Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2021 37 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL have the team for a longer stretch of time, early before the season, is going to make a big difference next year." PLUSES AND MINUSES The most glaring problems this past season, beyond the fourth-quar- ter meltdowns, included turnovers, rebounding and team defense. Among 336 Division I teams, Notre Dame finished 238th in turnovers per game (17.1) and 185th in rebound margin (minus-0.7), giving up 70 more caroms on offense. Ivey believes the turnover issue can be rectified now that top-10 pros- pect Miles had an early start to her college career. "That experience is going to help us be able to close out games," Ivey said. With Miles and ACC Rookie of the Year Maddy Westbeld, who led the team in scoring (15.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.9), there is a strong base to build in the back- court and frontcourt for years to come. Adding the 6-3 Dodson and 6-1 wing Citron fulfills the roster bal- ance Ivey is seeking. "Her position is something we have needed as far as her height, her ability to be a rim protector, rebounder and a scorer," Ivey said of Dodson. "The addition of Sonia, she's very similar to [2016-19 starter and No. 1 WNBA pick] Jackie Young. She's an all-pur- pose athlete. She can run the point, she can be a one through four. "… Just being a position-less team, that's something that I want to hope- fully grow into where I have multiple players that can play multiple posi- tions within my offense. Adding those to a healthy Sam [Brunelle] next year, Anaya Peoples … I think we're going to be even more versatile and we're going to have a lot of depth at a lot of different positions next year." In 2019-20, Notre Dame finished 317th in three-point shooting (27.1 percent), but this year was 40th (35.2 percent) with the addition of Dara Mabrey and Westbeld, who along with Brunelle all shot at least 38.3 percent beyond the arc. Overall, the Irish upgraded from 180th in scoring average last year (64.8) to 89th this season (70.0). "I could tell our team was under- standing it a lot better," Ivey said. Defensively, there are many more miles to travel — and Miles alone isn't enough. The Irish ranked 214th in field goal defense (41.1 percent), 237th at guarding the three-point arc (32.8 percent) and 267th in scoring de- fense (70.5 points allowed per game). THE FUTURE The superpower that was from 2011-19 with seven Final Four berths, five titles games and the 2018 na- tional title is no more with a 23-28 mark the past two years. No NCAA Tournament next sea- son would be stunning — especially with six former McDonald's All- Americans plus top-10 recruit Miles — but the bar is and should be much higher than just receiving a bid. "That's going to ignite them the rest of the offseason," Ivey said. "That's something that is always go- ing to be in the back of our minds, wanting to work and wanting the opportunity to play again. It's going to be a long time. This is going to al- low us to have a lot of fire and drive as we prepare for next season. "This situation for me is always going to make me work harder and motivate us to get back." The elephant in the room is whether women's basketball will go the way of the Notre Dame women's soccer program. In the 17 years from 1994-2010, that Irish program went to 12 Finals Fours, five championship games and captured three national titles, most recently in 2010. In the 10 years hence, it's been to one Elite Eight (2012) and reached the Sweet 16 only once (2017) in the past six seasons. ✦ Three Exit The Program A trio of Notre Dame freshmen — Alasia Hayes, Alli Campbell and Amirah Abdur-Rahim — entered the transfer portal following the 10-10 season. Hayes, a 5-7 point guard, opted out in the final two weeks of the season, with COVID-19 concerns cited. However, it probably didn't help that early enrollee Olivia Miles, a top-10 recruit, enrolled in January and gradually took over present and future point guard duties by the end of February. Hayes appeared in 13 games, averaged 7.9 minutes per contest, and finished the season with 26 points, 12 assists and 14 turnovers. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native — who was ranked as the nation's No. 44 overall player in 2020 by ESPN HoopGurlz — has two older sisters who star at Middle Tennessee State. Anastasia Hayes was second in the nation with a 26.5 scoring average, while Aislynn Hayes was her team's second-leading scorer with a 14.0 average. Campbell, a 6-0 wing from Altoona, Pa., tal- lied more than 3,000 points in her high school career and was ranked No. 27 nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 21 by Prospects Na- tion. She was inserted in only six games and totaled 13 minutes, most of it earlier in the year when health issues struck the team. She tallied 13 points during the campaign. Game action didn't look any more promising next year with Dara Mabrey, Anaya Peoples, Abby Prohaska and Katlyn Gilbert all returning, and incoming freshman Sonia Citron — the nation's No. 16 overall player — enrolling, so Campbell opted to transfer to Penn State. The departure of Abdur-Rahim, a 6-2 for- ward from Marietta, Ga., was slightly more surprising considering the Irish need front- court help. However, classmate Maddy West- beld is the prime figure there and 6-5 fresh- man Nat Marshall, sidelined this past year because of ACL surgery the previous year, is expected to complement 6-3 Stanford gradu- ate transfer Maya Dodson in 2021-22. Abdur-Rahim appeared in eight games, and totaled 45 minutes, eight points and nine re- bounds. Despite the attrition, the Fighting Irish still are expected to return 11 scholarship players next season. Fifth-year senior (1): Dodson Seniors (4): Mabrey, Gilbert and Prohaska, and forward Danielle Cosgrove Juniors (2): Peoples and forward Sam Brunelle Sophomores (2): Westbeld and Marshall Freshmen (2): Miles and Citron — Lou Somogyi "That's going to ignite them the rest of the offseason. That's something that is always going to be in the back of our minds, wanting to work and wanting the opportunity to play again. It's going to be a long time. This is going to allow us to have a lot of fire and drive as we prepare for next season. This situation for me is always going to make me work harder and motivate us to get back." NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH NIELE IVEY