Tag: Niele Ivey

Notre Dame beats North Carolina for fourth win over ranked opponent

The Irish simply have more talent than the Tar Heels.

Typically, ACC play signifies tougher competition for Notre Dame. But the Irish have played so many quality teams already that they might be on the easy part of their schedule now.

That said, the Irish had to fight hard against North Carolina to earn their fourth victory over a ranked opponent this season, 76-66. Then again, that should be expected in such a game.

The Irish (12-2, 3-0) never trailed after the Tar Heels (13-3, 1-2) scored the first four points of the game, but even their biggest lead of 14 never truly felt safe. Perhaps energized by playing on their home court, the Heels went on a few second-half runs that prompted [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] to call timeouts.

This game ultimately came down to talent, and the Irish have women’s basketball’s best backcourt in [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who scored 24 and 19 points respectively with five 3-pointers apiece. Miles’ five 3s represented a career high for her.

[autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] scored nine points apiece, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] tied her season high with 15 rebounds while also collecting eight points:

The Irish also got a boost from the return of [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who made her season debut after recovering from a foot injury. She had one rebound, one steal and one block in 13 minutes off the bench.

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Son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach suffers broken fibula

Prayers up for Jaden.

Nothing is scarier on a basketball court than seeing a player having to be taken off on a stretcher. Regrettably, fans who attended the Detroit Pistons’ New Year’s Day game against the Orlando Magic were subjected to that dreadful sight.

For Notre Dame women’s basketball fans, it was a particularly brutal scene. Jaden Ivey, the son of Irish coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag], was involved in a collision with Cole Anthony, and it couldn’t have been more immediately clear that he was in a lot of pain. Both teams gathered around him as he was removed from the court.

ESPN’s Shams Charania confirmed the worst the next morning when he reported that Ivey had suffered a broken left fibula in the collision. While the Pistons are not ruling Ivey out for the season, it stands to reason that they won’t rush him back.

Here’s the video of the injury, though it’s advisable not to watch if can’t subject yourself to such things:

Ivey is averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists in his third NBA season.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball reaches milestones in win over Virginia

A lot was accomplished in this game.

It’s hard to pinpoint the most impressive part about Notre Dame’s ACC home opener against Virginia. So we’ll just say everything was great. Still, we’ll talk about what made this 95-54 win so great.

Initially, the Irish (11-2, 2-0) appeared they would get a competitive game from the Cavaliers (8-6, 0-2), who scored the first four points and deadlocked the score at 9 midway through the first quarter. It was all Irish after that though as they rattled off 28 consecutive points. The Cavaliers didn’t score again until near the halfway point of the second quarter.

The game was never remotely close after that, and [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] became the fastest coach in both Irish and ACC history to reach 100 career victories. That only was the tip of the iceberg for the Irish’s accomplishments though.

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] recorded the sixth triple-double of her career with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists, which tied a career high. She also became the third player in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Only [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] and [autotag]Lindsay Allen[/autotag] had done it before her.

Miles also tied the ACC record for career triple-doubles. Alyssa Thomas was the first to reach that total during Maryland’s final years in the conference.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] tied her season highs with 25 points and 11 rebounds. She also set her season with five 3-pointers.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] led all scorers with 28 points. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] scored 12 points and blocked three shots before fouling out, and [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] came close to a double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

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Son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach has winning four-point play

What a way to end a game.

It doesn’t happen often, but a basketball game can be won via a four-point play. Such fortune happened to Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey, the son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag].

With the Pistons trailing the Sacramento Kings by three on the road and 10.8 seconds left, Ivey received a pass in the right corner. He dribbled once, moved further right and drew contact from De’Aaron Fox as he put up a 3-pointer. A whistle blew, and Ivey’s shot went in, tying the game and putting him at the free-throw line with a chance at a potential game-winning free throw.

Ivey’s subsequent free throw went in, putting the Pistons up by one. The Kings had no timeouts and 3.1 seconds to go the length of the court. Fox fired a prayer from beyond half-court but couldn’t convert. The Pistons had won a game they had trailed as much as 19 and not led since the first quarter:

Ivey finished with 19 points, six rebounds and one block.

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Notre Dame women’s basketball sells out ACC home opener vs. Virginia

Will you be in attendance?

The primary excitement around the Notre Dame campus right is about the football team in the College Football Playoff and rightfully so. But when football ends, the focus will shift to the women’s basketball team, a national championship contender in its own right.

Even amidst all the football hoopla, Irish fans are finding time to turn out for women’s basketball games. Maybe no more home football games this season have at least partly to do with it, but Purcell Pavilion should be seeing a lot of fans as ACC play begins in earnest.

