How PG Olivia Miles made history in Notre Dame women's basketball win

No. 5 Notre Dame hosting Division II Merrimack College at Purcell Pavilion Saturday afternoon was exactly the mismatch that was presented on paper. The Fighting Irish (8-1) blew the Warriors (1-8) out, 108-44. Here are three observations from the Irish’s victory, the first of which they’ve scored 100-plus points in this season.

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Notre Dame PG Olivia Miles makes history

Every time No. 5 steps on the court, record books are put on notice.

Sophomore point guard Olivia Miles scored 13 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 14 assists in 28 minutes to record the third triple-double of her career. Nobody who has ever worn a Notre Dame uniform has had more. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jackie Young had two apiece in their careers.

Miles has this season plus two more to continue adding to her already record-setting total.

“I’m excited for her and her success and what she’s doing for our program,” head coach Niele Ivey said. “Just a remarkable accomplishment.”

Miles understands how invaluable she is to the operation.

“I come in to every game knowing I’m going to do X, Y and Z for the program,” Miles added. “I’m going to get my rebounds, I’m going to get my points, I’m going to get my assists. It’s a domino effect. It leads to my other teammates and helps them do well. When I start off well, push pace, control what I can control and do well, it really helps the rest of our team.

“I can tell when I’m not playing great — it’s not that we don’t play great when I’m not playing great — but I set the tone for the team. I feel like that’s my responsibility to come and and do what I do well every night, and we’ll be fine.

Hitting the freebies

Merrimack’s tallest player is 6-1. The Warriors were severely overmatched from a size perspective, and it showed. They committed 14 fouls in the first half and 25 for the time. Notre Dame made good on the mismatch and hit 34-of-38 free throw attempts. Graduate student center Lauren Ebo made all nine of her foul shots, including a perfect 8-of-8 in the first half.

Notre Dame ranked 127th nationally in free throw percentage (71.7) entering the game. The Irish’s previous season-high for free throw percentage in a single game this season was 85.7 vs. Ball State. They blew by that with their mark of 89.5 on Saturday. Fittingly, Miles’ 10th point — the last statistic she needed for her triple-double — came on a free throw sink. Walk-on Trinity Cha scored her first point of the season on a free throw as well.

“It’s a focus,” Ivey said. “I’ve been telling them finishing layups and making free throws is something we need to do. They’ve been working on it. We’ve been working on it at practice, throwing in free throws here and there. I grab a couple players all the time. To see the improvement and focus is phenomenal. It’s great. I’m proud of this group.”

Gaining experience

With more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Ivey had four bench players on the floor at the same time. Graduate student shooting guard Dara Mabrey was the only starter on the court.

Ivey has used a short rotation for the first month of the season. She’s only working with nine scholarship players to begin with. Her regulars off the bench are Ebo and freshman guard KK Bransford. Junior center Nat Marshall and graduate student guard Jenna Brown were much more involved than usual.

Marshall went into the game averaging 9.5 minutes per appearance, and Brown was at 8.8. Marshall played 24 minutes vs. Merrimack. Brown played 22. Combining for just 7.0 points per game in Notre Dame’s first nine games, the duo went for a combined 17 against the Warriors. Marshall did the bulk of the damage with her 6-5 frame. She scored a career-high 13 points and secured 5 rebounds.

“This is the most confident I’ve felt since 2019,” Marshall said. “It’s a really good feeling. The teammates and the coaches, they’re amazing. They keep me confident and motivated and encouraged every day. I’m excited to get into conference play.”