SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Notre Dame graduate student Olivia Miles was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Nancy Lieberman Award Top 10 list on Monday. The honor is given to the nation’s top point guard. Miles was a finalist for the award in both 2022 and 2023.
After suffering a torn ACL in February 2023, Miles has returned and is having the best year of her career. She is averaging 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game and is the only player in the nation posting 16, 5 and 5. Miles leads the ACC in both assists (137) and assists per game (6.5), and the Phillipsburg, N.J., native is the NCAA’s active leader with 6.7 assists per game across her career. She also ranks sixth in the conference this year with a 52.8 field goal percentage and is one of three ACC guards averaging at least 15 points and shooting better than 50 percent.
The greatest improvement in Miles’ game since her return has come from beyond the arc. Over the first three years of her career, Miles shot 24.6 percent from deep. This season, she’s sitting at 41.9 percent, which is 32nd in the country.
Additionally, Miles has three triple-doubles already this season, more than anyone else in the nation, and now has six in her career, tied for the most in ACC women’s basketball history. She also is the only active player with at least 25 double-doubles and at least five triple-doubles.
Miles and the Irish will be back on their home court on Thursday, as No. 3 Notre Dame (19-2) hosts Stanford (11-10, 3-7) at 8:30 p.m. The matchup will air on ESPN, the program’s sixth game on a major network (ESPN/2 or NBC) this season.