USC women’s basketball has a superteam heading into the 2024-2025 season. Notre Dame women’s basketball does, too, in the eyes of many national analysts. With USC and Notre Dame both being Final Four favorites in women’s basketball, we wanted to reach out to our friends at Fighting Irish Wire to explore a little more about the 2025 Notre Dame women’s basketball team. Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski answered our questions in a special Q-and-A session. Learn more about a team USC could potentially face at the 2025 Women’s Final Four (a scenario we at Trojans Wire are hoping for!).
TROJANS WIRE: When Notre Dame fans hear the sentence, “If JuJu Watkins didn’t exist, Hannah Hidalgo would have been the freshman of the year in 2024,” do they nod in recognition or recoil in anger, or perhaps something in between?
SHEPKOWSKI: Yes to all of it. I don’t think they’re that upset, but what is extra impressive to me is that these two weren’t just phenomenal freshmen; if it wasn’t for Caitlin Clark’s incredible senior season, you could have easily made a case for player of the year (regardless of age) for either. They’re both that good.
TW: When ESPN covered the Women’s NCAA Tournament, do you think coverage of USC and Notre Dame was relatively balanced, or is there a Los Angeles media market factor which gave more weight to coverage of the Trojans?
SHEPKOWSKI: If there is a Los Angeles factor for USC, then a Notre Dame factor for the Northeast also has to be considered. UConn is UConn and I’m not questioning that, but whether they like it or not, those at ESPN know when Notre Dame is involved in just about any sport, ratings are likely going to go up.
TW: Tell us why Notre Dame 2025 women’s basketball is a superteam.
SHEPKOWSKI: We spoke briefly on Hannah Hidalgo, who is a top-two or three guard in the nation, but now pair her with Olivia Miles, who returns from injury, and I truly don’t know who will be able to slow down two of the absolute best point guards in the game. It might not look traditional on offense, but it should be scary. Now throw in Sonia Citron, bring back Maddy Westbeld for a final year, and add elite recruit Kate Koval down low and this is a downright scary team.
TW: Would you agree that UConn, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and USC are the clear-cut Final Four favorites?
SHEPKOWSKI: I think the great thing about women’s basketball right now is that for so long it was UConn or Tennessee. Yes, South Carolina has lost once in two years and Dawn Staley is as good of coach as you’ll find in any sport, but look at how many teams could win it all next year. I think you hit the nail on the head with the four favorites, but Texas is still loaded, UCLA should be very good, and I have trouble thinking the rest of the Big Ten is suddenly just going to fall off.
SHEPKOWSKI:
Health is too easy to say on its own, especially for a team that lost Olivia Miles for all of 2023-24 but still managed to win the ACC and make the Sweet 16. Instead I’ll go with the offense growing with two traditional point guards in Miles and Hidalgo, and figuring out the rhythm that will make things work. The talent is there, but getting it to all gel and prosper could take time.
SHEPKOWSKI: That the offense is unable to find a rhythm that maximizes the incredible amount of talent that is there, and that the output doesn’t come near matching the talent level that has been assembled. Again, this is an easier said than done thing — see the NBA and head coach extrordinaire Eric Spoelstra, and how much those superteam Heat squads struggled at times early in the LeBron, Wade, and Bosh days.
TW: Bigger wish for the next college sports cycle: ND beating USC in football or beating USC at the 2025 Final Four?
SHEPKOWSKI: It will always be beating USC in football, assuming that means a College Football Playoff berth is on the line, which it should be. UConn is Notre Dame’s USC in women’s basketball, so beating the Huskies (again) in a Final Four would be more satisfying than even USC.
TW: How much has Caitlin Clark raised the profile/readership/fan interest for women’s basketball articles you publish (if at all)? Do you see changes in women’s basketball consumption habits in the near future?
SHEPKOWSKI: Some for the regular season but by no means a crazy amount. Beating UConn and Tennessee both on the road last season saw a bump in readership (at Fighting Irish Wire), but we saw our biggest increase once the postseason came around. Notre Dame went on an ACC Tournament championship run followed by a Sweet 16 appearance.
TW: How big a deal is it that future Women’s NCAA Tournaments will have win units and will thereby generate a fresh revenue stream for schools in the new configuration of conference realignment?
SHEPKOWSKI: In the college sports world now, every single dollar matters and I think you’re seeing that play out in how teams are attacking the transfer portal in women’s basketball. It’s never going to come close to matching the revenue that men’s basketball creates, but these institutions (and TV networks for that matter) are after every single dollar bill they can get their hands on. The women’s basketball product certainly has a lot to gain with that in mind.