Tag: Niele Ivey

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.

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Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey enshrined in St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame

Congrats, Niele!

Perhaps the only thing [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] is prouder of than being a member of the Notre Dame family is being a St. Louis native. The legendary Irish player-turned-coach made her mark in St. Louis before she accomplished bigger things, and she got to demonstrate how far she’d come when she led the Irish to victory over California at the Enterprise Center in November 2022.

Now, Ivey’s accomplishments will be remembered in her hometown forever. On Thursday, she became one of 11 new members of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. Here’s the announcement of her induction that was made in July:

Ahead of her honor, the Irish expressed congratulations for their coach:

Ivey will be joining such fellow basketball inductees as legendary St. Louis Hawks Bob Pettit and Lenny Wilkens, two of the greatest NBA players ever. That alone makes this a noteworthy honor.

Congratulations to Ivey and all the other honorees for 2024.

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Notre Dame Coach Niele Ivey Reacts to Showdown with USC

Notre Dame head women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey is among those stoked that the Irish are taking on powerhouse USC this November.

Notre Dame and USC showdowns are generally reserved for the football field but this November the two will meet in a women’s basketball showdown that could very easily be between a pair of top-five teams.

Notre Dame brings back a slew of talent from a team that won last year’s ACC Tournament before making it to the Sweet 16 while USC brings back superstar sophomore to-be Juju Watkins and a team that was just one win away from the Final Four.

Fans are stoked for the game that takes place a week before the Notre Dame-USC football game this November.

Count Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey among those as she shared his excitement on social media Friday evening.

Props to Ivey and the Notre Dame athletic department who have not been afraid to schedule games against the nation’s very best teams year after year.

Notre Dame women’s hoops sells 1,000 new season tickets for 2024-25

Time to jump on the bandwagon!

Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team in 2024-25 will have its highest expectations since [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] took over the program. Fans have taken notice of that, and they want to watch the Irish play at Purcell Pavilion. If you need proof of this, look no further than this announcement the Irish made on social media:

If you haven’t gotten on board with Notre Dame women’s basketball, now is the time. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] is coming off being named First Team All-American as a freshman. All-American [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] will be back after missing all of last season. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] and [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] also are returning, and the Irish added two quality transfers in [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag] and [autotag]Liza Karlen[/autotag].

Anything less than the Final Four for the Irish in 2024-25 will be a disappointment. Ivey has been blessed with the most talent she’s had while leading the program, and it’s up to her to get that talent to mesh.

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Notre Dame one of six finalists for five-star 2025 Kentucky guard

This would be a huge get.

Notre Dame is projected to have a big 2024-25 season, but the question is whether 2025-26 and beyond will be special. If the Irish have their way, one addition to their roster will make things a lot easier.

Zakiyah Johnson, a five-star guard from Kentucky, is projected by multiple sites as the best 2025 recruit in her state. She’s been named the Gatorade Kentucky Girls Basketball Player of the Year three years in a row. And she’s listed Notre Dame as one of the six programs to make her final cut:

When asked by On3 what she liked about each program, Johnson said this about the Irish:

“It’s all girl coaches – I like the way they run their program. I’m also really big on fashion, and I think they do a really good job with it. Coach [Niele] Ivey is very sweet, and Coach [Michaela] Mabrey is very sweet. I can kind of connect with them because they’re younger. It’s really just a vibe you have to be there to feel.”

Let’s hope the vibe is strong enough to lead her to South Bend.

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