How Notre Dame WBB shed demons in buzzer-beating win over Louisville

The turnover that wasn’t could’ve derailed Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles. It didn’t.

Of course it didn’t.

Miles lost control of the ball with less than 10 seconds left in overtime Thursday night at Purcell Pavilion. A Louisville defender slapped her forearm to send it flying out of bounds. No foul call. The Cardinals were gifted possession and turned it into a game-tying bucket. Clutch given the circumstances? Absolutely. As clutch as what Miles did next? Not by a long shot.

The Irish inbounded to Kylee Watson at the top of the key with 3.8 seconds left in OT. Miles stood near half court and broke on the ball as soon as Watson caught the pass. Watson handed the ball to a streaking Miles, who stopped and popped from just inside the three-point line on the right wing.

Fadeaway. Buckets. Ballgame. Notre Dame 78, Louisville 76.

Final.

“That was a pretty frustrating play for me,” Miles said of the late turnover. “But we still had time on the clock. We called a timeout, advanced it, and we practice late-game literally every practice. We knew what we had to do. I had to step up because I had just messed up the play before. I was happy I was able to bounce back and come out on top.”

Olivia Miles. Stone-cold. pic.twitter.com/c4omB4BMK4

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) February 17, 2023

The No. 10 Fighting Irish (21-4, 12-3 ACC) beat the Cardinals (19-9, 10-5) for the first time since 2019. They tied Duke atop the ACC standings with the Blue Devils’ loss to Virginia Tech on Thursday. And they did it in an area they’ve struggled with the last two seasons being that the team’s primary ball handlers, Miles and Sonia Citron, are sophomores; late-game situations have been a bit of a bugaboo for the young Irish.

Not Thursday night.

Notre Dame trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter and scored five of the game’s final seven regulation points to get to the extra period. Still, Louisville made the last shot of the fourth quarter. And Notre Dame inexplicably did a whole lot of nothing in response with its final possession, isolating Citron and sending her into a crowded lane for a tough shot that got blocked.

But in overtime, the Irish made plays they wouldn’t have last year. They made plays they didn’t a week and a half ago in a loss to Duke. Notre Dame only scored six points in the fourth quarter of that one. The Irish had eight points in the five-minute overtime period that was the decisive stretch in a matchup between two competitive conference rivals 11 days later, meanwhile.

“This is a sign of growth for this team,” Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said. “You have to be in the fire. You have to be in the moment to learn from it. It’s just really rewarding for me to see the growth.”

There was team growth, and there was individual growth too. Watson had her best game in a Notre Dame uniform with 20 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field. She had 5 rebounds and 4 assists, including the helper on Miles’ game-winning shot. She backed up her 15-point performance four days prior vs. Syracuse.

Graduate student center Lauren Ebo got on the floor for the first time since Jan. 26, but she only played two minutes. For Notre Dame to beat a physical, feisty team like Louisville, Watson had to have another assertive performance. She did, and then some.

“I knew that I needed to come out ready and play with energy, especially in the second half,” Watson said. “I feel like we really just needed to find our fight.”

The Irish found it. Now they need to hang onto it. With three regular season games remaining, including a trip to Pittsburgh (10-16, 3-12) at 2 p.m. ET Sunday, the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine brighter. It’s up to the Irish to either get blinded by it or put on some shades.

Watson and Miles donned Ray-Bans vs. Louisville. Last year, when they were trailing 45-4 midway through the second quarter to the same Louisville program on the same floor Thursday’s game took place, all the Irish could boast were a beat up pair of party shades given out by solicitors on the street.

What a difference a year makes. That’s growth indeed.