What to know, how to watch Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. No. 4 Texas
For just the third time ever and the first time since 1997, Notre Dame and Texas are facing each other in women’s basketball. The two programs are 1-1 vs. one another, and this is the first ever meeting between them in South Bend. It brings together some of the best players in the game right now.
Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.
Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Texas game info
- Teams: No. 10 Notre Dame (5-2) and No. 4 Texas (7-0)
- Head coaches: Niele Ivey (94-34, fifth year at Notre Dame); Vic Schaefer (116-32, fifth year at Texas; 417-204, 20th year overall)
- Date: Dec. 5, 2024
- Location: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN
- TV broadcasters: Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo
- Radio: 96.1 FM WSBT in South Bend
- Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires and Karen Keyes
What to know about Notre Dame
• Notre Dame is in danger of losing three consecutive games for the first time since Niele Ivey’s first season as head coach in 2020-21. The Fighting Irish lost both of their games in the Cayman Islands Classic, 76-68 vs. now-No. 9 TCU and 78-67 vs. Utah.
• The bottom line for the Irish right now is they need forwards Maddy Westbeld and Liza Karlen back for some help in the front court. Notre Dame is basically employing a 6.5-player rotation, with sophomore guard Emma Risch playing sparingly in big matchups, and it’s getting to Ivey’s players in the second half. TCU outscored Notre Dame 31-12 in the fourth quarter. The Utes got the Irish 46-30 over the final 20 minutes.
• Notre Dame has elite talent in the players who are getting time, starting with guards Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles, but they can only do so much. Hidalgo is pacing the team with 23.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 3.3 assists per game. Miles averages 16.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. If the Irish are to hand the Longhorns their first loss, that duo has to be dynamite. There’s really no other alternative with this current lineup.
What to know about Texas
• You’re not going to see many more teams that steal the ball more than Notre Dame does, but Texas is one of them. Head coach Vic Schaefer teaches relentless pressure, so the Irish’s ball handlers need to be ready for that. The defensive effort is led by point guar Rori Harmon, who’s averaging 2.7 steals per game. It comes from everywhere, though; seven Texas players including Harmon average at least 1.0 steal per game. Everyone is capable.
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• Harmon can get a bucket; she puts up 9.4 points per game. But the Texas point guard is only fifth on the team in scoring. Four other Longhorns average 10.7 or more points per game. Sophomore forward Madison Booker, last year’s Big 12 Freshman of the Year, scores 16.0 points per game on 52.2 percent shooting as a 6-1 forward. When Harmon was lost for the season last year, Booker became a ball-dominant point-forward. She’s that talented. She’s gone over 20 points twice this season and has a career-high of 29.
• Texas has an array of post players that will be a lot for Notre Dame freshman Kate Koval to handle. Schaefer brings them out in waves; 6-4 senior Taylor Jones, 6-6 junior Miami transfer Kyla Oldacre, 6-1 freshman Justice Carlton and 6-1 senior Aaliyah Moore all average fewer than 20 minutes per game. Koval is averaging 28.7 minutes per game in her first taste of collegiate action. Booker leads Texas at 24.5. Six Notre Dame players are over 28 with Hidalgo leading the way at 36.9. This is a much fresher Texas team in comparison to the Irish.
Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey: Quotable
• On what she anticipates from Texas: “Very physical game. A lot of pressure. One of the best defensive teams in the country. Their coach is very defensive-minded. So we’ve been preparing for the physicality of the game we’re going to see tomorrow and all the pressure we’re going to see.”
By the numbers
The team with the better average has a bolded number in each category.
| Stat | Notre Dame | Texas |
| Scoring offense | 85.6 | 92.9 |
| Scoring margin | 23.4 | 37.3 |
| FG% | 46.6 | 51.4 |
| 3FG% | 37.2 | 26.0 |
| 3FG made/game | 7.3 | 2.9 |
| FT% | 72.6 | 74.3 |
| FT made/game | 12.9 | 21.4 |
| Rebounds | 47.0 | 40.6 |
| Rebound margin | 11.7 | 15.4 |
| Assists | 16.4 | 16.6 |
| Turnovers | 15.6 | 14.1 |
| Turnover margin | 3.1 | 12.9 |
| Assist/turnover ratio | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Steals | 12.0 | 13.3 |
| Blocks | 7.0 | 4.0 |
