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‘Fresh and ready’: The latest on Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles’ ankle injury prior to Sweet 16

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•03/28/25•

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Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles. (Photo courtesy of Notre Dame athletics)

There’s no question one of the remedies that got Olivia Miles on the court less than 48 hours after severely rolling her ankle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last weekend was adrenaline. The Notre Dame senior guard’s foot was black and blue in the locker room following the Irish’s second-round win over Michigan, and she said it swelled up to the size of a golf ball in the lead up to that game.

Now it’s been a full seven days since Miles suffered the injury. Yeah, she’s played 28 minutes of do-or-die basketball since then. That definitely delated the healing process. But she’s also gotten off her feet at the beginning of this week then felt good enough to practice at the end of it. On the eve of Notre Dame’s Sweet 16 game against TCU, Miles is as healthy as she could possibly be given the circumstances.

She’s going to be full-go with the Elite Eight on the line at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. And that adrenaline ain’t going anywhere, either.

“It is going to kick in tomorrow as well,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. “We had the entire week that she received a lot of rest, a lot of treatment. She did exactly what she needed to do as far as being at home, doing the things that our trainer required her to do. She feels really good, has had a couple of practices, and she’s fresh and ready.”

“It’s been great,” Miles added. “Took a few rest days. I practiced yesterday, so it’s feeling better. But my performance team is so good. They’ve been helping me to rehab. You know, keeping me on track, making sure I’m wearing a brace, making sure I’m icing, stim, whatever it may be. They’ve helped me a lot.”

Miles is averaging 6.5 assists, 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds through two games in the tournament. Her scoring is obviously down from her season average of 15.5, but her assist-to-turnover ratio of 13 to 1 is the most important statistic she’s logged considering fellow guards Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron are both averaging at least 20 points per game in the tournament.

Even when she’s not scoring and even if she’s not 100 percent healthy — she said she was only at 45 percent against the Wolverines this past Sunday — Notre Dame is tough for any team to handle.

“It makes all the difference,” Citron said. “Obviously, she’s an amazing player. She’s a playmaker. Not only does she score, but I think her biggest game is in helping getting shots for her teammates, assisting her teammates. I think that’s where you kind of — we kind of miss that when she’s not on the floor.

“She runs our offense. She’s the head of the snake. So I think that, I mean, obviously just having her on the court, it’s not only beneficial for scoring, but I mean, she just does so much for everybody else too.”

No. 3 seed Notre Dame (28-5) and No. 2 seed TCU (33-3) tip off at 1 p.m. ET at Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Saturday, March 29.



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