Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 APRIL 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA T he world threw another hurdle in front of Notre Dame, and the Irish jumped right over it. That's what they've done all year. No Olivia Miles? Give the ball to Hannah Hidalgo and let her win ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC Tournament Most Valu- able Player (after totaling 22 points, 6 re- bounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in the title game win over North Carolina State). No Cass Prosper? Let KK Bransford be the go-to two-way hustle player off the bench. No Emma Risch? Ask for more threes from everyone else. Notre Dame hit eight of them Sunday after going into the ACC Tournament title game in the bottom five of the league in made threes. Then, for the first time in 2023-24, there was no Kylee Watson. The senior center injured her knee in the semifinals. Fellow senior center Nat Marshall started for the first time in her career in the championship game and played 34 min- utes — more than she ever logged in 71 previous appearances. She bumped chins with a North Carolina State player toward the end of the first half, missed the final 2:12 of the second quarter and was back on the floor for the start of the third with a big bandage covering the carnage. If Marshall was knocked out of Notre Dame's eventual 55-51 victory March 10, the only available bench player remain- ing for head coach Niele Ivey would have been former walk-on Sarah Cer- nugel — a 5-foot-4 guard who has not appeared in a game the Irish have won by fewer than 24 points this season. She's built for fans chanting her name in the waning moments of big blowouts at Purcell Pavilion. Not as much for title games in March. Marshall stayed in. Notre Dame worked with a six-player rotation without Watson — and Miles, Prosper, Risch, graduate student forward Becky Obinma, who was in concussion proto- col, and graduate student guard Jenna Brown, who's been out all year like Miles. And the Irish still had enough to win their first tournament title in five years. "I'm so grateful for this team, their commitment, their buy-in, their loy- alty," Ivey said. "I love how much we are together, our culture. The success obviously comes with great people and people that work hard." Strength in numbers is real. But so is quality over quantity. Notre Dame won its most recent national championship in 2018 leaning on the latter mantra. Six players appeared in the box score back then. If the Fighting Irish are to win it all for the third time in program history this year, which is a possibility that looks much more likely now than it did in mid-February, that's the formula they'll likely have to follow. Ivey did not rule Watson out for the remainder of the postseason. Watson got an MRI in South Bend March 11. But the way she went down was way too resem- blant of the falls of former Notre Dame players — Miles and Dara Mabrey last season and the rash of those who suf- fered ACL tears six years ago — to think she's going to be healthy and available. The Irish have gotten good at prepar- ing for the worst. And they've gotten good of making the most of it, too. No Notre Dame trio since the turn of the century has combined for more points per game than Hidalgo, junior Sonia Citron and senior Maddy West- beld. They were averaging 54.1 head- ing into the NCAA Tournament. With a Irish Overcome More Adversity To Win ACC Tournament Notre Dame won its first ACC Tournament title since 2019 with a 55-51 victory over North Carolina State in the championship game March 10. Freshman Hannah Hidalgo (3) was named Most Valuable Player. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS