SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Before she swaggered off the Purcell Pavilion floor Sunday afternoon, Olivia Miles grabbed a courtside mike to thank the Notre Dame fans in attendance for helping her push through the darkest moments of her Irish women’s basketball career.
Right after the grad senior point guard grabbed her Irish teammates by the heartstrings by transcending the latest helping of forcefed adversity and collectively making a thunderous statement on the court in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Third-seeded Notre Dame might not only be back to the team it was when it topped the AP and coaches polls in mid-February, but could the Irish (28-5) perhaps be even better? It’s a musing that will get a stern test Saturday in Birmingham, Ala., in a Sweet 16 matchup against 2 seed TCU (33-3), one of the five teams to dent ND’s loss column this season. Tipoff will be either 1 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. EDT
For now, ND’s 76-55 overwhelming of 6 seed Michigan Sunday is at the very least the kind of Sweet 16 on-ramp Irish head coach Niele Ivey was looking for as the team marauded rather than tiptoed into its fourth straight advancement past the NCAA Tourney’s second round, but just the second for Miles, who missed the last two coming back from a torn ACL.
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And even this one was in question as recently as Sunday morning, at least in Miles’ mind.
Sitting a couple of feet from the large screen TV in the Irish locker room, trying to soak in the rest of March Madness, Miles had taken the heavy taping off her injured left ankle to give it room to breathe. The large purple blotches and the swelling helped tell the story.
“Honestly it looks better today,” said Miles, who suffered the injury Friday early in the fourth quarter of ND’s 106-54 first-round dismissal of 14 seed Stephen F. Austin, then skipped practice Saturday to rehab it with more of the same Sunday morning.
“It was like a golf ball here. So, it looks better. I woke up thinking I wasn’t going to play, and then I was like, ‘Eff it. I want to get out there.’
“I worked with my trainer [Anne Marquez] all day yesterday and all morning. And luckily I had some help with some meds. But other than that, just toughing it out, out there.”
And how close to 100 percent did she feel?
“About 45 percent,” she said. That tough.
And never once looking like she was playing in bubble wrap. Miles scored the first two points of the game on a pair of free throws in a 32-12 first-quarter onslaught from which Michigan never recovered.
She ended up logging 28 minutes with a stat line of eight points, four rebounds, five assists, one steal and zero turnovers before exiting for the final time at the 3:04 mark of the fourth quarter.
“She was fighting me the whole time [about staying in the game]. Ivey said. “I was more worried about the soreness. I felt that she really ignited us. And she was a great spark.
“I felt like her energy was great. I felt like she was moving great. And that’s just a credit to her toughness. Playing a team like Michigan, a team that was known for their toughness, to see our point guard tough that out …
It elevated the play of her teammates.
Pitt grad transfer Liatu King was at the top of that list, scoring 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, to go along with a game-high 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 turnover-free minutes of court time.
“That was really one of my goals, finishfiveying my teammates’ passes,” King said in her second game since shedding the protective mask she had been wearing in gams and practices since early February.
“And then I started to get into a groove. When you see the ball fall in a couple of times, you’re confident. You get defensive stops and rebounds, you’re confident. Your teammates’ confidence in you makes them confident to pass you the ball again. That’s really what it was for me today.
“That and Olivia. Her being out there was just gritty. Having to endure what she endured at the end of the last game, then coming in here and giving us her all and just knowing that it just might not be 100. But we were telling her we had her back, and I just think her being that leader, that shows grit.”
Senior guard Sonia Citron continued to show her late-season scoring and shooting excellence with 16 points, including 3-of-6 accuracy from the 3-point arc, to go along with six assists. Hannah Hidalgo led all scorers with 21 points and added three assists and two steals.
And collectively it was another strong defensive performance, with the Irish holding the Wolverines to .368 from the field and forcing 16 turnovers.
“We talked about how they’re hard-nosed players,” Citron said, “so we didn’t want to let them outwork us. And then I think with that five-guard lineup, we’re not used to that. But we practiced and decided we’re just going to switch everything, and I think credit to our posts. They were able to guard guards. Just played hyped up and not let them get what they want.”
At least not until Michigan cobbled together a 15-1 surge to end the game after the Irish led by 35 midway through the fourth quarter, with former walk-on Sarah Cernugel and current walk-ons Bella Tehrani and Luci Jensen seeing game action for the second straight game.
Notre Dame shot over 50 percent for the second straight game (.509) from the field.
It’s everything to see us play with this level of intensity,” said Ivey, whose team ended the regular season on a 2-3 skid after stringing together 19 straight wins. “Defensively is where we’ve been excellent the past couple of games, and it was something we worked on last week.
“So, just to see the carryover, see the confidence, the trust, it’s great. I’m really grateful. I’m really proud of this group. It was a really tough stretch and they’ve gotten back and responded so well. I just love the way that we’re playing right now.”
Count Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico, whose Wolverines gave two No. 1 seeds in the field fits in close losses — South Carolina and USC — among those who are impressed.
“They have a great team,” she said. “They were the No. 1 team in the country at some point, and they are playing exceptionally well right now.
“Maybe it was the environment. Maybe it was everything. You just hope as we're getting our feet wet that they don't extend that lead, and we weren't able to stop it. We were a mess defensively. I'm not sure why. I think because they could score like guards at every position, and then they sped us up.”
And played with inspiration from Miles.
“I didn’t feel great at first,” she said. “But once you get your first couple of up-and-backs, I started to feel good. The adrenaline started flowing. And I’m feeding off my teammates, so I’m not even thinking about what’s going on here. I’m just kind of locked into the game.”
Added Citron, “There’s not an easy game. Every game is tough. Every team is tough, so you’re going to get banged around. You’re going to have cuts, bruises, but it’s about fighting through that. It comes down to which team that’s going to fight through that harder and better.”
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