It was a team effort with Olivia Miles at the center of the action, just as one may have predicted.
On Monday, No. 9 Notre Dame (1-0) opened its 2022-23 season at home against Northern Illinois (0-1), and the Irish came away with an 88-48 victory. In total, four Irish players notched double-digit points, and eight of nine scholarship athletes had at least six points.
The Irish dominated defensively, forcing 22 turnovers and notching 16 steals. They were well below last year’s 63.3 points allowed per game.
“I’ve talked about having more defensive pride individually,” Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey said following the game. “Everyone is working on being a better on-ball defender. You’ll see a lot of things defensively — personnel, lineups. They’re really working, which is great.”
Miles led Notre Dame with 17 points and 10 rebounds, adding a tally to the double-double column after just one game. It was her 10th career double-double. All 10 rebounds were defensive rebounds. She also notched six assists and six steals, with the latter mark tying her career high.
Graduate student Dara Mabrey picked up right where she left off in the three-pointer category, heating up in the second half and going 4-8 on the night from behind the arc. Mabrey finished with 16 points.
Down low, junior Maddy Westbeld was dominant, particularly on the defensive side of the floor. In addition to 13 points, the 6-3 forward had eight rebounds, four blocks and a pair of steals. After a bit of a slow start last year for the 2020-21 ACC Rookie of the Year, it seems Westbeld is determined to avoid that path in her third season.
“Maddy’s in incredible shape,” Ivey said. “She’s extremely confident and playing some of her best basketball right now.”
Notre Dame had 25 points off the bench, nine of which came from forward Nat Marshall, tying her career high. The junior missed the second half of last year with a meniscus injury.
As a team, Notre Dame had just eight personal fouls and three committed by the starters. Lessening fouls was a focus for Ivey this preseason, and the team showed a commitment to aggressive yet clean play in the opener.
After sinking 15 three-point shots in their exhibition game against Loras last week, Northern Illinois had just five on Monday evening. Two of those were thanks to the Huskies’ leading scorer on the night, Janae Poisson. She finished with 14 points.
Northern Illinois averaged 41.7 rebounds per game last year (25th nationally) and showed they are well-positioned for a similar result this season. The Huskies out-rebounded the Irish 45 to 43.
“That’s definitely something we are going to work on,” Ivey said. “It’s something we are going to fix.”
Notre Dame is now 9-5 all-time against Northern Illinois, including a 5-1 home mark.
Next up, the Irish head to St. Louis to take on Cal in the Citi Shamrock Classic. The game will tip off at 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 12, and it will be the first ever live college women’s basketball contest televised on NBC.
Monday night’s full box score can be found here.