To that end, the women’s basketball team announced in the hours before the football team defeated Indiana that its conference home opener against Virginia has been sold out. What’s more, this season now has had the most sellouts for the program since [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] became coach. This is remarkable considering we’re not even into January yet.

People want to see the Irish play, and they deserve the attention.

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Son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach hits buzzer beater

Big shot for anyone.

Things for going great for the Ivey family. First, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] just coached the Notre Dame women’s basketball team to a huge win over USC. That bumped the Irish up to third in the latest Top 25 AP poll and even netted them three first-place votes.

Now, the good fortune is being passed down to the next generation. Jaden Ivey, Niele’s son, has hit a baseline buzzer beater to help the Detroit Pistons defeat the Toronto Raptors, 102-100. It capped a night in which he led the Pistons with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and led all players with eight assists.

Ivey is in his third season with the Pistons out of Purdue, and it’s his best one yet so far. Through 18 games, he is averaging 18.4 points and 4.4 assists a game. Whatever he does the rest of the season though or even the rest of his career, he’ll remember this:

Here’s hoping Ivey will have many more some clutch moments throughout his NBA career.

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What should we expect in the USC-Notre Dame women’s basketball blockbuster?

USC fans naturally expect the Trojans will win at home versus Notre Dame on Saturday. What does a Notre Dame writer think will happen? We asked one.

On Saturday afternoon, USC women’s basketball will battle Notre Dame in an early season top-five showdown. The Trojans are No. 3. The Fighting Irish are No. 5. It doesn’t get much better or bigger than this for a November basketball game.

Earlier this week, Geoffrey Clark of Fighting Irish Wire shared his prediction for the matchup.

“The Irish will be in a better position if they can get back Liatu King, who missed the last game after leaving the previous game with a head injury,” Clark wrote.

“Regardless, they still will have fewer available bodies than the Trojans, and that won’t play well against a fellow national championship contender. Playing in what should be a tough atmosphere on the road in this situation also could prove challenging.

“USC 77, Notre Dame 65.”

Tipoff between No. 3 USC and No. 5 Notre Dame is set for 1 p.m. in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon at the Galen Center. The game is on NBC and is part of a USC doubleheader on Saturday. The football team plays on NBC at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time against UCLA.

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Fighting Irish Wire shares X-factor for USC-Notre Dame showdown

USC women’s basketball has to know where Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles is on the floor at all times during Saturday’s huge game in the Galen Center.

On Saturday, USC women’s basketball meets Notre Dame in an early-season top-10 showdown.

Heading into the matchup, Geoffrey Clark of Fighting Irish Wire gave his thoughts on a player who could be a potential X-factor for Notre Dame.

“After missing all of last season, Olivia Miles has wasted no time reminding everyone she still is around,” Clark said. “She recorded a triple-double in her first game back, and she’s a threat to do that whenever she steps on the court.

”Once the Irish’s best player, the early returns on how well she meshes with (Hannah) Hidalgo are extremely promising.”

If the Trojans want to prevail, containing Miles will be essential.

Tipoff between USC and Notre Dame is set for just after 1 p.m. local time in Los Angeles in the Galen Center on Saturday. The game will be televised by NBC and will stream on Peacock. Notre Dame plays football on NBC at 4 p.m. Pacific time later on Saturday. USC and UCLA play football at 7:30 Pacific that night, also on NBC.

Check out our podcast on USC women’s basketball and the big clash versus Notre Dame:

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ESPN’s Charlie Creme highlights Notre Dame in big early-season games

Be sure to watch these games.

Notre Dame is expected to do well this season. Its No. 6 ranking in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll is evidence of that. Naturally, some of its early games will receive a lot of attention.

In light of the poll’s release, ESPN women’s basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme has published a story that answers the question of what the biggest early-season game is for each team ranked in that poll.

Creme has the Irish’s ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge matchup against Texas as the Irish’s biggest game and gives the following reason:

“Both the Irish and Longhorns saw freshmen become stars a season ago with their team leaders out with injury. Rori Harmon is back for Texas to team up with Madison Booker, and [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] can now pair [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], returning from a knee injury. This is a dream backcourt matchup that could define which duo is meshing the best. This looks to be the best Irish team under Ivey. This game and one a week later against UConn, also in South Bend, should tell us just how good.”

The Irish also will face USC early in the season, and Creme has that game as the biggest for the Trojans, who rank third in the poll. Here’s the reason for that:

“A week before the two schools square off in football in Los Angeles, they do the same in basketball. Both the Trojans and the Irish should be in the mix for a No. 1 seed come March, and the winner of this game takes a massive advantage in that quest. One month before (JuJu) Watkins gets to go head-to-head with (Paige) Bueckers, she faces Hannah Hidalgo, the second-best freshman to Watkins a year ago.”

So yeah, there are a few game on the schedule you won’t want to miss. Simply put, don’t.

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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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

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