Category: Women’s Basketball

Notre Dame beats North Carolina for fourth win over ranked opponent

The Irish simply have more talent than the Tar Heels.

Typically, ACC play signifies tougher competition for Notre Dame. But the Irish have played so many quality teams already that they might be on the easy part of their schedule now.

That said, the Irish had to fight hard against North Carolina to earn their fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season, 76-66. Then again, that should be expected in such a game.

The Irish (12-2, 3-0) never trailed after the Tar Heels (13-3, 1-2) scored the first four points of the game, but even their biggest lead of 14 never truly felt safe. Perhaps energized by playing on their home court, the Heels went on a few second-half runs that prompted [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to call timeouts.

This game ultimately came down to talent, and the Irish have women’s basketball’s best backcourt in [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who scored 24 and 19 points respectively with five 3-pointers apiece. Miles’ five 3s represented a career high for her.

[autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] scored nine points apiece, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] tied her season high with 15 rebounds while also collecting eight points:

The Irish also got a boost from the return of [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who made her season debut after recovering from a foot injury. She had one rebound, one steal and one block in 13 minutes off the bench.

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Notre Dame forward Maddy Westbeld makes season debut

Welcome back, Maddy!

As impressive as Notre Dame has been during the first two months of the season, it has been without a key contributor. In fact, the injury bug hit the Irish early and often. By Sunday’s game at North Carolina, only one player not already ruled out for the season had yet to debut. That no longer is the case.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who announced in September that she would miss the start of the season to deal with a lingering foot injury, entered as a substitute with 3:02 left in the first quarter against the Tar Heels. She now will try to make up for lost time coming off a 2023-24 season in which she averaged 14.4 points, 1.1 blocks and a career-high 8.7 rebounds.

Although the Irish have been able to offset Westbeld’s loss with the additions of transfers [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] and [autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag] as well as freshman [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag], they will be welcome to have this addition to their frontcourt. Irish fans undoubtedly will be, too.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball tipoff time moved up for Orange Bowl

Had to avoid the schedule conflict.

When the Notre Dame football team won the Sugar Bowl, that meant a trip to the Orange Bowl in exactly one week. That meant only half an hour would have separated that game and the women’s basketball team’s home game against Wake Forest. Needless to say, the women’s basketball interest that night would have been almost nonexistent.

So the wise decision was made for the women’s basketball team to tip off against the Demon Deacons at 5 p.m. EST Thursday instead of its original time of 7 p.m. EST. Assuming the game doesn’t go into overtime, that should mean the fans at Purcell Pavilion will have enough time to file out of Purcell Pavilion and go watch the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Penn State somewhere.

Both Notre Dame basketball teams avoided scheduling games on campus for the playoff’s first weekend in case Notre Dame Stadium ended up hosting a game. That’s exactly what happened, and the playoff has caused a basketball schedule alteration once again. Fortunately, this will be the last one because neither team is playing the night of the CFP title game.

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Son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach suffers broken fibula

Prayers up for Jaden.

Nothing is scarier on a basketball court than seeing a player having to be taken off on a stretcher. Regrettably, fans who attended the Detroit Pistons’ New Year’s Day game against the Orlando Magic were subjected to that dreadful sight.

For Notre Dame women’s basketball fans, it was a particularly brutal scene. Jaden Ivey, the son of Irish coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag], was involved in a collision with Cole Anthony, and it couldn’t have been more immediately clear that he was in a lot of pain. Both teams gathered around him as he was removed from the court.

ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed the worst the next morning when he reported that Ivey had suffered a broken left fibula in the collision. While the Pistons are not ruling Ivey out for the season, it stands to reason that they won’t rush him back.

Here’s the video of the injury, though it’s advisable not to watch if can’t subject yourself to such things:

Ivey is averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in his third NBA season.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball reaches milestones in win over Virginia

A lot was accomplished in this game.

It’s hard to pinpoint the most impressive part about Notre Dame’s ACC home opener against Virginia. So we’ll just say everything was great. Still, we’ll talk about what made this 95-54 win so great.

Initially, the Irish (11-2, 2-0) appeared they would get a competitive game from the Cavaliers (8-6, 0-2), who scored the first four points and deadlocked the score at 9 midway through the first quarter. It was all Irish after that though as they rattled off 28 consecutive points. The Cavaliers didn’t score again until near the halfway point of the second quarter.

The game was never remotely close after that, and [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] became the fastest coach in both Irish and ACC history to reach 100 career victories. That only was the tip of the iceberg for the Irish’s accomplishments though.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] recorded the sixth triple-double of her career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, which tied a career high. She also became the third player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Only [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] and [autotag]Lindsay Allen[/autotag] had done it before her.

