Tag: Olivia Miles

Notre Dame women’s basketball ranks sixth in AP Top 25 Preseason Poll

Get on the bandwagon right now.

The expectations for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team couldn’t be higher. This roster is stacked, and everybody is taking notice. If this year’s Irish don’t get to at least the Final Four, this season widely will be seen as a disappointment.

The AP Top 25 Preseason Poll has been released, and the Irish rank very highly on it. Specifically, they rank sixth, which is the highest they’ve been ranked in this particular poll since they began the 2018-19 season as the top-ranked team fresh off their most recent national championship.

This season will mark the return of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], the former national player of the year runner-up who missed all of last season with a knee injury. She’ll be teamed in the backcourt with [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who herself was a national player of the year runner-up a season ago. This could be the most lethal guard combo in program history.

The Irish have some injury issues of course, but every team will go through those. They’ll be ready no matter who’s available:

The regular season tips off Nov. 4 against Mercyhurst. It should be a fun few months of Irish women’s basketball.

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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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Notre Dame women’s basketball hypes return of Olivia Miles

Get hyped, Irish fans.

As impressive as Notre Dame was a season ago, it didn’t have the same luster it would have had with [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] available. She missed the entire year because of a knee injury she suffered near the end of the preseason.

When [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] took over Miles’ starting spot at point guard emerged as a national player of the year finalist, there were questions about whether Miles would take her talents elsewhere. Instead, she’s back with the Irish where she belongs.

To that end, Miles, who also is a former national player of the year finalist, has had plenty of photos taken in an Irish uniform, indicating to fans that this is real. The Irish wisely decided to hype this photo shoot up on social media.

Miles is expected to start alongside Hidalgo, forming what could be the most lethal backcourt in women’s basketball. Irish fans have to be excited about that:

We’ll see how the season plays out, but based purely on this, there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

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Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles takes in Chicago Sky game

See what the Irish star is up to.

If Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team is going to have a successful 2024-25 season, much of it will depend on [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag]A. After missing the entire 2023-24 season while recovering from a knee injury she suffered late in the 2022-23 season, she’s ready to get back to action.

With the Irish’s first game several weeks away though, Miles simply can’t stay away from live basketball. So she figured the time was right to leave South Bend for a bit to watch the Chicago Sky host the Washington Mystics. The Sky took notice of her presence and decided to spread the word on social media.

https://twitter.com/chicagosky/status/1834035200507957483

Miles expressed gratitude and also got the chance to talk with injured Sky rookie standout Angel Reese.

The game resulted in an 89-58 win for the Mystics, but Miles got to watch two former Irish players for the Sky. [autotag]Lindsay Allen[/autotag] scored six points to go with a team-high five assists, and [autotag]Brianna Turner[/autotag] had four points while leading the Sky with three steals.

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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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Three Notre Dame players projected as 2025 WNBA first-round picks

You’ll definitely want to watch these players for the Irish next season.

The dust barely has cleared on the 2024 WNBA draft. But that hasn’t stopped people from looking ahead to the 2025 draft. And if you do that as a Notre Dame fan, you’ll realize why next season likely will be the best chance yet for the current group to go far.

Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic has put together a list of who she believes will make up the first round of next year’s WNBA draft. Merchant figures three current Notre Dame players will be taken in that round, beginning with [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] at No. 3:

“It’s hard to design a more prototypically perfect 2-guard than Citron. She is tall and strong, defends well and has a beautiful jumper that goes in 37 percent of the time from long range. Citron is overtaxed as a primary ballhandler, but let her run off screens or handoffs, and she can create her own shot. She is plug-and-play on any team, adding positive value on both ends of the floor.”

[autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag], who announced her return to the Irish for next season earlier this week, also made the list as the sixth overall pick:

“Another player who could have been a first-rounder in this year’s draft, Westbeld does everything well. She can shoot from distance (36 percent on 3s in her college career), and she also can drive to the basket. Westbeld is a load in the paint and dominates on the glass. She can body bigger players on defense; her effort to limit (Elizabeth) Kitley to 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting during the 2024 ACC season was an eye-opener. It’s unclear if she has All-Star upside, but Westbeld is the type of player winning teams find minutes for.”

[autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] rounds out this list at No. 8, but she has an asterisk next to her name since she still has a medical redshirt year:

“It’s been a long time since we watched Miles play basketball, so in case you forgot, she’s an elite passer who excels at creating offense in transition. She rebounds well for her position and is a defensive playmaker with 2.1 steals per game. The 3-point jumper was a work in progress during her sophomore season, but she started to fill it up from midrange at least. Without the jumper, she’d be a solid backup point guard in the WNBA, but she has a chance to be even more if that developed during her rehab year.”

So yeah, the 2024-25 Irish are going to be special. Get excited for it now because there’s no time like the present, but more importantly, all of these special players will be off to greener pastures before you know it.

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Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld talk day before Notre Dame starts tourney

Everyone has been talking about Notre Dame All-American freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo. But every great basketball player needs a supporting cast in order to succeed on the team level. For Hidalgo, no supporting cast members have been greater this …

Everyone has been talking about Notre Dame All-American freshman guard [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. But every great basketball player needs a supporting cast in order to succeed on the team level. For Hidalgo, no supporting cast members have been greater this season than [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag].

Both players made Second Team All-ACC and First Team All-ACC Tournament. Someone need to step up in the absence of [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], and they’ve done just that and then some. More importantly, they’ve provided the veteran leadership needed for the Irish to excel, especially as the roster continued to be ravaged by injuries. Both of them were injured themselves at various points this season, but they’re fully healthy now.

All this and more are why they were selected to meet the media the day before the Irish opened the NCAA Tournament against Kent State. Here is some of what they had to say:

Notre Dame’s Kylee Watson will miss NCAA Tournament with torn ACL

Tough news.

When Notre Dame’s [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] went down with a knee injury during the Irish’s ACC Tournament semifinal win, many feared the worst. Those fears turned out to be true as Watson posted on Instagram that she tore her ACL and will not be able to play in this year’s NCAA Tournament:

https://www.instagram.com/kylee.watsonn/p/C4op-y6sq9G/?hl=en

This obviously casts a shadow over the Irish earning a No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament. There also will be questions moving forward about her availability for next season as All-American guard [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] has missed all of this season with a knee injury. A medical redshirt figures to be a possibility much like it happened with Miles this past season.

Watson has started every game for the Irish since transferring from Oregon before the 2022-23 season. This year, she averaged 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game. Needless to say, the Irish will miss her presence down low.

The loss of Watson also stretches the depth of an Irish roster hit hard already by injuries even further. Questions linger about how far they’ll be able to go this March Madness with so few players available. They got through the ACC Tournament all right, but they’ll facing teams now that might not be so forgiving with every game being an elimination game from here on. But they play the games for a reason, and we’ll see if the Irish can make some magic again.

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Notre Dame projected as No. 4 seed or better in all bracketologies

The Irish might not be done playing at home yet this year.

In beating both Virginia Tech and Louisville last week, Notre Dame did what it needed to do to move up bracketologists’ projections. Every available bracketology now projects the Irish to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN, CBS Sports and Her Hoop Stats all have the Irish as a No. 4 seed in their latest updates. College Sports Madness projects them as a No. 3.

Connor Groel, the women’s bracketologist for CBS Sports, wrote the following about the Irish in his latest update:

“It’s been a terrific close to the season from Notre Dame, who now have a chance to perhaps even jump to a No. 3 seed, equaling last season’s result despite [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] having missed the entire year. [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] exceeded all expectations and was named both ACC Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] is playing some of her best basketball as of late.”

With the Irish one of the four ACC Tournament semifinalists, they have another chance to make their case. Hopefully, they won’t need to with the case possibly already having been made.

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Niele Ivey confirms Olivia Miles’ Notre Dame return for 2024-25 season

Any rumors about transferring can be squashed.

With [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] having taken this season by storm the way few others have, it’s safe to call her the face of Notre Dame. For the previous two years, it was [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], who has missed this entire season with a knee injury. With Hidalgo and Miles playing the same position, questions arose about whether Miles would stick with the Irish.

Miles’ future in South Bend no longer is in doubt. Speaking ahead of the Irish’s trip to the ACC Tournament, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] announced that Miles had given her permission to publicly relay that she will return to the Irish for the 2024-25 season. That means Irish fans will see their dream backcourt of Miles and Hidalgo come to pass.

In her first two full seasons, Miles made the All-ACC First Team and led the conference in assists both times. She also was a Second Team All-American in 2023 and had three triple-doubles. One of those was the first for a freshman, men or women, in the NCAA Tournament. That came in the Irish’s 2022 first-round victory over UMass (12 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists).

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