Tag: Mercyhurst

Notre Dame women’s basketball gets third easy win vs. James Madison

The Irish continue to prove how deep they are.

The early part of Notre Dame’s schedule was set up in such a way that it seemingly wouldn’t be challenged early on. So far, that has proved to be the case. After cruising to easy wins over Mercyhurst and Purdue, the Irish continued that trend with a 92-46 victory over James Madison.

For the third time in as many games this season, the Irish (3-0) proved to have far more talent than their opponent, even with injuries tightening their rotation at the moment. That rotation might be tightened further after a hard knock to the floor caused [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] to leave the game early in the fourth quarter with a head injury. Hopefully, she won’t be lost for very long if at all.

The Dukes (3-1) took their lone lead on a 3-pointer early in the first quarter. Most of the time though, the Irish had double the points of the Dukes or close to it. While the Irish were their usual strong selves on both ends, the Dukes did themselves no favors by making only 15 field goals and shooting a putrid 21.7% from the floor:

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] had a typical game of 24 points, six rebounds and four steals. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] also played typically with 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

[autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] quickly is becoming an early contender for ACC Rookie of the Year. A night in which she had a line of 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks will do that.

King scored 11 points before she went out, and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] also had 11 points to go with seven boards off the bench.

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Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles one of five national players of the week

Another honor for her.

Notre Dame guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] already was named the ACC Player of the Week for the first week of the season. That only proved to be the beginning though.

Miles has been named one of five national players of the week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Joining her are Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers, Rutgers’ Destiny Adams, UCLA’s Lauren Betts and Norfolk State’s Diamond Johnson.

To say Miles has wasted no time announcing her return after missing all of last season with a knee injury is an understatement. She achieved a triple-double in the season opener against Mercyhurst and scored 17 points against Purdue, three of them coming on a shot from beyond half-court at the third-quarter buzzer.

In this young season, Miles is averaging 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists a game. She will have a chance to improve on those numbers in the Irish’s next game Wednesday against James Madison. That will be followed by a contest Sunday against Lafayette.

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Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles’ shot from beyond half-court beats buzzer

She is so back.

As successful as Notre Dame was last season, having [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] available might have brought more success. All the Irish can worry about now though is this season, and Miles already is making up for lost time.

In the Irish’s season-opening victory against Mercyhurst, Miles immediately made an impact by recording her fourth career triple-double. She followed that with a 17-point performance in the Irish’s blowout win over Purdue. Her biggest moment in that game didn’t show up in the box score though.

With time running out in the third quarter and the Irish already up by 30, Miles launched a prayer from beyond half-court to try and beat the buzzer. At the exact moment that buzzer sounded, the ball found nothing but the bottom of the net.

It was a moment worthy of being shown on every sports highlight show in the country, and you’ll agree after you see it:

Miles is on a mission this season, and it will be beautiful to watch.

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Notre Dame listed as No. 2 seed in first ESPN women’s bracketology

Hopefully, that can become a No. 1 seed.

Notre Dame got its season off to a proper start Monday with a blowout win over Mercyhurst. This occurred on the eve of ESPN women’s bracketologist Charlie Creme releasing his first bracketology of the season.

Given that the Irish are starting the season as the sixth-ranked team in the country, it should come as no surprise that they’re a No. 2 seed in this initial bracketology. While there surely are a few paths that could make them a No. 1 seed, one in particular would allow them to put their fate in their own hands.

In a separate story, Creme notes that the Irish play both USC and UConn this season. All three of them play each other this season, and one team going 2-0 against the other would lock in a No. 1 seed assuming there aren’t any losses to inferior opponents during the season. Creme also notes that the Irish must beat Texas to get that seed if they lose to both the Trojans and Huskies.

We have four months of this, people. Time to buckle up.

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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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Injury updates provided at Notre Dame women’s basketball media day

A mixed bag of news.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team held its local media day Thursday. Irish fans undoubtedly were anxious to hear updates about injuries to numerous players ahead of the team’s open practice Friday. While the updates were in fact there, not all of them were positive.

[autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag], who tore her ACL during last season’s ACC Tournament, has undergone knee surgery, and there is no timetable for her return. It’s a tough break for someone who started every game until her injury.

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] already had announced that a foot issue would sideline her for the start of the season, and we now know she likely won’t return until early in conference play, which translates into her missing the first two months of game action.

In much better news, [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who had their own seasons cut short by injuries, are fully healthy. And we already knew that [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] will be back to team with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] in the backcourt.

The Irish open play with an exhibition game Oct. 30 against Davenport, and their regular-season opener will be Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst.

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