Tag: Division I

Notre Dame earns opening-night victory over sister school Stonehill

Great way to start the year.

(This story was updated to add new information).

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team opened its season against sister school Stonehill. Both Notre Dame and Stonehill were founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross over a century apart, so it was natural they would face each other at some point.

While the Irish are a mainstay in college athletics though, the Skyhawks only are in their third season at the Division I level. Talent likely would have decided this game anyway though as the Irish won, 89-60.

The Irish (1-0) trailed the Skyhawks (1-1) for only the first 100 seconds of the game, then dominated in all aspects soon afterwards, at least once their lead reached double figures in the first half. Though they fell three points short of matching their first-half scoring output (46) in the second half, there were times when the latter frame felt more dominant.

Either way, this looked like a team that knew how to play together throughout. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] was able to empty his bench at the end, which was a sure sign of a good night.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] tied for the game high with 18 points each with Burton also tallying five assists. Princeton transfer [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] scored 10 in his first Irish game. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] scored all nine of his points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

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Olivia Miles triple-double highlights Notre Dame season-opening win

Yeah, she’s back all right.

Notre Dame’s season opener against Mercyhurst was full of storylines. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was in her first meaningful game since the end of the 2022-23 regular season. The Lakers were playing their first game at the NCAA Division I level.

There was no denying Miles’ proper comeback story though. She recorded the fourth triple-double of her career (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) to help the Irish crush the Lakers, 105-61. Every starter scored in double figures.

Despite having only seven players healthy enough for their season opener, the Irish (1-0) never let the Lakers (0-1) in the contest. They imposed their will from the opening tip with a well-oiled offense, a stifling defense and numerous high-energy plays that the Lakers simply couldn’t keep up with.

[autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] marked her Irish debut with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] just missed a double-double but had 19 points, nine boards and three steals.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots in her first collegiate game. [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who missed most of last season because of injury, completed her own comeback story with 17 points.

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Notre Dame remains No. 5 seed in most latest bracketologies

Sure feels like the Irish are stuck right now.

Notre Dame beat No. 5 Virginia Tech on Thursday, but most bracketologists remain unmoved. A couple of new bracketologies were released Friday, and the Irish remain where they’ve been in those particular ones. ESPN, CBS Sports and NCAA.com all have the Irish as a No. 5 seed, joining Her Hoop Stats from the day before. Only College Sports Madness currently has the Irish as a fourth seed.

Perhaps the biggest warning yet that the Irish might not get to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament came from the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. In the top 16 it released before Thursday’s game, the Irish were nowhere to be found. The way things are going, that probably wouldn’t have changed even if the rankings had been released after the game.

One now has to wonder if an Irish win over Louisville would be enough to bump them up in the seedings. Are they going to have to win the ACC Tournament to even have a shot at being a tournament host? It sure feels like it right now. We’ll see if they rise to that challenge.

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo both ACC Player and Freshman of the Week

This young lady is going places.

To say Notre Dame freshman [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] is off to a fantastic start would be a huge understatement. She looked phenomenal in the Irish’s first game of the season and hasn’t looked back. Now, the ACC has rewarded her with both ACC Player and Freshman of the Week honors for her stellar play against Northwestern and Illinois over the past week.

[autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag] is the only other Irish player to sweep both awards, doing so in January 2015. Hidalgo already is on her way to joining Turner among the plethora of Irish legends. She’s the ACC’s top scorer at 25.5 points a game, and she leads the nation in steals at 6.8 a game. The 27 steals she has accumulated through her first four games are the most in that span for any Division I player over the past 25 years.

While it is very early in her collegiate career, all signs point to Hidalgo keeping this incredible pace going. The Irish will be worth watching for her alone.

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Notre Dame legend Muffet McGraw to have statue outside Joyce Center

Congrats, Coach!

[autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag] coached herself to two national championships with Notre Dame and the Basketball Hall of Fame. Now, her likeness will live forever outside the Joyce Center. Joining the many Notre Dame coaching legends with statues on the school’s athletic complex, McGraw will have her own statue unveiled before the Irish’s Dec. 17 game against Purdue.

McGraw earned 848 of her 936 career victories at Notre Dame, where she coached the women’s basketball program from 1987 to 2020, finish below .500 only twice during that time. Only six coaches are ahead of her on the all-time Division I wins list. She was named the consensus national coach of the year three times.

