Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 16, 2024

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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48 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I t's impossible to actually speak any- thing into existence, but there were four people in South Bend who might as well have been soothsayers Nov 4. Two Mercyhurst coaches broke for the Joyce Center parking lot outside Purcell Pavilion in the noon hour. They must've been headed to lunch, but their minds were fixated on the game their team would play in about five hours. "Olivia is going to be a problem," Blue & Gold Illustrated heard one of them mutter. Somewhere around Notre Dame's campus, Olivia — Miles, that is — was thinking the same. The Fighting Irish graduate student guard said she had a conversation with a team videographer about dropping a triple-double in her first competitive game since February 2023. All Miles did was compile 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Notre Dame's 105-61 season-opening win over the Mercyhurst Lakers. "We manifested it," Miles said. "He was like, 'First game back, I need a tri- ple-double.' I was like, 'All right. Let me try.' It's awesome to see those meaning- less words at the time come to fruition." When Miles tries, she's a problem in- deed. And nothing she does on the court is meaningless. She puts intent behind every dribble, shot and pass. In the year Miles missed while rehab- bing a surgically repaired knee, Han- nah Hidalgo took over as the face of the team. She became one of five freshmen to ever earn Associated Press first-team All-America status. She had a produc- tive start to her sophomore season, scoring 19 points on 50 percent shoot- ing while adding 9 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 assists. It was more than just the novelty of Miles' return that stood out about Hi- dalgo's backcourt mate, though. Miles was truly the best player on the floor versus Mercyhurst, and seldom if ever was that the case for anyone who played with Hidalgo in 2023-24. In just one game, albeit against a vastly inferior foe, we were reminded that Miles has talent like you'll hardly ever see, just like Hidalgo. The two have finally joined forces to compete in games that count, and the first of those signaled superb things to come. Hidalgo doesn't have to be everything for Notre Dame anymore. She's got a running mate who's just as capable as a "floor general," as Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey called Miles. "I love watching them," Ivey said. "What you guys are seeing is what I watched this summer and this pre- season. It's magical. It's fun to watch. They're both dynamic. They've done a great job of building chemistry together. You're going to see a lot of spectacular moments because of both of them." Spectacular moments like not one but two first-half, no-look passes from Miles to graduate student forward Liatu King in transition against Mercyhurst. King led Notre Dame with 24 points in her Irish debut as a transfer from Pitt. Four of her 11 makes from the field were assisted by Miles. "I joke with Liv about it, sometimes I don't even know when she's going to throw the ball," King said. "But I'm al- ways prepared because she is a selfless point guard." It's just one game, but it's clear that Miles and Hidalgo form a dynamic and dangerous backcourt. "We work hard, and we have the best guards in the country," Miles said. "Coach Ivey trusts us to run her of- fense. I've been here for five years or so, so I know what she wants and how she wants the offense run. In connection with what she wants, she allows us to be creative at the same time. I think you see that from Hannah and me." ✦ Olivia Miles Emphatically Announces Her Return WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L IRISH OPEN SEASON SHORT-HANDED Notre Dame played Mercyhurst in the season opener with seven available players; freshman center Kate Koval, sophomore guards Hannah Hidalgo, Emma Risch and Cassandre Prosper, graduate student guards Olivia Miles and Sarah Cernugel, and graduate student forward Liatu King. Risch and Cernugel, a former walk-on, came off the bench and contributed 7 points. Every starter had at least 17 points, led by King's 24. The Irish were missing junior guard KK Bransford, senior guard Sonia Citron, graduate student forward Maddy Westbeld, senior center Kylee Watson and graduate student forward Liza Karlen. The entire roster is composed of those 12 players; the Irish do not have any walk-ons. Of the five who were out versus the Lakers, only Citron seems to have an imminent return to play. She paced the bench in tennis shoes for the season opener after being in a boot for the exhibition Oct. 30. Bransford is out for the year, Westbeld won't play until conference games, Watson had knee surgery in the spring and Karlen suffered a lower-body injury in the exhibition that's left her in a boot since then. — Tyler Horka Miles compiled a triple-double — 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — in Notre Dame's sea- son-opening 105-61 win over Mercyhurst Nov. 4, which was her first game since February 2023. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

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