Tag: Olivia Miles

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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Three Notre Dame players among ESPN’s top 25 in women’s basketball

The Irish have serious talent. No doubt about it.

Notre Dame is expected to contend for a national championship this season. That’s not by accident. There are many talented players on the Irish, and at least one prominent sports media outlet recognizes that, not that others don’t.

ESPN has released its preseason list of the top 25 players in women’s basketball. The Irish were one of seven teams to have more than one player on the list. In all, three Irish players were afforded the honor.

Unsurprisingly, [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] ranks the highest among her teammates at third. Even without having played last season, [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] still made the list, clocking in at 13th. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is right behind her at 14th.

To make things even more exciting, the Irish will face every player this season who is ranked alongside Hidalgo in the top five of this list. Those players are JuJu Watkins, the top-ranked player, alongside USC teammate Kiki Iriafen, Paige Bueckers of UConn and Madison Booker of Texas, which also clocked Rori Harmon in at ninth.

There indeed are some fun times in store for the Irish this season.

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Photos of Notre Dame women’s basketball exhibition win over Davenport

See how the season unofficially tipped off.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is ready for the season. That much was on display during its lone exhibition game, a 101-41 victory over Davenport.

That the Irish would dominate this game was a given well before the fans filed into Purcell Pavilion. The main attraction was the long-awaited return of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who received a warm ovation while being introduced as part of the starting lineup. Miles made up for lost time by finishing one assist shy of a triple-double: 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] scored 31 points, dished out nine of her own assists and had five steals. [autotag]Liatu King[/autotag], in her first action for the Irish, scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] had 11 points and four blocks.

We should expect a lot of games like this from the Irish this season, especially against inferior opponents. For a better idea, here are some photos from this particular game:

Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles introduced before exhibition game

Welcome back, Liv!

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] scored a game-high 13 points in a 76-53 Notre Dame win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 23, 2023. At the time, it was a typical game for her other than the fact that it was the Irish’s final home game of the regular-season.

What we didn’t know was that 615 days would pass before Miles graced the Purcell Pavilion floor during a game again. She injured her knee at Louisville a few days later and wound up missing both the postseason and all of the following season.

Finally, after a lengthy period of setbacks, false hope and transfer rumors, Miles is playing for the Irish again. The moment of truth came when she started her team’s lone exhibition game this season against Davenport.

Irish fans packed Purcell Pavilion, and they were given an opportunity to show how much they loved and missed Miles. Needless to say, those fans did not disappoint when she was announced.

Here’s to a healthy and productive season for the former All-American.

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Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron named to shooting guard award watch list

Good luck, Soni!

For all the talk about [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], there’s a third Notre Dame guard who often gets lost in the shuffle. [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] has made both All-ACC and All-ACC Tournament in two consecutive seasons. She was ACC Rookie of the Year two seasons before Hidalgo arrived.

Now, there’s a possibility she could be honored in a different way this season. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the best female shooting guard in the country. Citron is one of 20 to make this year’s watch list.

Also on the list is defending winner JuJu Watkins of USC, which will face the Irish in nonconference play. If Watkins impresses as she did as a freshman, Citron will have to somehow surpass that level to have a shot at the award. Of course, the Irish will take that version of Citron if only to improve their national championship chances:

Best of luck to Citron in her attempt to dethrone Watkins.

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Three Notre Dame women’s basketball players are on key watch list

Notre Dame has three women on the Naismith Player of the Year list.

Notre Dame has three women’s basketball players on the Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Watch List.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame made the announcement Monday that Sonia Citron, Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles are on the watch list.

The 50-player list includes the nation’s top players, and very few teams have more than three players on it.

Citron averaged 17.3 points per game and played 35.8 minutes a game on average. That’s fourth in Notre Dame history and head coach Niele Ivey called her the team’s “glue.”

She was also All-ACC Second Team last season.

Hidalgo is a pre-season AP All-American and last season averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game. She led the country in steals.

Miles, meanwhile, is coming back from a torn ACL. The 2023 ACC Player of the Year runner-up averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game during her junior season.

Feb 24, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) dribbles as Clemson Tigers guard Madi Ott (30) defends in the second half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

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Three Notre Dame basketball players make point guard award watch lists

Who would you most trust to run your offense?

Even as basketball moves more and more towards a positionless game, offenses still rely heavily on their point guards. Notre Dame is blessed to have a lot of talent up top for both the men’s and women’s teams. People nationwide are starting to take notice, too.

For the past two years, one of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] or [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] has been running the Irish’s offense and done very well at it. Now, they finally will join forces for the first time this season, and there might not be a backcourt in women’s basketball that can compete with it.

So it should come as no surprise that both Miles and Hidalgo have been named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List. If either of them wins this award, which is given to the top female point guard in the country, they would be the second player in Irish history to win this award after [autotag]Skylar Diggins[/autotag] in 2012 and 2013:

On the men’s side, Markus Burton is trying to build up a campaign in which he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. The Mishawaka native is off to a good start by being named to the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, which is awarded to the best male point guard in the country. He would be the first Irish player to win it:

Point guards are not in short supply at Notre Dame. We can say at least that much when it comes to basketball.

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Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named preseason AP All-American

The Irish truly have one of the best players in the country.

Anyone following women’s basketball knows about Notre Dame sophomore guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. She tore up the landscape as a freshman and even was named a finalist for national player of the year. She is the primary reason the Irish are expected to contend for the Final Four this season, though a returning [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] isn’t far behind.

The Associated Press realizes how special Hidalgo is and has named her to its preseason All-American Team. She is part of the first trio of sophomores to be named to this team alongside JuJu Watkins of USC and Madison Booker of Texas. Paige Bueckers of UConn and Watkins teammate Kiki Iriafen round out the team.

Hidalgo already has been named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year for this season. She led the country with 4.6 steals a game last season and was sixth nationally with 22.6 points a game. It would be shocking for her not to build upon that this season:

Congratulations to all five players who were selected for this honor.

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Notre Dame guard Markus Burton named to Preseason All-ACC First Team

He’s the player to watch on the Irish this season.

Although Notre Dame was rebuilding a season ago, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was a clear bright spot. He led the Irish in averages for scoring (17.5), assists (4.3) and steals (1.9). Basically, he was the men’s equivalent of [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] put together.

All of that was enough for him to be named ACC Rookie of the Year as well as Third Team All-ACC. Now entering his sophomore season, a select media panel expects to produce highly once again.

Burton has been named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, receiving 41 votes. He joins a group that includes Cooper Flagg of Duke, Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest, Nijel Pack of Miami and RJ Davis of North Carolina, the unanimous selection for Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

The same panel has picked the Irish to finish 10th out of 18 teams in the expanded ACC. It’s an indicator that the Irish still have some work to do to get back near the top of the conference. It should be a fun season though.

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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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