| 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 University of Notre Dame women’s basketball team will get back out in front of a live crowd for the first time in two years when the Irish host Emporia State in an exhibition bout on Monday, Nov. 1. Tip time inside Purcell Pavilion is set for 7 p.m. ET.
The lone exhibition game will be the final tune-up for the Fighting Irish before officially kicking off the season at home on Nov. 9 in a revenge matchup against the Ohio Bobcats.
To purchase tickets, visit UND.com/BuyTickets or call 1-833-ND-IRISH (M-F, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) for more information.
Please note, fans will be required to wear a mask inside Purcell Pavilion, with the only exception being when eating or drinking. All concession stands will be cashless. Notre Dame’s clear bag policy and magnetometer use will also be in effect.
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 (Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron) 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.
ALUMNI SUCCESS – WNBA AND OLYMPICS
The Irish dominated the WNBA and Olympic scene this past summer. First, there was Arike Ogunbowale winning the WNBA All-Star game MVP award after scoring 26 points in a win over the USA Olympic team. Next, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Brianna Turner both reached the WNBA Finals with the Phoenix Mercury.
Ogunbowale earned Second Team All-WNBA honors while Diggins-Smith and Jewell Loyd earned First Team distinction. Speaking of Diggins-Smith and Loyd, the Irish duo earned the gold medal with Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. And speaking of the Olympics, Jackie Young earned gold with the USA 3×3 team. Thus, the Irish now boast 5 Olympians and 4 gold medalists in program history.
CITRON EARNS GOLD AS WELL
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.
ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, MADDY WESTBELD
The ACC Head Coaches voted Maddy Westbeld as their Rookie of the Year winner. Westbeld entered an elite Notre Dame club, becoming just the sixth player in program history to win a conference’s Rookie of the Year award. She also is the second to do so in the ACC, joining Briana Turner who accomplished the feat in 2015.
Westbeld’s awards haul didn’t stop there. Notre Dame’s leading scorer and rebounder also collected First Team All-ACC honors as voted upon by the Blue-Ribbon media panel and a Second-Team nod from the Head Coaches Panel. Westbeld also naturally landed on the ACC All-Freshman list.
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 are 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 the 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.
TURN THE THREE AROUND
At the end of the 2019-20 season, the Irish ranked dead last in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage (.271). Fast forward to now and the Irish recorded quite the renaissance from beyond the arc, primarily thanks to the quartet of Mabrey, Brunelle, Westbeld and Walker. In fact, the Irish converted 35.5 percent from three, which not only ranked as the 4th best in the ACC, but also 41st in the country.
Dara Mabrey led the ACC in three-point shooting percentage for a portion of the season, but ultimately finished 5th with her 38.5 percent. That number also ranked 61st in the nation. Westbeld ultimately led the team in three-point shooting percentage with her 38.8 percent, while Brunelle clocked in at 38.3 percent.
HERE COME THE IRISH — MAYA DODSON
On Feb. 2, Coach Ivey tweeted, best day of 2021 by far. Shortly after the program announced the addition of Stanford transfer Maya Dodson, who will be eligible to play for the 2021-22 season.
The 6-3 forward from Alpharetta, Georgia, had previously opted out of her senior season at Stanford. In just three years with the Cardinal, Dodson already worked herself into the program’s all-time top-10 in career blocks (78) and career field goal percentage (.497).
— ND —