Miles also tied the ACC record for career triple-doubles. Alyssa Thomas was the first to reach that total during Maryland’s final years in the conference.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] tied her season highs with 25 points and 11 rebounds. She also set her season with five 3-pointers.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led all scorers with 28 points. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] scored 12 points and blocked three shots before fouling out, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] came close to a double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

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Son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach has winning four-point play

What a way to end a game.

It doesn’t happen often, but a basketball game can be won via a four-point play. Such fortune happened to Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey, the son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag].

With the Pistons trailing the Sacramento Kings by three on the road and 10.8 seconds left, Ivey received a pass in the right corner. He dribbled once, moved further right and drew contact from De’Aaron Fox as he put up a 3-pointer. A whistle blew, and Ivey’s shot went in, tying the game and putting him at the free-throw line with a chance at a potential game-winning free throw.

Ivey’s subsequent free throw went in, putting the Pistons up by one. The Kings had no timeouts and 3.1 seconds to go the length of the court. Fox fired a prayer from beyond half-court but couldn’t convert. The Pistons had won a game they had trailed as much as 19 and not led since the first quarter:

Ivey finished with 19 points, six rebounds and one block.

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Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo spins Christmas tale about her steals

Will this story become a holiday classic in your family?

Notre Dame star [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] flaunts her devotion to God regularly. So it stands to reason that she embraces the Christmas season. And as a new video released by the Irish proves, she has no problem doing anything to help celebrate this time of year.

Reading a giant book in a chair next to a Christmas tree, Hidalgo spins a holiday-style poem about how frequently she steals the ball. It’s completely understandable as she led the country in steals last season (4.6 a game) and is at the top again so far this season (4.2 a game).

Indeed, scoring, steals and her ability to play almost the entirety of games are well-documented by this point. Those are among the many things she’ll be known for long after she has moved on from the Irish. But she seems particularly fond of being able to steal the ball with such ease.

If you’re looking for a story to liven up your holiday, try this one on for size:

Let’s hope she has a great Christmas and uses it to recharge for ACC play.

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Olivia Miles has fifth career triple-double in Notre Dame win

This is routine for her now, or so it seems.

Even though Notre Dame is better known for [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] now, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] frequently reminds us that she was the face of the Irish first. The latest example of that came in the Irish’s 97-54 win over Loyola (Maryland), which accounted for the final game of their nonconference schedule.

Miles recorded the fifth triple-double of her collegiate career to the tune of 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. That’s the most for any Notre Dame basketball player, men or women. There’s a reason she’s projected to be a lottery pick in the next WNBA draft.

Miles wasn’t the only impressive Irish player in this game though. Hidalgo set a season scoring high with 33 points and also had five steals. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards, and [autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag] scored 15 points.

Irish fans will want to get out to Purcell Pavilion and watch Miles play for their team while they still can. If you need any convincing to do so, here’s her highlight reel for this game:

The Irish now will take a week off for the holiday before beginning their ACC home schedule against Virginia in front of a sellout crowd. Now, the games really will count.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball sells out ACC home opener vs. Virginia

Will you be in attendance?

The primary excitement around the Notre Dame campus right is about the football team in the College Football Playoff and rightfully so. But when football ends, the focus will shift to the women’s basketball team, a national championship contender in its own right.

Even amidst all the football hoopla, Irish fans are finding time to turn out for women’s basketball games. Maybe no more home football games this season have at least partly to do with it, but Purcell Pavilion should be seeing a lot of fans as ACC play begins in earnest.

To that end, the women’s basketball team announced in the hours before the football team defeated Indiana that its conference home opener against Virginia has been sold out. What’s more, this season now has had the most sellouts for the program since [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] became coach. This is remarkable considering we’re not even into January yet.

People want to see the Irish play, and they deserve the attention.

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Notre Dame player honored by USBWA for fifth time in six weeks

Yes, the Irish are that good.

(This story has been updated to include additional information.)

At this rate, it will be shocking if the USBWA isn’t honoring a Notre Dame player almost every week for the rest of the season. The Irish have been that good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was one of five players to earn weekly national honors by the organization for the week ending Dec. 15. She previously earned them for the week ending Nov. 24.

Through six weeks of the season, Notre Dame has had one of its players honored by the USBWA every week except for one. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] have earned national honors once, and [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was honored as the nation’s top freshman once. The only thing the Irish haven’t won is the weekly team honor, but it would not be surprising if they did so before season’s end.

This hardly is a surprise given that Hidalgo already was named the ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for this past week. She also was the AP national player of the week. What probably stood out the most among voters was finishing two assists shy of a triple-double against UConn:

You know more awards will be coming for her very soon.

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