McGraw coached 20 WNBA players, five Olympians and 22 All-Americans. Among her most notable players at Notre Dame were [autotag]Ruth Riley[/autotag], [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag], [autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag], [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag], [autotag]Kayla McBride[/autotag] and [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag].

Join us in congratulating this Irish coaching legend. May she serve as an inspiration for Notre Dame women’s basketball players and coaches in the generations to come.

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Photos from Notre Dame’s exhibition win over Purdue Northwest

The Irish are back!

Notre Dame finally was able to get back on the Purcell Pavilion court and compete. Purdue Northwest had the rare honor of being this year’s exhibition opponent for a Division I powerhouse.

It’s unlikely the Pride had any expectations of winning, which they realistically shouldn’t have. If anything, it was an honor to have the chance to lose to the Irish, 110-48.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], this year’s freshman phenom, led everybody with 23 points and seven assists. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was just behind Hidalgo in the scoring column with 22 points and came within a rebound of a double-double.

[autotag]Becky Obinma[/autotag] completed the double-double with a line of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Irish were [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] (17), [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] (15) and [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] (11).

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] was on the bench as she continues to recover from the knee injury she suffered late last season. The timeline for her return remains unclear, but hopefully, it won’t be too long of a wait.

Here are photos from the exhibition contest in South Bend:

What the experts are predicting: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee State

What’s your prediction?

Notre Dame and Tennessee State have not met before, but they will Saturday in the first 2023 game at Notre Dame Stadium. Some Irish fans might not be happy about the Football Championship Subdivision level coming to South Bend, but there’s nothing that can be done about that right now. The only thing fans should be focused on is the Irish improving to 2-0.

Let’s look at what some college football experts are predicting for this game:

Notre Dame will face Xavier in secret scrimmage before season

Here’s something for the Irish to look forward to.

Secret scrimmages in college basketball always are interesting affairs. Two Division I schools play each other before the season begins, but no fans or media are allowed. We now know Notre Dame will be taking part in at least one of these ahead of the 2023-24 season. Rick Broering of 247Sports is reporting that multiple sources have confirmed a secret scrimmage between the Irish and Xavier.

Even if the scrimmage doesn’t officially count for anything, it will be a good test for the Irish to see how far they have to go. At the same time, while the Musketeers made the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, their roster also is facing some turnover, albeit not as much as the Irish’s. The scrimmage likely will take place at the end of October.

Although this figures not to be a season to remember except for the debut of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag]’s Irish tenure, one at least has to be excited about college basketball making its return before we know it. We just have to wait a little bit.

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Notre Dame lands 2023 forward recruit Carey Booth

Finally, some size.

Notre Dame desperately has been searching for size with very little of it returning in 2023-24. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag], son of coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], committed to the Irish, but he merely was the latest entry on a long list of guards they’ve had lately. Finally, the program has a new forward in [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag], who announced his own commitment to the Irish less than 24 hours after Shrewsberry.

Booth is a four-star recruit and fourth on the list of 2023 recruits in New Hampshire. At 6-foot-10, he fills the height left by [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] and likely the young forward role left by the transferred Ven-Allen Lubin. Depending on how the rest of the roster shapes up, he could be thrust into the spotlight immediately.

Like Braeden Shrewsberry, Booth appeared headed to Penn State. Instead, he also is taking his talents to South Bend so that he’ll play for Micah Shrewsberry after all. He also previously visited Marquette and California and received offers from 13 other Division I schools.

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Running clock on first down among college football rule changes

One rule is being drastically changed.

One of the features that has distinguished college football games from NFL games mow mostly is a thing of the past. The Football Rules Committee has announced that for all NCAA Division I and Division II games, the clock will continue to run after a first down is picked up except in the final two minutes of a half. The clock had stopped after every first down since 1968.

The committee also introduced two other rule changes. If a penalty is accepted at the end of the first or third quarter, it will be enforced at the start of the next quarter instead of on an untimed down. Also, back-to-back timeouts no longer can be called during the same dead ball.

Many college football fans probably won’t like the new first-down rule. But with the pitch clock doing its job of cutting out dead time in MLB, speeding things up is becoming a trend in sports. Besides, are you really a fan of three-and-a-half hour games? Think about it.

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