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Notre Dame PG Olivia Miles named finalist for 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•01/30/23•

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olivia miles notre dame
Notre Dame sophomore point guard Olivia Miles. (Photo courtesy of Notre Dame Athletics)

Notre Dame sophomore Olivia Miles is officially one of the top 10 point guards in the country. Miles was named a finalist for the 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given annually to the top point guard in NCAA women’s college basketball.

Lieberman played for Old Dominion from 1976-80 and earned the nickname “Lady Magic” for playmaking ability that mirrored that of Michigan State and Los Angeles Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Miles has drawn such comparisons as well. Those started last season when she led Notre Dame to the Sweet 16 as a freshman.

Miles has already broken the Notre Dame record for career triple-doubles with three, and she has over two years left to play collegiately. Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jackie Young finished their Notre Dame careers with two triple-doubles apiece.

Miles ranks eighth nationally through 20 games with 7.0 assists per game. The 5-10 floor general leads Notre Dame in that statistic as well as points (15.0), rebounds (7.2) and steals (2.2) per game. She also leads Notre Dame with 3.3 turnovers per game, which isn’t surprising given how much the Irish rely on her to handle the ball.

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Miles’ 14 assists in the Irish’s 108-44 victory over Merrimack College on Dec. 10 stand as the most helpers of any ACC player in a single game this season. That’s the game Miles broke the program’s triple-double record in, too.

Miles is one of two players in the country averaging at least 15 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game. The other is Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, last season’s Nancy Lieberman Award Winner. Clark has guided Iowa to a 17-4 record with 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. With numbers like those, she’s poised to repeat as the Nancy Lieberman Award winner.

Clark would be the sixth player to repeat as the award’s winner since its inception in 2000. The others are UConn’s Sue Bird, a three-time winner from 2000-02, UConn’s Diana Taurasi (2002-03), Notre Dame’s Diggins-Smith (2012-13), UConn’s Moriah Jefferson (2015-16) and Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu (2018-20).

Here’s are 2022-23’s 10 finalists.

  • Caitlin Clark, Iowa
  • Jenna Clark, Yale
  • Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse
  • Rori Harmon, Texas
  • Maura Hendrixson, Drexel
  • McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State
  • Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
  • Alexis Morris, LSU
  • Nika Muhl, UConn
  • Lauren Park-Lane, Seton Hall

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