Notre Dame Women's Basketball on the rise

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- First look at Niele Ivey's fifth season at the helm with grad transfers, a five-star freshman, and the return of Olivia Miles.

After missing the 2023-2024 season, there's not many words to describe how much everyone wants to see point guard Olivia Miles on the court this season. Specifically, with ACC Rookie of the Year Hannah Hidalgo.

"Electric is one word. It's really fast paced. It's a lot of energy. They do a great job of sharing the ball and I could have never expected the pace to be even faster, but it is. Liv (Olivia) looks amazing. She's strong, confident, she's ready, and just seeing their chemistry growing has been a lot of fun," Ivey said.

"It's gonna be awesome. I'm just excited as you guys are. You know, they're the best one-two guards in the country, and to have them on the same team, it could only be a good thing," added Senior Forward Maddy Westbeld.

A good thing gets better with experience. Ivey brought in two graduate transfers Liatu King from the University of Pittsburgh and Liza Karlen.

Both stretch forwards bring scoring and rebounding to the floor. King averaged 18 ppg and 10 rpg. Karlen averaged 17 ppg and 8 rpg.

"I think that for me, personally, I'm kind of taking on the mindset of whatever this team needs. I know that my numbers aren't going to be the same as last year at Marquette, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to hang a banner," Karlen said.

The cherry on top, which will help Notre Dame get to the banner, is the 6'5 freshman center piece, Kate Koval.

"She's not a freshman. She is so special. And you know, you can definitely see that European play, a little bit European style, where she can do a lot, and she's very mature, and just her IQ is unbelievable," Westbeld mentioned.

"Kate has come into South Bend ready. She knows who she is. She's very dominant, she's very smart, and I've learned that her passing ability is just as great as her scoring ability, and she's great defensively," Ivey added.