Why Niele Ivey said the future of Notre Dame women’s basketball is ‘so bright’
Niele Ivey finally had a chance to catch her breath this week.
Granted, it was one more day than the Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach would have wanted to be able to do so. Notre Dame lost to Miami in the ACC Tournament semifinals last Saturday preventing an opportunity to play in Sunday’s championship game. But the break was welcomed nonetheless. Her team needed it more than most others.
The No. 22 Fighting Irish (22-8) have been playing with a seven-player rotation for most of this calendar year. Not by choice but out of necessity. Ivey hasn’t had any healthy bench players to turn to outside of juniors Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples and two sophomore walk-ons. She has stayed away from inserting the latter two into the lineup, leaving seven healthy bodies to work with.
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By the time Notre Dame plays again, senior guard Abby Prohaska should be back from an orbital bone injury suffered on Feb. 1. Will her legs and lungs be game ready? Probably not. But will she get a few minutes here and a few minutes there in an NCAA Tournament game? Probably so. Every ounce of effort matters in March, and Prohaska prides herself on providing a lot of it when she’s on the floor — regardless of how long that may be in this situation.
But even without Prohaska — and sophomore forward Natalija Marshall and senior guard Katlyn Gilbert — Notre Dame has put itself in a position to potentially make the Sweet 16. The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament wouldn’t be a bad place to be for a team that just wanted to get into the field. Freshmen Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron have allowed the Irish to exceed expectations.
“The future is so bright with this group,” Ivey said. “To have a freshman lead us the way Olivia Miles has led us this season is just phenomenal. And then Sonia Citron, her role has expanded. I told them coming in, ‘You’re freshmen, but I’m looking at you as sophomores.’ They’re blossoming before our eyes.”
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Ivey acknowledged the pressure in telling two first-year players something like that. But did she have any other choice? Miles has started every game this season. Citron has started 13. They’re two staples on a team that hasn’t had many to choose from. Either those two freshmen played like sophomores, or better, or Notre Dame was going to struggle immensely through some growing pains. For the most part, the Irish avoided those.
Not all of them.
Four of Notre Dame’s first five losses came by five points or less. Then there were the blowout losses to UConn and Louisville. Losing close. Letting games get away. Notre Dame went through it all this season. The idea is the Irish will be better for those experiences next season. They could be better for them as soon as later this month, too, when Notre Dame looks to win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in three years.
Imagine that being the case when the Irish lost to Baylor in the national title game 2019. So much has happened since then, and not a whole lot of it has been good for the blue and gold. This season has been a steady march back to being elite in March, though. So take your breather, Coach Ivey, then get back out there and try to finish this season the right way. It’s all that’s left to do.
“Our team is so fun, and it’s incredible to watch how it has involved,” Ivey said.
