Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544292
44 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA T here wasn't a confetti shower on the court. Not one for the Fighting Irish, anyway. Or a water bottle shower for head coach Niele Ivey in the locker room. Or a patented "W" cam, when players and coaches form their fingers in the shape of that letter to celebrate wins, in the tunnel at Dickies Arena. But there weren't too many tears, either, if any at all. The same couldn't be said for Notre Dame after last year's women's basket- ball season came to a close. That's the difference between under- achieving with an unbelievably talented team and taking one that wasn't sup- posed to get out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament to a regional cham- pionship game. Notre Dame, within minutes of the conclusion of its 2025-26 season with a 70-52 loss to No. 1 seed Connecticut March 29, came to terms with it. Ac- cepted it. Reflected on it proudly. As the Fighting Irish should have. They were among the last eight teams playing in the NCAA Tournament. Two months prior, it was fair to speculate if they even deserved to be in it. They knew all along they'd be in it a year ago, and they even felt like, as the former No. 1 team in the country, they deserved a better seed than the No. 3 they were slapped with despite floundering down the stretch and car- rying that poor play into the postseason. Then they lost in the Sweet 16, and the waterworks flowed like a broken pipe because the dream was dead before any March Madness life was really ever even breathed into it in the first place. Ivey said these Irish, meanwhile, reached beyond everyone else's expec- tations for them but proved themselves right — that they did deserve a tourna- ment spot and could actually do some- thing with it. Advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in seven years and playing the top team in the coun- try to a respectable finish unequivocally equates to something. Nothing to cry about. So much to smile over. "For us to have that growth and to watch them connect and the way that they've played this season is the reason why I have so much pride," Ivey said. "That's what you want as a coach. You want to see your team reach the highest potential that they could, and I feel like we did." She's right. The ceiling wasn't the Final Four like it was the season prior. Well, maybe it could have been had the Irish not drawn UConn as the No. 1 seed in their region. We'll never know how Notre Dame would have fared against Texas, South Carolina or UCLA, but the Irish would have still been an underdog in any one of those matchups. They'd have been picked to lose all three, but even pondering the possibility of knocking off any of those top seeds says a whole lot about the way Notre Dame was playing at the end. They were picked to lose to No. 3 seed Ohio State and won. They were picked to lose to No. 2 seed Vanderbilt and won. Hence, reaching beyond everyone else's expectations. Embracing the chip on the shoulder became a powerful calling card. "I'm really proud," senior guard Cas- sandre Prosper said. "I think this year was a lot of having faith in each other and making sure that no matter what, we were going to fight. And I think that's what we did today. The outcome wasn't what we wanted, but at the same time I think we had such an amazing season." The agenda now needs to be getting back to a place where lofty expectations aren't scoffed at but encouraged. This is Notre Dame, after all, and beating Ohio State and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tour- nament should be just that — expected. Heck, the Irish still have an all-time winning tournament record over UConn, of all teams, even after the defeat at the hands of the Huskies. They're 5-4. Notre Dame Takes Major Step Forward In Advancing To Elite Eight WOMEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Junior point guard Hannah Hidalgo averaged 25.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 7.3 steals and 4.5 assists in four NCAA Tournament games, while leading the Irish to their first Elite Eight berth since 2019. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS