Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
One Notre Dame player is on the list.
With only one week until the ACC Tournament, the time for teams to make a move is now. The opportunities to make an impact are getting fewer, and if a team hasn’t done that yet, it might already be too late. Nonetheless, here are the players most likely to help their teams make a last-minute impression on the NCAA selection committee:
Has there been a bigger moment this season? Unlikely.
[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] only is a sophomore, and she already has the makings of one of the best players in Notre Dame history. Moments like her final act against Louisville only will add to her legend. The Irish had a chance to move back into a tie for first with Duke in the ACC, but the Cardinals did not make it easy at all. Miles made sure her team grabbed that chance when she hit a shot at the buzzer for a 78-76 overtime win, sending Purcell Pavilion into a frenzy.
This game featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, and it was just as thrilling as it sounds. The Irish (21-4, 12-3) bounced back after the Cardinals (19-9, 10-5) held a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] tied it at 68 with 1:13 left in regulation, then made a go-ahead layup roughly half a minute later. Hailey Van Lith then knotted it back up at 70 for the Cardinals, and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag]’s missed layup out of a timeout made overtime necessary.
Overtime didn’t feature a lot of offense, but layups by [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] gave the Irish a four-point lead with 15.1 seconds left. Prosper’s layup came on a foul and appeared to ice the game for the Irish, but she missed her free throw. That allowed Van Lith to get the rebound and easily run back the other way for a layup to cut the lead in half. Miles was trapped upon receiving the subsequent rebound and she lost the ball out of bounds, giving the Cardinals the ball. Olivia Cochran hit a layup out of a timeout to tie it at 76 with 3.8 seconds to go.
The Irish were able to advance the ball after calling a timeout, and that set up perhaps the biggest play of the season. Miles began the play in the backcourt and received a flip from Watson. She then hustled toward the right wing and fired a shot inside the 3-point line that went in. The bucket gave the Irish their first win over the Cardinals since 2019.
Miles finished one assist shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Watson led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting. Citron scored 15 in 44 minutes, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] added 10.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89
One Notre Dame player is on the list.
We are halfway through February, and time is running out for ACC teams to make a move. If they haven’t made an impression on the selection committee yet, they better do it very soon, as in starting this coming week. Here are the players most likely to make strong cases for their teams:
No Notre Dame players are on the list.
The ACC continues to march forward with its season. It’s getting late for some teams to make a move, and others will be just fine when the time comes to unveil the NCAA Tournament bracket. Here are some players who could help sway the selection committee for their team, especially if they’re on the bubble:
One Notre Dame player shares the lead in one category.
We are prepared to leave January behind and enter February, the final full month of college basketball’s regular season. This is when we’ll really get to see whether the teams that have made noise to this point are legitimate or whether any struggling teams are just lying in the weeds. In the meantime, here are some of the players most making noise, specifically those in the ACC:
One Notre Dame player has made this list.
As we enter the final full week of January, we continue to be impressed by those leading the bunch in the ACC. While we don’t know where their teams will be at the end of February, they should at least factor into their respective teams’ seeding in the ACC Tournament. Here are the statistical leaders at this point in the season:
One Notre Dame player makes this list.
With the ACC having reached the midway point of January, we’re at somewhat of a benchmark for the season. While there is plenty of time for new faces to emerge atop the main statistical leaderboards, it would help if those new faces made their move sooner rather than later. For now though, here’s who stands out:
One Notre Dame representative on this list.
We are in the New Year, and that means we’ve reached another benchmark in the ACC season. With the calendar having flipped, the players teams most have to prepare for really are starting to emerge if they hadn’t already. Here are the statistical leaders as enter the first week of 2023:
No one from Notre Dame is on this list.
We don’t know how exactly this season will turn out. All we know is that Notre Dame figures to be a big part after beating UConn in front of a network TV audience. Regardless, here are the ACC players worth watching at the moment:
We know what time it is for Hailey Van Lith
There was absolutely nothing that was going to get in the way of Hailey Van Lith and the Louisville Cardinals moving on to the Final Four on Monday night. Nothing.
That was made clear in the amazing interview Van Lith gave after the Cardinals beat Michigan to advance where she channeled her inner Kobe Bryant.
Van Lith was close with both Kobe and Gigi Bryant. She’d trained with them after Kobe invited her and her dad — who is also her trainer — out to LA to work with the Mamba team. They’d grown closer through their time together before Kobe and Gigi tragically passed away.
In her postgame interview, Van Lith was asked about what Kobe would say to her at that moment. Her response was absolutely incredible.
Louisville's Hailey Van Lith was friends with Gigi & Kobe Bryant: "He would say go f***ing win this sh*t Hailey" pic.twitter.com/0XYsfDChlz
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) March 29, 2022
“He would say go f***ing win this s**t, Hailey. That’s what he would say. We’re not done. That’s what he would say right there.”
Definitely sounds like a thing Kobe would say, honestly. I’m not sure how much time they actually spent together but it’s very, very clear she knew Bryant and his family well.
What a cool moment. We know what type of time Van Lith is on for the Final Four. Everyone else better be ready.
Watch our sneaker unboxing series, Special Delivery
