Irish, Boilermakers Renew Rivalry; McGraw Statue to be Unveiled

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s Joyce Center and Purdue’s Mackey Arena sit just 111 miles from each other. Both programs have had lengthy and historic runs in their time, and both are located in what is often considered the basketball capital of the country, Indiana. In terms of the women’s basketball programs specifically, both programs rank in the top 50 all-time in program wins, and they have three national titles and six additional championship game appearances between them. In 2001, they met for a title in St. Louis. Notre Dame emerged victorious, 68-66. 

But it has been more than two decades since then and six years since the teams last met on the court. Sunday’s matchup will feature two head coaches at the helm at their alma maters: Ivey graduated from Notre Dame in 2000, while Purdue’s Katie Gearlds graduated from Purdue in 2007. 

Sunday’s matchup will showcase a 7-1 and 14th-ranked Notre Dame team and a 6-4 Purdue squad. The Boilermakers are coming off of a loss in their conference opener; they dropped a game last Sunday at Minnesota, 60-58. Abbey Ellis leads Purdue with 14.3 points per game.

Of note, Purdue has three South Bend natives on its roster in Rashunda Jones and Mila and Amiyah Reynolds. All three attended South Bend Washington.

Notre Dame will once again be without key players as Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Emma Risch and Cassandre Prosper remain injured. The Irish will continue to rely heavily on star freshman Hannah Hidalgo, who is pacing the ACC with 23.6 points per game. She also leads the nation in steals (6.0). 

The Irish will have an advantage inside on Sunday with Kylee Watson, Maddy Westbeld and Nat Marshall. Marshall is averaging 14.8 points per game over her last four contests, the highest mark on the team behind Hidalgo. Westbeld is averaging a double-double over that span with 12.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest.

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In addition to Sunday’s action on the court, prior to Sunday’s game, a women’s basketball legend will be forever enshrined outside of Purcell Pavilion. Hall of Fame head coach Muffet McGraw will have a statue unveiled outside of the front of the Joyce Center prior to tip off at 10:45 a.m. It is the first athletic statue dedicated to a female on campus. 

McGraw served as the Irish head coach for 33 seasons from 1987-2020. Her teams made nine Final Fours and won two national titles. 

The 13th female coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, McGraw racked up an impressive 936 career wins (ranks seventh all-time among Division I coaches), including 848 at Notre Dame. During the 2018-19 season, McGraw became the fourth-fastest coach to reach the 900-win milestone. McGraw’s competitive drive led to 31 20-win seasons and 11 30-win campaigns. She compiled 174 victories over ranked opponents. McGraw-led Irish squads accumulated 14 regular-season conference titles (including eight in a row from 2012-19) and 11 conference tournament championships (including six in her last eight years). She also earned seven conference Coach of the Year honors. 

Overall, McGraw coached one women’s basketball hall of famer, five Olympians, 20 WNBA players (10 currently in the league), 22 All-Americans and 36 players who earned all-conference recognition. 

A three-time consensus National Coach of the Year, McGraw not only built a women’s basketball power, but inspired a passionate fan base within the local community. Back on Jan. 15, 2001, the women’s program recorded its first official sellout, as more than 11,000 fans packed Purcell Pavilion to watch Notre Dame knock off the top-ranked UConn Huskies for the first time in program history. Speaking of the Huskies, Coach McGraw knocked off UConn five times in the NCAA Tournament, more than doubling the next team’s highest total. She defeated UConn nine times overall.