Tag: Niele Ivey

Notre Dame women make two additions via transfer portal

The Irish have some needed post help now.

Notre Dame has benefited from the transfer portal with the addition of two veteran post players. One is 6-foot-4 forward Kylee Watson, who comes to South Bend after two years at Oregon. The other is Lauren Ebo, who gives the Irish their only true center at the moment. After two years at Penn State, she heavily contributed to Texas making back-to-back Elite Eights.

[autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] had this to say about Watson:

“Kylee is one of the most dynamic and versatile posts in her class. She can score at all three levels and is extremely explosive in transition, either running the floor or igniting the break. What I love about her most is her motor and toughness.”

Ivey also commented about Ebo:

“She brings a wealth of experience with deep runs in the NCAA Tournament the past two years. She is a true leader on and off the court. She’s a force inside and is a perfect fit for our team and our culture.”

The Irish also have added Stanford’s Jenna Brown from the portal. Here’s hoping both players can help Ivey make her first run to the Final Four as head coach.

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NC State deals Notre Dame heartbreaking defeat in NCAA Tournament

This one hurts.

Notre Dame had top-seeded NC State on the ropes in the Sweet 16 of the Bridgeport Regional in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the Irish were mere seconds away from defeating the Wolfpack for the second time this season and getting back to the Elite Eight. Instead, the tables turned at the worst possible time, and the Irish will head home after losing a 66-63 heartbreaker.

The Irish (24-9) took the lead in the second quarter, during which they had a 26-14 scoring advantage over the Wolfpack (32-3). They led by as much as 10 without falling behind and still had a four-point advantage with 1:45 to go. That lead was cut to 66-63, and the game was about to be tied but for Elissa Cunane’s first missed free throw of the game. Maya Dodson got the rebound, and the Irish called a timeout hoping to milk the clock with 35 seconds left.

Out of the timeout, the worst possible thing happened, and it surely will haunt Dara Mabrey forever. Raina Perez picked the senior clean at the center-court logo and broke free for a wide-open layup with nobody in front of her, giving the Wolfpack the slimmest of leads. The Irish called their last timeout to set up a game-winning basket, but Maddy Westbeld missed a 3-pointer, and Perez got the rebound and was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining. Perez made two free throws, and the stunned Irish could only watch the Wolfpack celebrate their incredible come-from-behind victory.

As predicted, Cunane was the Wolfpack’s most productive player with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but it was the defense that will be remembered most in this game. Kai Crutchfield had three of her four steals in the fourth quarter, and two of those led to four of her 14 points. Perez also had four steals, none bigger than the last one.

Olivia Miles nearly carried the Irish on her back to the finish line as she led all scorers with 21 points. Westbeld scored 13 points to go with eight rebounds and three steals. However, she also committed five of the Irish’s 16 turnovers.

This one will sting for the Irish for a while, especially after being outscored, 20-10, in the fourth quarter. At the same time, this was the season in which Niele Ivey was able to establish herself as the right person to lead the program going forward. Most of the team will be back next season, and only more progress can result. The Irish are back, and they’re not going away.

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Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma

Which side’s numbers will win out?

Notre Dame wants to see how far it can go for Niele Ivey in her first NCAA Tournament as head coach. At the moment, the answer to that question will come during the Irish’s second-round game at Oklahoma. To this point, the Irish have gotten to where they are because of their awesome offense, timely defense and abilities to both share and take care of the ball. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue as long as the season lasts.

 

While the Irish have a nice offense, the Sooners have an elite one, which no doubt is helped by the large number of 3-pointers they make in each game. They also are one of the best in the country at passing the ball, so there is no doubt that all of this leads to ball movement that confuses opponents. Their Achilles heels are preventing points, the number of fouls and turnovers, so those should provide some openings for the Irish.

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Notre Dame to face Massachusetts in first round of NCAA Tournament

Are the Irish ready for the spotlight?

It’s odd to talk about Notre Dame not being in the NCAA Tournament for a while, but that’s exactly what has happened lately. Fortunately, that drought won’t continue this year. The Irish have been selected for their first March Madness appearance since 2019 and their first with Niele Ivey as their head coach. They have been seeded fifth in the Bridgeport Regional and will face Massachusetts in the first round.

This will be the third time the Irish and Minutewomen face each other. The Irish won both of their previous meetings. The first took place in the 1995 National Women’s Invitational Tournament, the precursor to the present-day Women’s NIT, and was a 90-72 win. The second time happened at Purcell Pavilion in November 2012 and ended with a 94-50 victory.

It’s been a long road to get back to respectability, but the Irish have done it. The question now is whether that can translate into tournament success for this year or if this simply is a building block for the future.

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Watch: Notre Dame celebrates its upsets win over NC State

Think they’re happy?

Unlike their male counterparts the night before, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team scored an upset at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish defeated No. 3 NC State, 69-66, to give Niele Ivey her first win over a top-five opponent. What do you do when you earn such a big victory? Celebrate, of course.

Naturally, the first celebration began on the court as soon as the clock hit zero, much to the delight of the fans who turned out:

When Ivey reached the locker room, a water celebration with her players was waiting for her:

With everybody gathered, it was time to break into their victory song (no, not the fight song):

When Ivey addressed her players, she said pretty much everything she could say:

Just for good measure, Sam Brunelle tweeted out her feelings:

So did Ivey:

If you didn’t believe it before, you definitely can now. Notre Dame is back among the best in women’s basketball, and it’s time to acknowledge it.

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No. 20 Notre Dame upsets No. 3 NC State

The biggest win to date of the Ivey Era!

The following is courtesy of Notre Dame athletics:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Niele Ivey earned her first top-five win of her young coaching career as the No. 20 Fighting Irish (17-4, 8-2) knocked off No. 3 NC State (19-3, 10-1), 69-66, on Tuesday night. As a result, the Irish remained undefeated at home, improving to 10-0.

The victory is the first win at home against a top-five team since Arike Ogunbowale and company knocked off Louisville in a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup back in the 2018-19 season.

Maya Dodson led the way with an impressive 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, while keeping All-American Elissa Cunane at bay, who scored 13 points for the Wolfpack.

Olivia Miles’ statline was 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sam Brunelle also notched double figures again with 10 points. In fact, it was a total team effort for the Irish with Maddy Westbeld, Dara Mabrey, Sonia Citron, Anaya Peoples and Abby Prohaska all landing on the scoresheet.

The Fighting Irish also got it done on the glass, out-rebounding the Pack, 45-38, recording 18 second-chance points.

Next – How It Happened

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Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron win ACC awards

Congrats, ladies!

There are a lot of reasons Notre Dame is 16-4. Two of them are Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron. These particular two were impressive enough recently that they were named the ACC Player of the Week and ACC Freshman of the Week, respectively. It’s the fifth time in program history the Irish have swept a conference’s weekly awards, and Niele Ivey was happy to bask in her players’ honors:

In the Irish’s home wins over Syracuse and Boston College, Miles had averages of 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists. The latter of those games saw her score 30 points and dish out six assists.

Citron has won the conference’s weekly freshman honor five times now, more than anyone else this season. Her averages were 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, and she had a shooting line of .625/.667/.714.

The only other time the Irish have swept these weekly awards since joining the ACC came in December 2015 when the honors went to Madison Cable and Arike Ogunbowale.

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Watch: Niele Ivey addresses team after Notre Dame beats North Carolina

Who wouldn’t run through a wall after hearing this?

Once a powerhouse, Notre Dame has fallen off over the past few years. However, a 70-65 win over North Carolina convinced a lot of people that this program is on its way back up. Both teams are ranked in the Top 25, but this victory put the Irish (13-3, 4-1) ahead of the Tar Heels (14-2, 4-2) in the ACC standings and into a tie for third with Virginia Tech. Coach Niele Ivey told her team exactly what this meant in the locker room afterward:

With the victory, the Irish have won six of their past seven games. They have yet to play NC State or Louisville, the two teams that are undefeated in conference play and also rank in the top five nationally. Barring a collapse over the next month-and-a-half, the Irish should get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. It’s only a matter of how good they’ll be when that time comes.

Notre Dame makes final cut for basketball recruit Ashlynn Shade

This would be a huge get for the Irish.

After a long period of sustained success, Notre Dame has been in a rut the past two seasons. Niele Ivey’s first year succeeding the legendary Muffet McGraw as coach had a respectable 10-10 record. While an improvement from when the Irish went 13-18 in McGraw’s final season, it still was nowhere near the 30-plus wins they had over the previous nine years. However, the Irish have real cause to hope that a light could be at the end of the tunnel with this tweet from five-star recruit Ashlynn Shade:

The 5-foot-11 Shade, who is entering her junior year at Noblesville, has been turning coaches’ heads since at least third grade. As a sophomore, she averaged 23.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.3 steals a game. She’s well on her way to becoming one of the best girls players in the history of Indiana prep basketball.

With Notre Dame and Indiana both on Shade’s final list, it isn’t clear which school has the home state advantage. On one hand, the Irish have had more success in their history. It also will be tough to compete with legendary programs like UConn and Tennessee, programs with recent success like Stanford and Louisville, and schools with solid academic reputations like North Carolina and Vanderbilt. The only thing to say here is may the best program for her be chosen.

Notre Dame product Jackie Young named to U.S. 3-on-3 Olympic team

Add another Notre Dame Olympian to Team USA.

With only a few days before the Tokyo Olympics officially begin, Notre Dame has some new blood for the U.S. Former Irish guard Jackie Young, a member of the 2018 national championship team, has been named a late addition to Team USA for the new 3-on-3 basketball event. She will take the place of Katie Lou Samuelson, who was forced to pull out after entering health and safety protocols. The other members of the team are Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray and Young’s Las Vegas Aces teammate Kelsey Plum.

Young, the top overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, is in her third season with the Aces, who are one game back of the Seattle Storm for first in the Western Conference. She has started all 21 games for the Aces while averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals a game.

The preliminary round for the 3-on-3 competition will begin Saturday and run through July 27, which also is the day of the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be played July 28. One person who will be watching is Irish coach Niele Ivey, who was associate head coach during Young’s time in South Bend: