Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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72 FEBRUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA T his Notre Dame women's basketball team is "a wagon," as the kids say. Ain't no stopping it from rolling swiftly and with a purpose right on through every team in its way. If the Fighting Irish are up against a be- low average team, they're blowing them out big-time — like, 100-64 against Wake Forest Jan. 9. If the Fighting Irish are up against an above-average team, they're still winning by double digits. As of Jan. 10, Notre Dame had four ranked wins. All of them were by at least 10 points. The Irish had the services of graduate student forward Maddy Westbeld for just one of those ranked wins. She made her season debut Jan. 5 against North Caro- lina. She didn't score any points, easing herself back into the routine of playing meaningful minutes coming off foot surgery. Against the Demon Deacons, though, Westbeld looked like herself. She scored 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Her first two appearances of this sea- son were the first two times in 122 career games in which she did not start. It may get to a point where head coach Niele Ivey puts Westbeld in the starting lineup to replace Marquette transfer Liza Karlen, but you're not messing with any- one else in the first five. Guards Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron and Pitt transfer Liatu King have perma- nent places in the starting lineup. That means only one of Karlen, Westbeld and five-star freshman center Kate Koval can start. That's a good problem for Ivey. "We have a lot of depth and opportu- nities for rotations and matchups, I was really pleased with this win," she said after the Wake Forest game. "With the physi- cality and the long stretch of the season, having more bodies to be able to compete is only going to help us." When you've got that many weapons, you're bound to set some records. That's what the Irish have been up to in the first half of the season. Notre Dame scored 1,337 points in the first 15 games of the season. That's the most in the first 15 games of any season in program history. The Irish hit 100 points in four games in that span. That's only been done three other times in program history. Having the No. 2 scorer in the country helps. Hidalgo is on a National Player of the Year-worthy rampage in her sopho- more season, averaging 25.7 points per game through 15 games. She was also good for 6.0 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 3.7 assists per game at that point. She's not the only Notre Dame guard filling up the stat sheet like that, either. Graduate student Olivia Miles averaged 16.6 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game through 15 outings. She had three triple-doubles in those 15. Reintroducing Westbeld into the mix with those two and King — a double- double machine, averaging 12.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game through 15 contests — and Citron quietly going about her business with 14.1 points per game poses many problems for the opposition. "It's super exciting to have everyone back," King said. "Coach Ivey says it all the time, 'Pick your poison.' Any of us can go out there and give opponents a hard time." You can't say nobody is capable of beating this Notre Dame team. The Irish aren't undefeated. They lost to TCU and Utah in the Cayman Islands Classic over Thanksgiving. That was a month and a half ago, though, and the Irish didn't have Westbeld or Karlen healthy and available. Notre Dame still managed to beat No. 3 USC and No. 4 Texas without those two as well. When everything is clicking, it's worth asking who left on the Notre Dame sched- ule can actually take down the Irish. North Carolina is one of the best teams in the ACC. The Tar Heels lost by 10 at home to the Irish. Does anybody really believe No. 13 Georgia Tech can go into Purcell Pavilion and leave with a win? No. 24 California? No. 14 Duke? Sure, it's pos- sible, if the Irish play like they did in the Caribbean and those opponents play their best basketball. With each game that goes by, Notre Dame is letting everyone know it'll take a perfect confluence of circum- stances to get 'em. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said it best in December — when Notre Dame is on its A-game, the Irish can beat anyone out there. The Irish can win their third national title in program history, es- pecially with Westbeld back. "Maddy brings a leadership that is in- explainable," Miles said. "Her presence on the floor really calms us down. I know that I can go to her, rely on her, even though she's working to get back. It's tough for her to get comfortable, but she's always there to lead us. "That pays dividends when we want to go to the national championship and want to go to Tampa. She's just very important for our team." ✦ Notre Dame Is Getting Tougher And Tougher To Beat WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L WOMEN'S BASKETBALL RECENT GAME RESULTS Date Opponent Result Dec. 12 Connecticut W, 79-68 Dec. 15 Eastern Michigan W, 118-49 Dec. 22 Loyola Maryland W, 97-54 Dec. 29 Virginia* W, 95-54 Jan. 5 at North Carolina* W, 76-66 Jan. 9 Wake Forest* W, 100-64 * ACC game In her first game of the season, against North Carolina, graduate forward Maddy Westbeld did not score, but she posted 14 points in her next outing versus Wake Forest. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER