Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 JUNE/JULY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA A nna DeWolfe has one request for her former Notre Dame women's bas- ketball teammates. She made it public during the team's awards banquet on the evening of April 23. "When y'all win the national cham- pionship next year, I need two tickets," said the Fordham transfer who started all 35 of Notre Dame's games in 2023-24 after spending the first four years of her career with the Rams. DeWolfe isn't the only one with blue and gold in her blood who might need help getting into the Final Four a year from now. There is growing belief in the Joyce Center that this Fighting Irish program, led by Niele Ivey in what will be her fifth season as her alma mater's head coach, will be ready to climb to the peak of college basketball's mountain- top as soon as the spring of 2025. Well-founded, growing belief. "Everybody knows what the goal is, what the mission is for this year," gradu- ate student Maddy Westbeld said. "We have endless talent on this team." That starts with one of the best play- ers in the country in Hannah Hidalgo, owner of too many program records to comfortably count. DeWolfe's vacated place alongside Hidalgo in the backcourt is getting filled by senior Olivia Miles, a former All-American in her own right. Together, they could make up the best one-two guard duo in the country. Whose will be better? Who else will have two players who at different points in the last few seasons have been viewed by many as the best point guards in the nation not named Caitlin Clark? Even South Carolina coach Dawn Staley be- stowed the award named after herself, given to the most outstanding guard in the country, upon Hidalgo. Clark is in the WNBA now. She's given way to whoever's next. She's given way to Hidalgo and Miles. "We're two great point guards, and just being able to play with each other and play off each other is going to be exciting," Hidalgo said. "Seeing how Liv plays, her style is just different and something nobody else has. Just being able to work out with that, it's going to be scary for everybody coming in next season. And it's going to be fun." Even more fun knowing the starting lineup will be rounded out by senior So- nia Citron, who shared co-MVP honors with Hidalgo at the awards banquet; Westbeld, who's using her COVID-19 waiver for one more year after the best overall season of her career as a senior; and either five-star freshman center Kate Koval or a post player plucked from the transfer portal. Notre Dame has had a number of them visit recently, from Pitt's Liatu King to Boston University's Caitlin Weimar (who picked NC State). It's not just that Notre Dame is go- ing to be loaded across the board next season. It's that everything has been building to a moment like this. A season like this, when all of the highly rated pieces Ivey has recruited and retained are healthy and on the floor at the same time chasing the sport's ultimate prize. Westbeld could have easily moved on with her life and basketball career after four successful seasons at Notre Dame. But the way she would have went out, with a loss in the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row, was something that wouldn't have sat well with her. "Right after the game, I got some clarity," Westbeld said of losing 70-65 to Oregon State. "It's unfinished busi- ness that I need to take care of." Hidalgo feels the same way. She's thought a lot about going 4 of 17 from the floor and only registering 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals against the Beavers — by and large the worst outing of her otherwise sensational freshman season, one in which she av- eraged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game. "It took me some time to turn the page," Hidalgo said. "But I was right back in the gym after the game ended. … That game is motivation because we were just one step off from the Elite Eight. "Obviously, with the team we're go- ing to have next year, we're going to be Final Four and national championship [caliber]. It's exciting, and it motivates me for next season." There was some jest in DeWolfe's de- livery of her national title tickets line. Hidalgo did not mince words, mean- while. She said it with a straight face. She had supreme confidence in what she conveyed. Everyone who's a part of what Ivey is about to orchestrate shares that feel- ing. For that, it truly does feel like Final Four or bust in South Bend. Westbeld wouldn't have returned for one more go if it wasn't. Chasing national championships is just what Notre Dame does. "It's everything," Westbeld said. ✦ Maddy Westbeld is returning to Notre Dame for a fifth season, one that could come with the best team results during her time in South Bend. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER It's Final Four Or Bust For Notre Dame In 2024-25