Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2022 49 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL T h a t d i d n 't c o m e to f r u i t i o n . NC State outscored Notre Dame 20-10 in the fourth quarter. "NC State did a great job making ad- justments to pick us up full court, to pres- sure us," Ivey said. "They double teamed [Miles]. They changed different things on her defensively off the ball screen." That's coaching. Someone like Moore has done it enough times to know which strings to pull. This was only Ivey's sec- ond season as a head coach. She has plenty of experience sitting alongside Muffet McGraw as a longtime Notre Dame assistant, but it's different when the head coaching cap goes on. Like her players, Ivey is going to learn from the loss. She's going to take it on the chin and be better for it. All Notre Dame wanted to do in November was qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Irish ended up being seconds away from winning three games in it. There is no shame in that. There is no shame in Mabrey's turnover in the wan- ing moments, either. Perez made a play. There are 40 minutes worth of plays in every ballgame. "We reassured her that it wasn't that play," Miles said. "It was a buildup of plays. It wasn't that one play. We could have put ourselves in a much better sit- uation to be up four, up six, instead of up one." Those are the learning curves Notre Dame has to overcome before it can truly win high-stakes games regularly. There can't be a cloud hanging over the team any time it takes a slight lead into the fourth quarter. Players can't be thinking, "How can we hold on?" They have to be thinking, "How can we lock this down and leave little doubt?" In a 44-point victory over Oklahoma in the second round, Notre Dame did that. The Irish did not let the Sooners come up for air on their own floor. It was 40 minutes of all-out basketball on both ends of the floor. The Sweet 16 was a different story. NC State put up more points in three of four quarters. Notre Dame might have been the better team for longer stretches, but what's that mean when the scoreboard shows a deficit when it's all over? "As coaches, we always stress every possession matters," Ivey said. It's one thing to say it. It's another to show it. That'll be easier to do when this group comes back nearly in its entirety for the 2022-23 season. Miles will be another year wiser. Mabrey will be a super senior. Graduate student forward Maya Dodson could have a waiver approved granting her another year of eligibility. ACC Fresh- man of the Year Sonia Citron should take a huge leap as a sophomore. Maddy West- beld should be better as a junior than she was this year as a sophomore. The entire Notre Dame starting five could run it back next season. That's a scary thought for the ACC considering this group, as inexperienced and low on scholarship depth numbers as it was, finished third in the regular season con- ference standings and made a run to the Sweet 16 — where it nearly knocked off a team that only lost to one ACC oppo- nent all season for a second time. Yeah, Notre Dame was the only ACC team to beat Moore's Wolfpack this sea- son. And it almost happened twice. Ivey and company have nothing to hang their heads over. "I'm excited to get back to work," Ivey said. "Maybe I'll take 24 hours off, and then I'm going to start watching film and get back to work because that's what it is — this is a grind. I always talk about my mantra is never too high — don't ever get too high on the wins — and don't ever get too low on the losses. "Obviously this one hurts. It's going to hurt. But I know that I'm at an amaz- ing university, and I have an amazing staff. I have amazing support, and I have an amazing team. I'm just blessed and grateful that I get a chance to lead this group." A group that went from a 10-10 re- cord and missing the NCAA Tourna- ment last season to one that put the world on notice with a record-breaking Sweet 16 entrance. A group that will almost assuredly be back. ✦ 2021-22 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Result Nov. 9 Ohio W, 105-69 Nov. 11 Western Illinois W, 76-50 Nov. 14 at Syracuse* W, 82-56 Nov. 18 Fordham W, 71-56 Nov. 21 Bryant W, 94-35 Nov. 26 vs. Georgia# L, 71-67 (OT) Nov. 27 vs. Oregon State# W, 64-62 Dec. 2 at Michigan State% W, 76-71 Dec. 5 at UConn L, 73-54 Dec. 8 at Valparaiso W, 73-56 Dec. 12 Purdue-Fort Wayne W, 78-41 Dec. 19 Pitt* W, 85-59 Dec. 22 at DePaul W, 91-86 Jan. 2 at Duke* L, 72-70 Jan. 13 at Wake Forest* W, 74-64 Jan. 16 North Carolina* W, 70-65 Jan. 20 at Boston College* L, 73-71 Jan. 23 at Pitt* W, 77-63 Jan. 25 at Virginia* Ppd. Jan. 27 Syracuse* W, 83-62 Jan. 30 Boston College* W, 74-61 Feb. 1 NC State* W, 69-66 Feb. 3 Virginia Tech* W, 68-55 Feb. 6 at Florida State* L, 70-65 Feb. 10 Miami* W, 69-53 Feb. 13 at Louisville* L, 73-47 Feb. 17 at Georgia Tech* W, 72-66 (OT) Feb. 24 Clemson* W, 77-56 Feb. 27 Louisville* L, 86-64 Mar. 4 vs. Georgia Tech^ W, 71-53 Mar. 5 vs. Miami^ L, 57-54 Mar. 19 vs. UMass$ W, 89-78 Mar. 21 at Oklahoma$ W, 108-64 Mar. 26 vs. NC State+ L, 66-63 *ACC; # Daytona Beach Invitational in Daytona, Fla.; % ACC-Big Ten Challenge; ^ ACC Tournament at Greensboro, N.C.; $ NCAA Tournament first and sec- ond rounds at Norman, Okla.; + NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 at Bridgeport, Conn. Freshman guard Sonia Citron and the Irish led top seed North Carolina State for nearly 32 min- utes in their Sweet 16 matchup before falling 66-63. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS