Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528160
48 OCT. 26, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I f what the Atlantic Coast Confer- ence's Blue Ribbon Panel is predict- ing manifests, Notre Dame women's basketball will have a super special sea- son in 2024-25. The Fighting Irish are projected to win the league for the first time since 2018, receiving 70 of 79 first- place panel votes, and sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo was named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. It didn't stop there. Graduate student guard Olivia Miles and senior guard Sonia Citron joined Hidalgo on the 10-player Preseason All- ACC Team. Graduate student forward Liza Karlen and five-star freshman cen- ter Kate Koval made up 40 percent of the five-player Newcomer Watch List. Hidalgo averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 re- bounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game as a freshman. She set new Notre Dame records in scoring and steals. Her signature moment came in going for 34 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in Notre Dame's 82-67 victory at No. 8 UConn. She dropped a career-high 35 points in the Irish's very next game for good measure. Miles is coming back from a knee in- jury that held her out for the entirety of her junior season. The last time we saw the triple-double machine on the floor in competitive action, she averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game as a sophomore. Citron is Notre Dame's "silent assas- sin," as dubbed by head coach Niele Ivey. She put in a career-best 17.3 points per game as a junior. She's the Irish's sharp- est all-around shooter when she's on, recording clips of 46.0 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from three-point range and 91.2 percent from the free throw line, and she also gives Notre Dame plenty of defensive length at the wing position. Ivey's other monikers for her senior stal- wart are "efficient and disruptive." Notre Dame has newfound length in the post, too, in the form of Karlen, a 6-foot-2 transfer from Marquette, and Koval, a 6-5 true freshman. Karlen av- eraged 17.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a senior in Milwaukee. Koval comes in as the No. 5 recruit in her class according to ESPN. Ivey's team has already been hit by the injury bug — junior guard KK Bransford recently announced her decision to sit out the upcoming season to rehab an ailing foot. Graduate student forward Maddy Westbeld is also tending to a foot issue; she had surgery in September to rectify it and is aiming for a return to play around the beginning of conference play in December. Senior Kylee Watson likely has a longer timeline in coming back from knee surgery in the spring. That leaves Ivey with nine healthy play- ers to start the season. She's never had a collection of nine this talented in her five years as Notre Dame's head coach, though. Five of them appear on the Blue Ribbon Panel's watch lists. A sixth, Pitts- burgh transfer Liatu King, was an All- ACC first-team member who averaged 18.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in her se- nior season with the Panthers. She was snubbed from this season's preseason list. Graduate student guard Sarah Cernugel and sophomore guards Emma Risch and Cassandre Prosper round out Ivey's avail- able players for the start of the season in an exhibition at home versus Davenport Oct. 30 and the regular season opener in South Bend against Mercyhurst Nov. 4. Notre Dame finished tied for second in the ACC last season with a record of 13-5 and won the ACC Tournament championship for the first time since 2019. The team's record has gotten bet- ter every year Ivey has been the head coach — from 10-10 (8-7 ACC) to 24-9 (13-5) to 27-6 (15-3) to 28-7 (13-5). Year 5 has the makings of Ivey's best one yet if the Irish get Westbeld and Wat- son back and remain healthy otherwise. ✦ Notre Dame Begins 2024-25 In A League Of Its Own WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L PRESEASON ALL-ACC TEAM (FIRST-PLACE VOTES – 79 VOTERS) Hannah Hidalgo So., G, Notre Dame (62 first-place votes) Ta'Niya Latson, Jr., G, Florida State (9) Saniya Rivers, Sr., G, NC State (2) Aziaha James, Sr., G, NC State (1) Olivia Miles, Jr., G, Notre Dame (4) Sonia Citron, Jr., G, Notre Dame Makayla Timpson, Sr., F, Florida State Alyssa Ustby, Gr., G/F, North Carolina Reigan Richardson, Sr., G, Duke Kymora Johnson, So., G, Virginia (1) NEWCOMER WATCH LIST Toby Fournier, Fr., F, Duke Imari Berry, Fr., G, Louisville Kate Koval, Fr., F, Notre Dame Zamareya Jones, Fr., G, NC State Liza Karlen, Gr., F, Notre Dame PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH 1. Notre Dame (70) 2. NC State (8) 3. Duke 4. Louisville 5. Florida State 6. North Carolina 7. Stanford (1) 8. Miami 9. Virginia 10. Georgia Tech 11. Syracuse 12. Virginia Tech 13. Clemson 14. California 15. Boston College 16. SMU 17. Wake Forest 18. Pitt Sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo — who aver- aged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.6 steals per game last season — was named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER