The old adage “adversity builds character” is likely a proverb because it’s the truth. There’s no better example of that than the No. 3 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team.
Last season, the Irish were without star guard Olivia Miles, who suffered an ACL tear that took her out for the entire season. Even so, Notre Dame was still a ranked team thanks to All-American freshman point guard Hannah Hidalgo. The Irish made it to the 2024 Sweet Sixteen and no further, a likely ceiling for a side that really overachieved without Miles and with others on the roster dipping in and out of the rotation due to injury issues.
This season, Notre Dame showed people the potential of the dynamic backcourt duo of Miles and Hidalgo, lost a couple games early in the season, but entered the 2025 calendar year riding high.
A strong Irish team features the country’s second leading scorer in Hidalgo, a triple-double threat in Miles and a surprise standout transfer forward in Liatu King. This year’s squad got even stronger with the return of Maddy Westbeld to start the second half of the season.
All well and good for the Irish, until Thursday.
Head coach Niele Ivey’s side welcomed the No. 17 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the Joyce Center Thursday night. The Irish won 81-66 but not because of all the reasons listed above. Notre Dame won without their obvious strengths but with chemistry and teamwork from a group of players that don’t grab national headlines.
Notre Dame won without Hidalgo, missing her second consecutive game after suffering an ankle sprain last week against Wake Forest. Miles and King still played, but Miles only scored six points on 3-of-10 shooting in the first three quarters while King scored near her season low with six points.
The Fighting Irish also missed guard Emma Risch on top of Hidalgo, requiring a seven-player rotation against a physical Yellow Jackets program.
What worked for the Irish was the play of the usual supporting cast of players. The ones on the roster who are all highly touted recruits but often fall into the shadow of the outstanding work of Hidalgo and Miles.
“This is a team that has multiple weapons and so when one person is down somebody else can step up there’s five people on the floor that can score,” said Ivey. “They understand that they’re very unselfish, so tonight was Sonia [Citron] and Maddy [Westbeld].
For Westbeld, it was a special moment. After starting all 120 games of her NCAA career, the guard suffered a foot injury that required surgery and time away from the court. Thursday was Westbeld’s first start since returning from injury Jan. 5.
Westbeld responded, scoring a season high 20 points with five rebounds. The senior was 8-of-11 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc as she fed off the loud South Bend crowd.
“It was incredible. I think it’s just a blessing to get on the court again and play with my teammates,” said Westbeld. “Obviously to start out the game is really special to me so it’s been unfortunate circumstances but in any way to just play with my teammates again it feels great.”
Citron led the Irish in scoring with 21 points, the senior’s fourth game this season reaching at least 20 points in a game, and it didn’t include a single three-point shot. Citron was wherever the Irish needed her, whether it’s taking contested layups inside or hitting midrange shots with efficiency. The guard had her best shooting night of the season, hitting 9-of-11 within the perimeter.
Cassandre Prosper played 36 minutes for the second game in a row, filling in for Hidalgo’s missing minutes. In the win, Prosper scored 15 points for her fourth double-figure scoring game of the season, matching her total in two previous seasons combined.
“She came in and was ready in the first half and then second half went with a three guard line up because their guards were doing a great job of getting downhill, so I thought she was ready to play,” said Ivey. “She gave great minutes did a great job defensively and did some great job scoring.”
Prosper hit half of the Irish’s six three-point shots on the day, plus nine rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Now, the margin of victory looks like it was pretty easy going for the Irish but Georgia Tech was anything but a team who could be walked over.
Georgia Tech played aggressively, finding space behind the Notre Dame defense and taking shots early in the shot clock, trying to make up for the sheer size of the Irish interior that out rebounded the Yellow Jackets 50-25.
Coach Ivey’s seven-player rotation kept adjusting and making things difficult for Georgia Tech. It started at the jump, when Ivey started three forwards to stress size over the smaller Yellow Jackets. When Georgia Tech adjusted, twice they cut near double-digit leads down to a single possession, even getting a lead briefly to start the second half. That’s when Citron and Prosper scored 13 of the Irish’s 22 third quarter points.
“Georgia Tech is one of the best in ACC, having a fantastic season,” said Ivey. “So, I thought this group really resilient came out and just really completed this game.”
By the time Miles began hitting her shooting stride, the Irish were already up 18 points thanks to a complete team performance.
If the Irish can do this without their leading scorer and defender, and with key scorers having off nights at the same time, it has the making for a special season.
“This team is good,” said Georgia Tech head coach Nell Fortner about the Irish. “Notre Dame, that’s a Final Four team right there. No doubt about it.”
Before the game, Ivey received a basketball for her 100th win, the fastest ND coach to achieve 100 victories. After the game, Ivey was talking about just how this team is different from the others.
“I don’t feel like it’s a job I get to come in do what I love with a team that I love but they’re a special group,” said Ivey. “I’m really grateful for them I’m really blessed to work with so much talent, but also just great people.”
