Notre Dame women's basketball handles Davenport 101-41 in exhibition game

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Irish beat Davenport 101-41 in exhibition matchup, with the help of Olivia Miles in her first return to the court since the 2022-23 season.

In her return, Olivia Miles didn't look like she missed a beat, just one assist shy of a triple-double, with a final stat sheet of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. But of course, she managed to show her defensive skills with one block and two steals.

"It felt surreal to be out there, feel the energy of the crowd. You know, even being an exhibition game, I still felt their presence. And I miss getting up and down the floor and those transition buckets," Miles said.

Miles had an immediate impact on the floor and the view we were all waiting for was to see her on the floor with the 2023-2024 ACC Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year, Hannah Hidalgo. Miles found Hidalgo on multiple occasions and Hidalgo finished the night as the leading scorer with 31 points.

"It felt good. I mean, it's nothing new. We've been doing it in practice for a few months now. But I always know where Hannah kind of is, where she likes the ball, and I can always kind of her to be ahead of me. You know, she's always running the floor really well. So that's a point guard's dream to have people running with you. So, she does a really good job of that," Miles added.

"We talked about it like they're special, both of these players, they're both two of the best point guards in the country. They do a great job of playing off of each other. We've been building chemistry since this summer," Head Coach Niele Ivey said.

Hidalgo led the team with 31 points, followed by grad transfer Liatu King with 27 points and 14 boards.

Unfortunately, the Irish watched grad transfer Liza Karlen suffer a foot injury in the second quarter.

"Great game overall. You know, unfortunate with Liza, so hopefully I'll find out soon what happened with her. But, you know, had so much great stuff. We had lot of dominance in the paint. It was a lot of just great basketball, really good basketball. The pace was great. Got a lot of contribution from a lot of different players. Had almost a triple-double from a couple different players. So, really pleased with the effort and excited to get back to work and prepare for our home opener," Ivey added.