| NCAA Bridgeport Regional: | #5 Seed Notre Dame |
|---|---|
| Where: | Bridgeport, CT | Total Mortgage Arena |
| Listen: | 99.9 WQLQ-FM | ND Radio Network |
| Notes: | ND Notes |
| Social: | @NDWBB |
| Sweet 16: | #1 seed NC State |
| When: | Saturday, March 26 | 11:30 am ET |
| Watch: | ESPN |
| Elite 8: | #2 seed UConn or #3 seed Indiana |
| When: | Monday, March 28 | TBD |
NORMAN, Okla. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament, making the program’s 27th appearance to be exact. The Fighting Irish were named a five-seed in the Bridgeport Regional, but first must travel to Norman, Oklahoma for the first and seconds rounds. Up first, a matchup against 12-seed UMass on Saturday, March 19, at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN2. If successful, the Irish will advance to play the winner of four-seed Oklahoma versus 13-seed IUPUI. The second matchup will take place on Monday, March 21, at a later determined time.
Tickets are available and can be purchased online by clicking here.
NCAA HISTORY
Notre Dame will be competing in its 27th NCAA Tournament. Their streak of 24 straight appearances came to an end in March of 2021. It was the fourth longest active streak in the country and fifth best all-time.
The Irish are 67-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, as their 67 wins rank fourth all-time.
Notre Dame joins Louisiana Tech and USC with two NCAA titles behind UConn (11), Tennessee (8), Baylor (3) and Stanford (3). Notre Dame is one of three schools (Tennessee & UConn) to reach seven NCAA Title games. Their nine Final Four appearances are the fifth-most of any school behind UConn (19), Tennessee (18), Stanford (14) and La Tech (10).
The Irish have reached 10 Elite Eights and have advanced to 17 Sweet 16s.
COACH IVEY TURNAROUND IN YEAR 2
Just her 2nd year with the program but her first true full calendar year with the team – Coach Ivey already has the program back on the national scene in one of the biggest turnarounds. Around this time last year, Notre Dame finished 10-10 overall and didn’t make the NCAA tournament for the first time in a quarter of a century. Then Coach Ivey worked her magic.
Notre Dame is currently 22-8 overall and ranked 21st in the nation after starting the year unranked (was ranked as high as 14th). Only three other Power-Five teams posted a +12 win differential or higher from last year:
– Kansas +13
– Utah +15
– LSU +16
They went 13-5 in a loaded ACC and claimed the No. 3 seed, after being projected to finish in 6th place.
Notre Dame enters the NCAA Tournament with a NET ranking of No. 20 (an improvement of 36 spots from last year). The Irish are 3-3 against the NET top-25 and 7-6 against the NET Top-50. They have zero losses outside the top-100.
Coach Ivey boasts five ranked wins on the year which include No. 16 Georgia Tech on the road and No. 3 NC State at home.
AWAY FROM HOME AS THE FIVE-SEED
Notre Dame is 5-3 all-time as a No. 5 seed. Their best finish from this position was Sweet 16’s in both 2004 and 2008 – as the latter marked the last time they were a five-seed. 2009 (a seven-seed) was the last time Notre Dame didn’t host in the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish are 22-4 all-time in the First Round and 17-5 in the Second Round.
Notre Dame has never played UMass or IUPUI in the Big Dance, while they are 2-1 against Oklahoma –> last squaring off in the Sweet 16 in 2011.
CAN I HAVE THIS DANCE?
After the 2019 NCAA runner-up finish, Notre Dame made WNBA Draft history with all five starters being drafted in the top-20. The 2022 NCAA Tournament will be the program’s first since that major event.
When looking around at that roster, only senior Abby Prohaska has experienced what it takes to make deep runs in March. Prohaska was the lone guard option off the bench during the team’s 2019 NCAA Tournament run. So it will mark the NCAA Tourney debuts for Miles, Citron, Brunelle, Peoples, Mabrey and Westbeld. Ironically enough, Dodson’s last NCAA Tournament appearance was an Elite 8 loss to Notre Dame in 2019.
ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Guard Sonia Citron claimed ACC Freshman of the Week 6 times and then took the crown for ACC Rookie of the Year.
Citron tied 2019 alumna Brianna Turner for the program record with six ACC FOTW honors. Going back into the program’s Big East days, both Jacqueline Batteast (01-02) and Alicia Ratay (99-00) were each six-time winners as well.
In addition, she becomes the program’s third ACC Rookie of the Year in 9 years in the league, joining Maddy Westbeld (2021) and Turner (2015).
When it came to Freshman-Only ACC rankings — Citron ranked 2nd in scoring, 1st in rebounding and 3rd in assists – making her the only freshman in the top-3 in all three. In fact, Citron had the highest PTS+REB+AST/Game of any ACC freshman with her 20.7. Citron also boasted the most double-doubles of any ACC freshman with five.
Lastly, Citron is 1-of-2 freshmen in the entire country averaging at least 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists and 1.5 steals. The other one being Harvard’s Harmoni Turner.
WHO’S HOT?!
Maya Dodson has notched 14 double-digit scoring performances over the last 17 games. She’s raised her shooting percentage to .479, which ranks fourth in the league. In addition, she’s collected 21 blocks over the last six games.
Sonia Citron is coming on strong down the stretch – posting double figures in 14 of her last 15 games. She’s also recorded two double-doubles over the last five.
NANCY LIEBERMAN AWARD TOP-FIVE FINALIST
Pretty impressive that an 18-year old freshman played her way onto the Nancy Lieberman Award Top-5 finalist list.
Notre Dame’s point guard ranks 2nd in the NATION in assists per game, averaging 7.2/game. However, Miles is more than just stylish assists and great vision, she’s a dynamic playmaker.
Miles leads the ranked Irish in scoring (13.7), she’s 5th in the ACC in steals (1.9) and also reels in 5.5 boards/game.
Miles and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark are the only players in the country averaging at least 13 points / 5 rebounds / 7 assists.
And by the way, she boasts eight double-doubles on the year, which ranks 5th in the ACC. And of those eight, one of them is a triple-double, as Miles became just the 2nd Irish freshman in program history to do so.
FRESHMEN DUO SENSATION
Therefore, Notre Dame doesn’t just have one, but two super freshmen in Citron and Miles who will be the building blocks for years to come.
ESPN Women’s Hoops put both Miles and Citron on their midseason top-10 freshman list. Miles was ranked No. 2, while Citron checked in at No. 6. Notre Dame was the only program with two freshmen on the list.
In fact, Notre Dame is the only Power-Five school with two freshmen averaging double figures. Furthermore, there’s only one other school in Division I with 2 freshmen averaging at least 11 ppg – Pacific – Anaya James and Elizabeth Elliot.
A 6-1 guard, Citron does it all for Coach Ivey and is arguably the most versatile player on the team. She’s averaging 11.5 points while ranking 2nd on the team in rebounds (6.7), 3rd in assists (2.3) and 2nd in steals (1.6).
Then there’s Olivia Miles, who has already been detailed above. Ultimately, Miles ranks in the top-15 in the ACC in 6 different stat categories: Scoring, FG%, Assists, Steals, A/TO Ratio and Defensive Rebounds. Best of any Irish player.
ND’s 2 freshmen are its top two in Defensive-Rebounds/Game — Miles (5.0) & Citron (5.0) — as both rank in the ACC in the top-8. The two are also the team’s top two steal getters as Miles averages 1.9 while Citron checks in with 1.6.
DODSON ALL-ACC DEFENSIVE TEAM
Dodson’s teammates might joke she’s the grandma of the team but the emphasis was on the first half of the word – Grand. She’s averaging 2.8 blocks/game, which ranks 8th in the nation and leads the ACC. In addition, she’s collected 21 blocks over the last six games.
She’s also a difference-maker on the glass, ranking 30th in the nation in offensive rebounds/game with 3.6.
— ND —