Notre Dame Athletic Training Staff Uses Extreme Measures To Remove Hannah Hidalgo's Nose Ring In Tourney Game

Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo had to come out of her team’s matchup with the Oregon State Beavers in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament for an unusual reason.

Hidalgo and her teammates were down 17-15 after one quarter of action. She’s a starter and plays the majority of each of Notre Dame’s games. But she was on the bench for the start of the second frame.

She wasn’t in foul trouble and certainly didn’t need a breather. Game officials recognized that Hidalgo had a diamond stud in her nose, and they wanted her to take it out.

I don’t know why she had it in the first place. Everyone basketball player in the history of the sport knows you’re not supposed to have any sort of jewelry on during a game. Even when I was a young teen crossing up my high school opponents, I had to make sure I wasn’t wearing any rubber bracelets.

Even so, it’s not the worst thing in the world. All she has to do is take it off (which should take 10 seconds, max) and then she’s back on the court, right?

Well, not exactly.

For some reason, the athletic training staff had to get involved. They sat Hidalgo down and whipped out scissors and pliers to get the stud out of her nostril.

Are they removing a stud or performing an organ transplant? That looks way too involved.

Eventually, they got the ring out. But it may have messed up her rhythm a little bit. Heading into the fourth quarter, she was 2-of-13 from the field with 6 points.

However, the Fighting Irish are only down 53-50 heading into the final frame. Maybe Hidalgo can find her mojo again, even without the nose ring.