Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1517388
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2024 47 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL chance to hoist hardware at the Greens- boro Coliseum March 10, they tallied 49. North Carolina State, also employ- ing a six-player lineup, only had 51. The Irish's big three hanging with an entire team in scoring isn't something new. They show up in that manner when the stakes are highest. They went off for 72 points at Connecticut in late January. The Huskies finished with 67. They had 52 in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Virginia Tech had 53. "We've been thrown into a lot of big fires, and we've been expected to come out and kind of just stay in that poised character," Westbeld said. "We've been challenged a lot. We step up to it. We've been tested, and we continue to just thrive through that and fight through that." Notre Dame has passed all eight of its tests since losing 59-43 to North Caro- lina State in South Bend Feb. 15. That was the game, the Irish's worst offen- sive outing of the season, that changed everything for this group. You can lose by 29 points to South Carolina in the season opener and still recover. Nobody's beaten the Gamecocks all year. Learn from it and move on. You can lose to Syracuse twice in the regular season and not have to alter a whole lot. The Orange are going to be a tough out in the tourney. They've got one of just two players in the ACC who finished ahead of Hidalgo in league player-of-the-year voting in guard Dyaisha Fair. You want to win at least one of those games, but sometimes a great player beats you twice. Don't let it define your season. But when you lose by 16 at home and never look like you're capable of even competing when you're trying to prove to the country you're going to be a factor in March, which was only two weeks away at the time, something has to change. Ivey knew that and took action. "That [NC State] game shifted the culture," she said. "We didn't play well at all. We were off. We weren't really on the same page that game. "We just put the mirror in our faces and really rallied together. We talked about what do we need to do better for us to finish out the season well. Every- body individually gave more, sacrificed more and committed more to our vision, and that's why we're in this position right now." None of Notre Dame's last eight op- ponents, the last five of which were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at the time of tipoff, have scored 70 points. Only two of them have scored at least 60. The Irish have averaged nearly 73 points per game in the same span. Every team has an inflection point. Notre Dame's was the home loss to the Wolfpack. The Irish have not lost since and are expected to host first- and sec- ond-round NCAA Tournament games at Purcell Pavilion in a week and a half. Se- lection Sunday will surely greet them with a top-four overall seed, probably a No. 3. That wasn't what projections said after a 59-43 beating in its home gym. Ivey's team took charge and changed its fortunes, adding an ACC Tournament title to the program's long list of acco- lades in the process. "I'm grateful that we had that shift, and I'm grateful that we got better. We just got better and better every day. It's just a credit to our leaders, and it's a credit to everyone buying in," Ivey said. "We needed that second layer of buy- in at the end of the season because we knew we had a really tough stretch. "I'm proud of our resilience and the way that we've battled since that loss." ✦ 2023-24 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time/Result Nov. 6 vs. South Carolina^ L, 100-71 Nov. 12 at NJIT W, 104-57 Nov. 15 Northwestern W, 110-52 Nov. 18 vs. Illinois# W, 79-68 Nov. 21 Chicago State W, 113-35 Nov. 24 at Ball State W, 90-59 Nov. 29 at Tennessee% W, 74-69 Dec. 6 Lafayette W, 96-42 Dec. 17 Purdue W, 76-39 Dec. 21 Western Michigan W, 84-47 Dec. 31 at Syracuse* L, 86-81 Jan. 4 at Pittsburgh* W, 71-66 Jan. 7 North Carolina* L, 61-57 Jan. 11 Boston College* W, 98-48 Jan. 14 Miami* W, 70-59 Jan. 18 at Virginia* W, 86-76 Jan. 21 at Wake Forest* W, 75-56 Jan. 25 Syracuse* L, 79-65 Jan. 27 at Connecticut W, 82-65 Feb. 1 at Georgia Tech* W, 85-48 Feb. 4 Pittsburgh* W, 78-53 Feb. 8 at Louisville* L, 73-66 Feb. 11 at Florida State* W, 98-94 (2 OT) Feb. 15 NC State* L, 59-43 Feb. 19 at Duke* W, 70-62 Feb. 22 Clemson* W, 74-47 Feb. 25 at Boston College* W, 79-55 Feb. 29 Virginia Tech* W, 71-58 Mar. 3 Louisville* W,74-58 Mar. 8 vs. Louisville$ W, 77-68 Mar. 9 vs. Virginia Tech$ W, 82-53 Mar. 10 vs. NC State$ W, 55-51 ^ at Paris, France; # Citi Shamrock Classic at Washington, D.C.; % ACC/SEC Challenge; * ACC game; $ ACC Tournament at Greensboro, N.C. Olivia Miles Will Return To Notre Dame Lineup In 2024-25 Three days after Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey was asked if Olivia Miles feels like she has a place on the Irish roster in a postgame press conference March 3, she put speculation of a potential transfer from her All-American point guard to rest. Miles will be back in an Irish uniform next season. "I never want to speak on behalf of my players," Ivey said. "That's really big for me for them to have their own voice. I spoke with Liv. She gave me permission to say this: she will be back. I can't wait. I'm so excited." Miles averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game as a sophomore before the injury. She played a full freshman season in 2021-22 and averaged 13.7 points, 7.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds in a year in which she posted a triple-double in the NCAA Tournament. She became the first freshman, man or woman, to have one in the Big Dance. She has three in her career, a Notre Dame record. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, current Irish freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo was averaging 23.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game in her first taste of college ball. She exited conference tournament week ranked third nationally in scoring and No. 1 by a long shot in steals. She has 147. The next closest Division I player had 121. They're different players, but they're both electric. And they're both going to be wearing a Notre Dame uniform in the same backcourt next season. There might only be one basketball, but there is only one Miles. And there is only one Hidalgo. They call the same place home. "Her comeback is going to be a movie," Ivey said of Miles. "It's going to be incredible for everyone to see what she's doing and how she's going to be. Everybody needs to get their tickets right now." — Tyler Horka