Notre Dame women’s and men’s teams prepare for March Madness

 

NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Both Notre Dame women’s and men’s basketball teams are preparing for the NCAA tournament.

They both missed the tournament last year.

“You think the word back was going to be easy? The road back was going to be hard. Everything was hard,” Coach Mike Brey said.

“Not having that success, that really shook my core to be honest,” Coach Niele Ivey said. “It was a lot of adversity last year with the pandemic and I had a lot of injuries, our season got pushed, had to battle COVID. Like, it was so many things that happened at once. Plus, the expectation of making the tournament. Plus, the expectation of winning in the ACC.”

This year, the women’s basketball team is seeded number 5 in the Bridgeport Regional and will face number 12 University of Massachusetts with the hopes of putting everything together on the floor.

“Our chemistry is a lot better, you know our talent has elevated and they believe. They have confidence and that’s my main goal is to pour into this group,” Ivey said.

As for the men’s team, the Irish are in the First Four.

“I remember telling Alan a year ago this time, you know, can I sign up for the first four right now,” Brey said.

This year – Notre Dame will face a tough Big Ten opponent in the Rutgers for a shot at the 11 seed.

Under Coach Brey the Irish have the advantage with a 14-6 record, but still doesn’t count out a tough 18-10 team.

The reason Rutgers were good in the big east, or excuse me, big ten, is because they were big easting people.