Tag: KK Bransford

Notre Dame guard KK Bransford to take medical redshirt this season

KK Bransford has been one of Notre Dame’s most reliable players the past two years, appearing in all but two games.

[autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] has been one of Notre Dame’s most reliable players the past two years, appearing in all but two games. She’s started 19 of those games, which has been needed for a program that has had its share of injuries to key players. Regrettably for Bransford, she won’t be able to step up this season.

Bransford took to social media Monday to announce that she’s been playing with a lower leg injury throughout her collegiate career. She further revealed that it’s made her less effective than she otherwise could have been.

Therefore, Bransford has made the decision to take a medial redshirt for the 2024-25 season, meaning we won’t see her in game action again until next year. This is a tough break for both her and the Irish, who already will be without [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] at the season, but the games must go on.

Bransford has averaged 7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game during her collegiate career. While she won’t be the biggest loss the Irish could have suffered, she’ll be a significant one nonetheless.

Best of luck to Bransford as she goes through her rehab, and best of luck to her sister, who just made her own college choice:

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Notre Dame women’s basketball impersonates Niele Ivey for birthday

Happy Birthday, Coach!

If you don’t feel old yet, try this on for size: Notre Dame legendary player-turned-coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] is 47 today. Yes, the player who was instrumental in the Irish winning their first national championship in 2001 and the assistant coach on the 2018 national championship staff who now heads the program is 47. Naturally, it’s a time to celebrate.

For the players, assistant coaches and managers in the women’s basketball program, there’s really only one way to mark Ivey’s birthday. That way is to give their best impressions of her and record them for a video.

With [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] acting as the video’s emcee, several of her teammates and some of the other aforementioned members of the program impersonated Ivey or gave her their best birthday wishes.

The best part about this video is that you can see how sincere everyone is. They truly love her, and it’s the kind of a video that only a group that considers itself family can make:

https://twitter.com/ndwbb/status/1838604541958176889

We join in wishing the head of the program the happiest of birthdays and many blessings over the coming year. Hopefully, that includes more success on the court.

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Notre Dame loses two rotational players to transfer portal

Notre Dame widely is expected to compete for a Final Four berth during the 2024-25 season.

Notre Dame widely is expected to compete for a Final Four berth during the 2024-25 season. However, a couple of players have chosen to take their talents elsewhere. Forward Natalija Marshall has announced that she will enter the transfer portal:

https://www.instagram.com/natalijamarshall/p/C5meAvQN9Ro/?hl=en

This news dropped only two days after sophomore guard KK Bransford also announced she was entering the transfer portal:

https://www.instagram.com/kkbransford/p/C5dqbVFunv3/?hl=en

Marshall will leave the Irish despite starting their final four games of this past season for the injured [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag]. In three seasons with the Irish, Marshall averaged 4.1 points and 1.3 rebounds a game.

Bransford is out after only two years with the Irish. In her 66 games, she made 19 starts and averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] already is down two players whom she played regularly. That hurts regardless of the talent coming in via the transfer portal and the 2024 recruiting class. Whatever the reason though, this is a sure sign that the new season already is here.

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Notre Dame’s season ends after falling to Oregon State in Sweet 16

Another year, another elimination in the regional semifinals.

With injuries stripping Notre Dame of its depth, it seemed like only a matter of time before that caught up. It didn’t happen during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but Albany Regional 1 posed tougher competition and thus increased the likelihood of the issue being exposed. Oregon State was the team to do it, beating the Irish in the Sweet 16, 70-65.

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A game that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes was destined to come down to the end. The Irish (27-7) were in front, 59-57, with less than three minutes to play when Donovyn Hunter hit a 3 to give the Beavers (28-7) the lead for good. One possession later, Lily Hansford made another 3 off an offensive rebound, putting the Beavers up four.

