Everything Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said after Irish loss to South Carolina

Notre Dame had the opportunity of a lifetime in Paris, France, this week. The No. 10 Fighting Irish opened the 2023-24 season against No. 6 South Carolina on Monday, marking the first time a pair of NCAA teams have ever played a game that counts against each other on European soil.

Like any other game, though, only one team could come out on top. And it wasn’t Niele Ivey‘s.

Dawn Staley‘s Gamecocks took it to Ivey’s Irish, 100-71. Here is everything Ivey said after the defeat.

Opening statement

“I want to first acknowledge the moment. Obviously, it was a tough game for us. A lesson that we’re going to learn. Obviously it was not something we wanted to experience, but I want to acknowledge the moment. I’m thankful to be a part of this. We’re grateful to have a team to be here, to be in Paris. I thought the crowd was electric. The energy was amazing. It was a first-class event. This is just an unbelievable experience for us.

“Paris, you guys have been great to us. We got a chance to really embrace the culture and this city. It was just unbelievable. It was something we’ll never, never forget. So we really want to say thank you for this opportunity. We’re grateful to be a part of it and be the first.

“As far as the game, I thought we started it out the way we wanted to. This team was ready. In the second quarter, it felt like South Carolina’s pressure and the way they got the ball to [Kamilla] Cardoso, just clicking on all cylinders. Hats off to them. Thought they played fantastic. The second quarter was a little bit of a struggle for us, and we never really adjusted to it. A lot of lessons for us as a unit. First game of the season, wanted to challenge ourselves to see where we’re at. We’ll get back, get to work, get back to the grind, learn from our mistakes, and we’ll get better as a team.

“Collectively, we’re going to get better. Get back. Back to work, back to the grind. Got to work on a lot of different things, but again, the moment was huge. We’re so grateful to be in it. We’ll be OK. We’ll go back to the drawing board and get better from this game.”

On Notre Dame freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo

“With this one right here, this dog I have sitting next to me, I’m so proud of her. As a freshman being in the fire, coming out here, I think that was a huge step. Never had a freshman with 31 points in her first collegiate game. Three for six [from three-point range], got to the free throw line 12 times. Just phenomenal. She plays with a fearlessness that is just unreal. Super proud of her.”

On why South Carolina pulled away from Notre Dame

“Well, they scored 70 points in the paint. So that was tough. We tried a lot of different things defensively. We were trying to keep the ball out of Cardoso’s hands. But I think she got great position. I thought they did a great job of feeding the post or getting scores in the paint. We tried to mix it up with man and zone, tried to throw some things at them.

“Just from either our turnovers or bad shots or shot selection, it led to transition points. We gave up 30 points in transition. Two things that we talked about that we needed to be great at tonight were rebounding and transition defense. Those two things and two areas, I thought South Carolina did extremely well. But scoring 70 points in the paint is really tough. They just pretty much walked over half court and threw the ball up to Cardoso.

“And our foul trouble, I think, was kind of the reason for that. With our bigs getting into foul trouble early, we kind of got tentative in that second quarter. And that’s when they went on their run. We struggled scoring with their pressure.”

On staying out of foul trouble and defending the post

“We always talk about defending without fouling. That’s being disciplined. We got great practice guys. We got practice guys that are 6-5, 6-6. So we’re always constantly trying to simulate these kinds of scenarios in practice for the teams that we’re going to see. We have an incredible schedule. Our conference is incredible in the ACC.

“Just putting them in these types of situations and scenarios, working on this in practice is something we’re going to see all the time. So we just have to get better at it and be disciplined. Defending without fouling is something we have to get better at.”

On Notre Dame senior center Nat Marshall

“I thought Nat, I commented on her in the locker room, she came in with great energy. She gave us a spark off the bench. She did exactly what I was asking of her. I thought she was physical. I thought she played really hard, set great screens. And she was just ready to shoot and shot the ball well. Came in with a lot of confidence. She’s coming back from injury. So I was really, really happy with her production. I think she’s going to continue to contribute to our team in a positive way. Very happy with her.”

On what she learned about her team

“I learned a lot. We got hit with some adversity, so we got to find a way to fight through adversity. You can’t practice that. You just got to be in it. That’s what I learned and that’s something they’re going to take away from this game. Film don’t lie. So we’re going to come back and watch the film. Learn from it. We’re going to learn from our offense. We’re going to learn from our defense. We’re going to get better with our zone. We’re going to get better with our man-to-man.

“Putting ourselves in a situation like this, you learn a lot. This is a Final Four team, South Carolina. They went to the Final Four last year. Won a championship a couple years ago. When you’re playing against a team like that, it just measures you up against them so you can realize what areas you need to work on. And you got to be in these types of games because it’s only going to make you better. That’s why we schedule the way we schedule.

“This matchup, this moment, being historical, I was never going to pass this up. This is something that is going to be legendary for our team to realize and know they were the first in this type of matchup. When you’re playing these teams and you’re playing South Carolinas and Tennessees and all these teams we’re getting ready to face, it can only help you down the road.”