Notre Dame women’s basketball to play South Carolina in Paris in 2023-24 season opener
Notre Dame women’s basketball is going global. The Fighting Irish announced Wednesday they’ll play the South Carolina Gamecocks in Paris, France, to begin the 2023-24 season. The Irish’s first-ever trip outside of North America will take place on Nov. 6.
The matchup features two of the best programs in the sport. They both have two national championships with Notre Dame’s coming in 2001 and 2018 and South Carolina’s occurring in 2017 and 2022. Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey was named this past season’s ACC Coach of the Year while South Carolina’s Dawn Staley has won the prestigious Naismith Coach of the Year award in three of the last four seasons including 2022-23.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be heading to Paris to participate in this historic matchup between two storied women’s basketball programs,” Ivey said in a statement. “It’s always been my mission to break barriers and provide opportunities for my players to have life-changing experiences. Women’s basketball is on the rise right now, and having this exposure continues to grow the game on an international platform.”
LSU beat Iowa in the most-watched women’s NCAA championship game of all time earlier this month. Notre Dame playing South Carolina, a 2023 Final Four participant that had an unblemished record until losing to the Hawkeyes in the national semifinals, in the first game of the new season is a continuation of enhancing the spotlight that is shining on women’s basketball brighter than it ever has before.
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There won’t be a shortage of talent on the floor in the City of Lights, either. The Gamecocks had three players picked in the top 10 of this week’s WNBA Draft, but they’re reloading with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country according to ESPN. Staley has her program at a point in which it’s expected to be among the best in the sport every year. Ivey is on the verge of having Notre Dame back there, too.
The Irish are coming off back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances. They played the 2023 postseason without starting guards Olivia Miles and Dara Mabrey, both out with knee injuries. Five-star guards Hannah Hidalgo and Emma Risch, a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans, are joining the Irish this summer. Hidalgo just set the McDonald’s All-American Game scoring record with 26 points in late March.
Notre Dame has an all-time record of 3-2 against South Carolina. The Irish have won the last three meetings, the most recent of which was played at the November 2017 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
