Notre Dame Women's Basketball Opens NCAA Play Against Southern Utah

The Fighting Irish are in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and hosting NCAA games for the first time since 2019

Notre Dame saw its seven-game winning streak snapped nearly two weeks ago in the ACC Tournament semifinals. They are set to host NCAA first and second round games for the first time in four years, but they will have to do it without their star point guard, Olivia Miles.

Where: Notre Dame, Ind – Purcell Pavilion
When: Friday, March 17 – 3:30 PM EST
Network: ESPN2 – Jenn Hildreth (Play-by-Play), Mike Thibault (Analyst)
Radio: ND Radio Network, 99.9 FM WQLQ in South Bend – Sean Stires (PBP), Karen Keyes (Analyst)

Let's take a look at today’s matchup:

NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (25-5, 15-3 ACC)

Head Coach: Niele Ivey (59-24 – 3rd season at Notre Dame)

Notre Dame has not played in nearly two weeks. They lost to Louisville in the ACC Tournament semifinals on March 4. Maddy Westbeld led the Irish with just nine points. The game marked the first time this season that no Irish players scored in double figures.

That loss was also the second consecutive game All-American point guard Olivia Miles missed due to injury. She injured her knee near the end of the first half of Notre Dame’s regular season ending win over Louisville on Feb. 26. Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey announced on Thursday that Miles will not play again for the Irish this season.

“She’s been working with our doctors and trainers over the last couple of weeks,” Ivey began. “And while it’s devastating not to have her she’s been progressing in rehab every day. She’s going to be an active cheerleader, like Dara (Mabrey), leading from a different capacity. We’ve determined that she’s going to have her surgery late next week. The current timetable for her return is that we hope that she’ll be back for the summer in order to participate for workouts.”

Projected Irish Starting Lineup

G Sonia Citron - 6-1, Soph – 14.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 APG
F Kylee Watson - 6-4, Jr – 6.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 28 BLK
F Maddy Westbeld - 6-3, Jr. – 11.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 35 BLK
G Lauren Ebo – 6-4, Gr. - 8.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 20 BLK
G KK Bransford- 5-11, Fr. - 8.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.2 APG

SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS (23-9, 16-2 WAC)

Head Coach: Tracy Sanders (78-66 in 5th season at school/overall)

Southern Utah won both the regular season and WAC tournament titles to earn the first NCAA Tournament berth in program history. Southern Utah was an NAIA program in the late ‘80s before transitioning to the NCAA ranks in 1993. They lost in the first round of the 1988 NAIA Tournament in their only previous non-WNIT postseason experience.

Head coach Tracy Sanders led the Thunderbirds to an 82-73 win over California Baptist to claim the WAC’s automatic NCAA bid. She led the team to eight wins in her first season and is now in the NCAA Tournament in her fifth season as head coach.

"If you had told me that this is what would happen in five years when I took this job, I probably would've laughed at you," Sanders said after hearing her team’s name announced on selection Sunday. "But it's just a testament to the players that we've had, the progress that we've made every single year, and the rest of the squad.”

Since winning just eight games in her first season, Sanders has won a total of 70 games and averaged 17.5 wins over her last four seasons. Her 78 wins through her first five years at the helm is a Southern Utah record.

Projected Starting Lineup

G Cherita Daugherty - Stats – 15.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 3.5 APG
G Daylani Ballena - Stats – 11.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 3.9 APG
C Lizzy Williamson - Stats – 9.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 76 BLK
G Tamekia Whitman – Stats – 12.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG
C Megan Jensen- Stats – 11.3, 5.8 RPG, 25 BLK

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

With Miles out, the offense runs through Sonia Citron for the Fighting Irish. Citron was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American this week. She is averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game this season, but she has scored a total of 63 points in the last three games since Miles’ injury. She also dished out a season-best five assists in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals against NC State.

The other available guards are freshman KK Bransford and grad transfer Jenna Brown along with Cassandre Prosper. Bransford is averaging 8.1 points but has reached double figures in four of the last seven games.

Both teams are among the best rebounding teams in the nation. The Irish are No. 8 nationally with a 9.9 rebounding margin while the Thunderbirds are No. 15 with a margin of 8.0. Notre Dame is also No. 13 and Southern Utah No. 17 in total rebounds per game.

Southern Utah has more post presence than a typical mid major program. They start a pair of centers in 6-5 Lizzy Williamson and 6-3 Megan Jensen. Williamson is tied for No. 9 in the nation with 76 blocked shots. Her 10.1 rebounds per game also rank 23rd. Jensen has 25 blocks of her own and is one of four Thunderbirds who are scoring in double figures.

Notre Dame is the No. 3 seed and Southern Utah is the No. 14 seed in the Greenville 1 Regional. The winner of the matchup faces the winner of Friday night’s No. 6 seed Creighton vs No. 11 seed Mississippi State. MSU beat Illinois 70-56 in Wednesday’s play-in game.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
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2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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