Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 83 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL on the floor. She made 301 threes in her career, more than anyone who has ever worn a Notre Dame uniform. Including the four games after her injury, Mabrey still had 44 more three- point attempts (112) this season than the Irish player who had attempted the second most — sophomore guard Sonia Citron with 68. Ivey implored Citron, Westbeld and freshman guard Cassandre Prosper to shoot more threes going forward. In a 69- 65 loss to North Carolina State Jan. 29, the Irish shot 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) as a team from long range. Westbeld made 3 of 9. Citron went 1 of 6. Prosper was a bright spot in going 2 of 4. Sophomore point guard Olivia Miles and freshman guard KK Bransford combined to go 0 of 4. The Irish went 3 of 11 from deep against Duke. Westbeld, Citron and Prosper, the trio Ivey is relying on to provide three- point scoring, combined to go 2 of 7. Prosper missed two corner tries in the fourth. Either one of them going down could have changed the entire complex- ion of the game. The loss didn't come down to Prosper's misfires, but a mini- mized margin for error without Mabrey and Ebo magnifies such misses. The Irish aren't as effective on the glass without Ebo, either. She led the Irish with 52 offensive rebounds through 22 games — 19 of which she played in. Ivey largely attributed the Duke defeat to not having enough second chances. "I didn't feel like we got great offen- sive rebounding," Ivey said. "We were one and done. That really hurt us. We got wide-open shots at points but just did not have anybody crashing." Notre Dame's new reality is not hav- ing their three-point specialist the rest of the way. There is nothing Ivey can do about that except hope the trio she wants to be a bit more productive steps up. But being that Ebo, who's averag- ing 9.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game, isn't dealing with a season-ending ailment, the Irish are in limbo waiting for her to return. Her presence opens up possibilities in the paint that just aren't there without her. Junior center Kylee Watson did not attempt a shot against the Blue Devils. She had 2 points and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes. Those are numbers Ebo would have almost certainly flown by had she been available. Still, even in the wake of two debili- tating injuries, the Irish were just one game out of first place in the ACC with six conference games remaining. A reg- ular season title is still within reach and a promising NCAA Tournament run is also on the table. Notre Dame has one of the best play- ers in the country in Miles, the pro- gram's all-time leader in triple-dou- bles. But the losses to the Wolfpack and Blue Devils showed sometimes missing key players makes more of an impact than having one of the very best wearing your colors on the court. Miles — with help from Citron, for that matter — can carry Notre Dame to a few wins in March. Those two combined to score 45 of the Irish's 72 points in a 13-point win at Boston College Feb. 2, for instance. The opponents in the tournament are more formidable than the Eagles, though. When championship-caliber foes are on the schedule, Ebo needs to be suited up. And role players like West- beld and Prosper need to, well, prosper. Notre Dame's season will come down to health, the level of Miles' magic and how well her teammates rise to the occa- sion. The Irish have potential, but a tough road in the middle of conference play showed they need everything to com- fortably come together to maximize it. ✦ Olivia Miles Makes Late-Season Award Lists Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles was named one of 10 finalists for the Nancy Lieber- man Award and one of 20 players still up for the Wooden Award heading into February. The sophomore sensation is receiving the national attention her on-court play has demanded. The Nancy Lieberman Award goes to the top point guard in the country. The Wooden Award is a prestigious player of the year accolade. Miles led the Irish in four major stats as of Feb. 6; points (15.1), rebounds (7.1), assists (6.9) and steals (2.1) per game through 22 contests. That assist figure ranked No. 9 nationally. It's going to be tough to dethrone Iowa's Caitlin Clark from her 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award victory. Clark averaged 27.6 points and 8.2 as - sists per game through the Hawkeyes first 23 games. Both of those statistics ranked No. 2 in the country. South Carolina post player Aliyah Boston won the Wooden Award last year. This year, she's averaging 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for No. 1 South Carolina. The Gamecocks were undefeated through 23 games as of Feb. 6. Notre Dame has never had a Wooden Award winner. Skylar Diggins-Smith won back-to-back Nancy Lieberman Awards for the Irish in 2012 and 2013. Miles broke Diggins-Smith's triple-double re - cord with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists versus Merrimack College Dec. 10. Diggins-Smith and Jackie Young previously held the program record with two triple-doubles apiece. Miles has three and counting. — Tyler Horka Two Notre Dame Signees Selected For McDonald's All-American Game The tradition of Notre Dame women's basketball signees being named to the McDonald's All-American team is alive and well. Class of 2023 signees Emma Risch and Hannah Hidalgo joined those that have come before them with their addition to this year's roster. Hidalgo is the No. 1 point guard and No. 5 overall player in the class according to ESPN HoopGurlz. Risch is the No. 8 guard and No. 20 overall player. Both are five-star prospects, as was early enrollee Cassandre Prosper (No. 2 forward and No. 16 overall player). Notre Dame was the only program in the country to sign three top-20 players. In 19 games played in 2022-23 as of Feb. 6, Hidalgo was averaging 30.3 points, 7.4 steals, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for Haddonfield (N.J.) Paul IV according to MaxPreps. Risch was averaging 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 steals per game in 20 matchups for Melbourne (Fla.) Palm Bay Magnet. Notre Dame currently has five former McDonald's All-Americans on its roster; graduate student guard Jenna Brown, sophomore guard Sonia Citron, freshman guard KK Bransford, junior forward Maddy Westbeld and junior forward Kylee Watson. If sophomore point guard Olivia Miles and Prosper did not enroll early and forgo their final high school semester, they would have likely landed on the McDonald's All-American roster as well. This year's McDonald's All-American Games will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston March 28. The girls will play a four-quarter game with 12 players per side at 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) followed by the same format for the boys starting at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN). Hidalgo and Risch will be teammates on the East squad. — Tyler Horka