hidalgo performance. The turnovers were also similar, with 18 from the Irish on the day.

Prosper again had a solid offensive outing with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds. KK Bransford also was more involved with 15 points after just five in the game prior. But on the whole, this week made it clear how dependent Notre Dame currently feels on getting a big Hidalgo game.

In those two games, Notre Dame had 19 total assists on 48 made baskets, including just seven assists against the Wolverines. On the season, the Irish's assist rate is 46.0%, 303rd in the nation. Hidalgo has a third (19) of the team's 57 assists thus far, and another 11 are assists on Hidalgo's makes.

Head coach Niele Ivey emphasized after the Michigan loss that she is not worried about the offense, but was instead upset at the defensive effort and how it "fell apart" and lacked fight.

Michigan scored 93 points and made half of its shots from the field, so those concerns are valid, especially for a team that forces so many turnovers per game. Ivey's emphasis on the offense being fixable and coming with time is going to be something worth watching as the season continues.

Notre Dame is replacing 7 of the 9 players who saw over 100 minutes last season, including three players who added more than four total win shares: Olivia Miles (5.6), Sonia Citron (4.7) and Liatu King (4.3). Prosper is the other non-Hidalgo returner, and it makes sense, then, that she has gotten off to a strong start (18.5 PPG, 59.6 FG%) with more familiarity. Bransford missed all of last season, but enters her fourth year with the program and has also played well (13.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG).

It would also track that Hidalgo would be taking on a heavier percentage of usage, and the numbers make that clear: She currently leads the country in scoring (28.8 PPG), and trails only Maine's Adrianna Smith in field goal attempts with 22.8 per game. Both are nearly five points above last year's totals (23.8 PPG, 18.0 FGA).

The Fighting Irish have USC, Ole Miss and Florida State to play in the next few weeks. They will see Duke, UNC, UConn, NC State and plenty of others that will challenge this unit later in the season. As Ivey stated after the Michigan loss, there is plenty of time to get the offense situated, but it'll be interesting to see if the solutions involve changing the distribution of chances.

Notre Dame saw the best of what Hidalgo can offer on Wednesday, and then the Irish saw the worst of what this season could hold if it doesn't come together. Both made history, but the Irish now have to prove that Saturday's loss won't be the story of the season.