| NCAA Bridgeport Regional: | #5 Seed Notre Dame |
|---|---|
| Where: | Bridgeport, CT | Total Mortgage Arena |
| Listen: | 99.9 WQLQ-FM | ND Radio Network |
| Notes: | ND Notes |
| Social: | @NDWBB |
| Sweet 16: | #1 seed NC State |
| When: | Saturday, March 26 | 11:30 am ET |
| Watch: | ESPN |
| Elite 8: | #2 seed UConn or #3 seed Indiana |
| When: | Monday, March 28 | TBD |
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Ivey Era makes its proper debut on Tuesday, Nov. 9, in front of live crowd inside Purcell Pavilion when the Notre Dame women’s basketball squad hosts the Ohio Bobcats in their season opener. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will stream live on ACCNX.
SEASON OPENERS / REVENGE MATCHUP
This time a year ago, the Irish traveled to Athens, Ohio, riding a 25-year win streak in season openers. However, the Bobcats picked up the 86-85 upset. Ohio was led by the tandem of Cece Hooks and Erica Johson, who combined for 56 of their 86 points.
Dara Mabrey exploded with a career-high 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting. It marked the highest point total in an Irish debut. Mabrey connected on 7-of-14 from deep, which tied for the second-most in a single game.
RING OF HONOR – COACH MCGRAW
A Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, a two-time national champion, an empowering voice for women, and to several of her former players – simply the G.O.A.T. Former Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw has earned countless distinctions and accolades over her legendary career; thus, it’s only right that the next women’s basketball Ring of Honor inductee is none other than Coach McGraw.
McGraw becomes the seventh Ring of Honor inductee on the women’s side, joining six of her former proteges: Ruth Riley-Hunter, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Niele Ivey, Beth (Morgan) Cunningham, Kayla McBride and Natalie Achonwa.
In addition, she becomes just the second head coach, joining Digger Phelps, and the third Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer, joining Adrian Dantley and Austin Carr.
McGraw’s Ring of Honor ceremony will take place before Notre Dame’s home matchup against Purdue-Fort Wayne on Dec. 12. That contest tips off at 2 p.m. ET.
FRESHMAN STARTING AT POINT GUARD
Come the season opener, fans can expect to see freshman Olivia Miles start at point guard, joining a very rare and elite company. The last time a freshman started at point since day one, none other than Lindsay Allen.
Back in 2013, it was the first time a Fighting Irish rookie point guard started the season opener since Nov. 26, 1994, when Mollie Peirick cracked the lineup and played 38 minutes (two points, five rebounds, three assists) in a 65-60 overtime loss at No. 25 Seton Hall.
A NEW SAM
Sam Brunelle has been quite open and candid about the challenges she faced last season, facing an injury-riddled sophomore season. She entered the covid year +25 pounds, unable to train properly on bad knees. Fast forward to now and she is down 30 pounds and “in the best shape of her life.”
REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE WINS OF NOVEMBER
Over the past decade, the Irish have found tremendous success in the month of November. In fact, the Irish have gone an impressive 55-6 over the opening month of play.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
After earning First Team All-ACC honors a season ago and the Coaches nod for Rookie of the Year, Maddy Westbeld was named Preseason All-ACC for the 2021-22 season.
The youth movement was on full display with Westbeld the sophomore and Notre Dame’s two freshmen making the ACC Newcomer Watch List.
When it came to the Naismith position awards, junior Sam Brunelle made the Katrina McClain Watch List for the second consecutive year. The award recognizes the best power forwards in the country.
CITRON EARNS GOLD
Freshman Sonia Citron got some international experience before the preseason began, earning gold with the U19 Team USA squad at the 2021 FIBA World Cup. Citron averaged USA second bests of 14.3 ppg and 7.7 rpg overall in Hungary. As a result, she was named to the World Cup All-Star Five Team.
THE MOST COMPLETE FRESHMAN IN THE ACC
One could make the argument that Maddy deserved the Blue-Ribbon media nod for Rookie of the Year as well. She was not only the most complete freshman in the ACC this past season, but also one of the most complete in the entire country. Here’s the stats to back it up:
• ACC Freshmen-only stat rankings: 1st in Scoring, 2nd in Rebounding, 2nd in Steals, 4th in Assists & 4th in Blocks. She was the only freshman in the league to rank in the top-four in all above-mentioned categories.
• Maddy was the only freshman in the country who averaged at least 15 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists & 1.4 steals. Overall, she was just 1-of-8 Division-I players.
• Ranked 4th in the country among freshmen in the Points+Rebounds+Assists/Game category with 25.5 – topped ACC freshmen.
• Her 15.2 ppg led all ACC rookies and ranked 10th overall in the league. Nationally, her scoring average ranked 11th among all Division I freshmen.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT – OLIVIA MILES
Notre Dame received a major midseason pick-me-up in star point guard Olivia Miles, who became the program’s first ever early enrollee. Miles arrived on campus on Jan. 18 and partook in a week of quarantine. Once she was cleared, she started practicing with the team on Jan. 27. She had three practices under her belt heading into Syracuse, where she made an immediate impact.
Miles brought a new look and swagger to the Irish offense. The freshman ended the season on a five-game double-digit scoring streak, totaling 52 points (10.4 ppg) in that span. Her 9.3 ppg on her short season ranked as the 4th best on the squad, while her 3.5 apg took the top mark.
More impressive was the fact that the 18-year old was thrown into the fire — four out of her six games were against top-5 seeds in the ACC tournament.
Miles made up one-half of Coach Ivey’s top-five nationally ranked recruiting class that also featured guard Sonia Citron. Miles was ranked the No. 8 prospect overall by ESPN and the No. 2 point guard.
WHERE MADDY RANKED AMONG ND FRESHMEN
We talked about where Maddy ranked among the top freshmen in the country, but what about Notre Dame all-time?
Westbeld’s 15.2 ppg scoring average ranked in the top-three all-time behind Shari Matvey (17.6 in 1979-80) and Beth Morgan (17.9 in 1993-94). Furthermore, her 7.9 rpg tied Brianna Turner for fourth.
APPROACHING MILESTONE: 700
When it comes to the Mabrey family, that’s a whole lot of buckets. Queens of three some might say. Marina graduated in 2019 as the program’s all-time career made three-pointer leader, draining a total of 274. Michaela converted a career total of 228, while Dara now boasts 195. All-in-all, the Mabreys have totaled a whopping 697 splash-downs.
— ND —