The teams continued to trade free throws and layups until the Irish called a timeout down, 67-63, with 26.1 seconds left. Their final hopes were snuffed when Talia von Oelhoffen blocked a [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] 3 and promptly made two free throws after being fouled. At that point, the deficit was too big with too little time left for the Irish.

The Irish scored 26 points off 27 Beavers turnovers, but that was canceled out by losing the rebounding battle, 42-24. The Beavers also exploited the Irish’s lack of available size by winning the battle for points in the paint, 40-28. Also, three Beavers scored 14 points off the bench while [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag], the Irish’s lone reserve in this game, was kept out of the scoring column.

As expected, Raegan Beers was a problem as she scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Beavers. Also a problem was Timea Gardiner, who also achieved a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Hunter scored 11 points, and van Oelhoffen dished out a game-high nine assists in addition to her clutch block of Citron.

Citron led all scorers with 22 points and also had the most rebounds for the Irish with seven. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 19 points but picked up three of her four fouls in the first half, possibly affecting what the Irish could do on defense in the middle. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] had 12 points in her final college game.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] tied her season low with 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. She might have become disconcerted when she was ordered to have her nose ring removed before the start of the second quarter and missed the first four minutes of that quarter while having the issue taken care of.

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Notre Dame survives late Louisville surge to win ACC Tournament opener

A pretty close call, but they’ll play Saturday.

The ACC Tournament is here, and Notre Dame got its first taste of it in the quarterfinals against Louisville. The Irish beat the Cardinals in their regular-season finale Sunday, and now, they had to do it again five days later. It got a little tense towards the end, but the Irish advanced to the semifinals with a 77-68 win.

The Irish (24-6) never trailed in the game and led by as much as 22. Even with the lead cut to 12 going into the fourth quarter, they had to feel good about themselves. But the Cardinals (24-9) chipped away at the lead further with inspired play on both ends, even forcing four Irish players into at least four fouls. They ultimately got to within three with just over half a minute left.

By the time the Cardinals made it a one-possession game though, it was late enough in the game that were forced to foul, and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] made two free throws to put the Irish back up five. A steal by [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] on the next possession finally iced the game, and she and Citron made four more free throws in the final seconds to wrap up the Irish’s scoring. Two of those were prompted by Cardinals coach Jeff Walz picking up his second technical foul, resulting in his ejection.

Citron led all scorers with 26 points, which including make 10 of 11 free throws. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who scored 21 points, shot only 5 of 16 from the field but was 11 of 14 from the charity stripe, and she also had a game-high six assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had 13 points and also joined Hidalgo and the fouled-out [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] in a group whose members grabbed six rebounds apiece.

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Notre Dame 2024 signee named Naismith Second Team All-American

Another top talent on the way to Notre Dame is honored.

Hannah Hidalgo has set a high bar for future Notre Dame freshmen. That doesn’t mean future first-year players won’t try to top her though. One player who could do it during the 2024-25 season is [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag].

Koval is a five-star player at Long Island Lutheran in Brookeville, New York who signed with the Irish in December. Now, she’s been named to the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School All America Second Team.

Hidalgo made the Second Team in 2023, and [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] was an honorable mention. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] was a Third Team honoree in 2022 and an honorable mention in 2021. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] made the Third Team in 2020, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] and [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] were senior honorable mentions.

It’s evidence that even in the post-[autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag] era, Notre Dame continues to attract top talent for women’s basketball, and there’s no reason to think that will stop anytime soon. Even so, a strong postseason showing would do wonders to show just how attractive the program still is.

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Notre Dame stuns No. 5 Virginia Tech with big win

Biggest victory this season by far.

As impressive as Notre Dame’s win at UConn earlier this season was, it was a nonconference game. What ultimately matters is how you do against your conference foes, and the Irish had a tough one in No. 5 Virginia Tech on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion. It turned out not to matter as the Irish upset the Hokies in convincing fashion, 71-58.

Not only did the Irish (22-6, 12-5) keep the Hokies (23-5, 14-3) from clinching the outright ACC title with a victory and snap their 10-game winning streak, but they kept their hopes for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament alive. A loss would have caused those hopes to hang by a thread at best, but that’s not the case.

This game featured eight lead changes, all in the first quarter. The Irish never trailed again after [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] made a layup late in that first quarter. By locking down on the Hokies’ top players, executing their offensive game plan flawlessly and simply outplaying their opponents, the Irish led by as much as 14. The Hokies cut the lead to five a couple of times in the second half but got no closer. The Irish weathered every storm and came out on top.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] embraced the higher stakes with 23 points, six assists, three steals and a career-high 12 rebounds. She also became the ACC’s all-time leading freshman scorer by bringing her season total to 663. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored all 21 of her points in the second half, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

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Notre Dame overcomes slow start to dominate Clemson

Better to get going late than not at all.

Notre Dame is in the final easy stretch of the season. That includes senior night, which was held Thursday even with two home games left. A lowly Clemson team came to Purcell Pavilion and briefly threatened to put a damper on the festivities. But everything worked out in the form a 74-47 Irish win.

The Irish (20-6, 10-5) saw the Tigers (11-16, 4-11) jump to a 10-point lead in the first quarter before rallying to tie game and end the quarter trailing by only two. Everything settled down after that as the Irish outscored their guests, 43-18, over the next two quarters. Whatever the reason for the Irish finding themselves, they played much better on both ends of the floor for the rest of the game, leading to the blowout victory.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half, making each of her first five shots and all four of her free throws. She also had a game-high four steals, three of which came in the first half.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. [autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 12 points, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] had 12 off the bench.

Despite shooting only 4 of 14 from the field, birthday girl [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] scored 10 points, dished out eight assists and got four steals. [autotag]Natalija Marshall[/autotag] did not have a field goal off the bench but recorded a game-high four blocks.

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Notre Dame tunes up for tough week with win over Wake Forest

The Irish really will need to step up their game soon.

Notre Dame is preparing for some heavy duty this coming week. A rematch with Syracuse, which it already lost to, and a road game at UConn means good efforts will be absolutely necessary. First though, visiting Wake Forest, the worst team in the ACC was on the schedule. While the Irish won, 75-56, they didn’t always play like the better team.

The Irish (14-3, 5-2) never trailed in the game, and the final score indicated their biggest lead. However, it also never felt like the Demon Deacons (4-15, 0-7) ever really went away despite trailing by double digits the entire second half. With the difference between these teams, the Irish should have been able to leave the Deacons in the dust. That barely felt like the case.

Maybe this sounds like an overly critical analysis, but that’s only because the Irish are held to such a high standard being ranked in a tough conference. Scoring fewer than 20 points in the third and fourth quarters as they did hear won’t cut it against the Orange and Huskies. [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] needs to emphasize that to her players, or they could be in for a rude awakening over these next couple of games.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had another nice game of 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] continued to make up for lost time from earlier the season with 18 points and joining Hidalgo with four rebounds and four assists. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] scored 10 points and was a rebound short of a double-double. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] also scored 10 coming off the bench.

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Niele Ivey, Hannah Hidalgo, KK Bransford speak after Notre Dame win

Hear from the victors.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was all smiles for Notre Dame after it defeated Miami, 70-59. Niele Ivey had nothing but praise for both her team at the folks who came out to Purcell Pavilion over the course of the Irish’s three-game homestand, especially those who braved freezing temperatures and bitter wind chills to come to this game.

Praise especially was reserved for [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who had another amazing game of 25 points and seven steals and even rewrote the program’s record books with this performance, and [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag], who made a difference with 10 points in the first half.

The Irish now will hit the road for four of their next five games, which includes a break from ACC play, though it’s a game at UConn that promises to be no less challenging. That’s why it was important for them to play well in these past three games, of which they won two.

Here’s what they had to say after this latest victory: