It’s odd to talk about Notre Dame not being in the NCAA Tournament for a while, but that’s exactly what has happened lately. Fortunately, that drought won’t continue this year. The Irish have been selected for their first March Madness appearance since 2019 and their first with Niele Ivey as their head coach. They have been seeded fifth in the Bridgeport Regional and will face Massachusetts in the first round.
This will be the third time the Irish and Minutewomen face each other. The Irish won both of their previous meetings. The first took place in the 1995 National Women’s Invitational Tournament, the precursor to the present-day Women’s NIT, and was a 90-72 win. The second time happened at Purcell Pavilion in November 2012 and ended with a 94-50 victory.
It’s been a long road to get back to respectability, but the Irish have done it. The question now is whether that can translate into tournament success for this year or if this simply is a building block for the future.
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