Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 NOV. 19, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA R ecruiting in college athletics requires the ability to peer be- yond the forecast for the upcoming and/or current season to examine the outlook of future seasons. That responsibility falls on the head coach and, in the case of college basketball, just a handful of assis- tants. There is no general manager or a bevy of recruiting-centric graduate assistants. Notre Dame women's basket- ball head coach Niele Ivey kept all of that in mind when recruit- ing, receiving a commitment from and eventually signing Melbourne (Fla.) Palm Bay five-star guard Emma Risch. Ivey's Irish are set to lose 3-point sniper Dara Mabrey to graduation at the end of the 2022-23 season. Mabrey led Notre Dame with 73 triples last season. The next clos- est player on the roster was point guard Olivia Miles, known more fo r d r iv i n g a n d d i s h i n g t h a n chucking away from deep, with 33. The 6-foot-2, fire-from-any- where Risch, who signed on the first day of the early period Nov. 9 after committing nearly one year to the date on Nov. 14, 2021, will instantly make up for what Notre Dame will lose in Mabrey. "Emma is one of the best shooters I've seen in a very long time," Ivey said. "She has an incredible IQ , deep shoot- ing range and elite vision. Her size and ability to score in all three levels sepa- rates her and will translate to college basketball immediately. "I'm looking forward to the positive impact she will make on our team on and off the court." Like the lone signee in Notre Dame's 2022 class, current Irish true freshman KK Bransford, Risch has a chance to play her way into McDonald's All-America status during her senior year at Palm Bay. She rose from No. 64 to No. 20 in the class of 2023 ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting Rank- ings. No player appearing in the previous top 100 ascended by as many places. Risch averaged 20.5 points, 6.9 re- bounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals in 26 games as a junior. By all accounts, she got even better over the offseason. "She had a fantastic summer shoot- ing the basketball," ESPN analyst Shane Laflin said in a statement. "With im- proved strength and overall fitness, Risch elevated her ability to create space, relocate and make shots. "Risch has a court awareness that makes teammates around her better; in turn, it aids her ability to hunt long- range shot-making opportunities. She has potential to be an All-American." Mabrey isn't the only player who will surely leave the Irish. Texas graduate transfer center Lauren Ebo is also in line to exhaust her eligibility. When one girl goes out the door, coaching staffs gen- erally like another to enter. That wasn't completely the case this offseason, but it was close. Four players — forward Sam Brunelle to Virginia, guard Anaya Peoples to De- Paul, guard Abby Prohaska to San Diego State and guard Katlyn Gilbert to Mis- souri — left Notre Dame via the trans- fer portal. Maya Dodson was selected in the WNBA Draft. That's five players out, and only four came in — Bransford, Ebo, Oregon transfer Kylee Watson and Stanford transfer Jenna Brown. Ivey would like to ink another class of 2023 signee or two. Sources have in- dicated to Blue & Gold Illustrated that five-star guard Hannah Hidalgo of Had- donfield (N.J.) Paul VI High School and five-star forward Cassandre Prosper of Cairine Wilson Secondary School in Ot- tawa, Ontario, are at the top of the list. They have until Nov. 16 to sign in the early period. If they do not decide by then, they'll have to wait until the spring period that begins April 12. Hidalgo, the nation's No. 5 overall prospect per ESPN HoopGurlz, has narrowed her choices to Notre Dame, Michigan, Stanford, Duke, Ohio State and UCF. Prosper, the No. 16 overall recruit per ESPN HoopGurlz, is down to Notre Dame, Duke, South Carolina, Arizona and North Carolina. "We'll see what's going to happen," Ivey said. "My staff and I put in a ton of work. I feel like we have identified some great talent. With this timeframe, you have to wait until the end. So, we'll see." ✦ Notre Dame Signs Five-Star Guard Emma Risch Risch, who is ranked as the No. 20 overall player in the class of 2023 by ESPN HoopGurlz, averaged 20.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals in 26 games as a junior at Melbourne (Fla.) Palm Bay High. PHOTO COURTESY EMMA RISCH IRISH OPEN SEASON WITH RESOUNDING VICTORY Sophomore point guard Olivia Miles started her National Player of the Year campaign inn the season opener by scoring 17 points, grab- bing 10 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists in Notre Dame's 88-48 win over Northern Illinois at Purcell Pavilion Nov. 7. Junior forward Maddy Westbeld also was a stable presence with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting with 8 rebounds and a game-high 4 blocks. Graduate student guard Dara Mabrey shook off a first half in which she shot 1 of 5 from 3-point range to finish the game with 16 points. She made all three of her shots from long distance in the second half. Notre Dame was outrebounded 45-43 by a Huskies team that does not have a player on the roster taller than 6-foot-1. Head coach Niele Ivey said that rebounding will be a focal point going forward. "It's definitely something we're going to work on and something we'll fix," she said. — Tyler Horka