No. 3 seed Notre Dame will host Southern Utah to start NCAA Tournament
Notre Dame women's basketball will be staying home to start the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish (25-5) were given a No. 3 seed in one of the the two Greenville Regional brackets and will host No. 14 Southern Utah (23-9) in Purcell Pavilion on Friday (3:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2). The winner will advance to play Sunday against No. 6 Creighton (22-8), No. 11 Illinois (22-9) or No. 11 Mississippi State (20-10).
Notre Dame landed in the same regional as No. 1 overall seed South Carolina (32-0). No. 2 seed Maryland (25-6) previously beat Notre Dame this season in South Bend.
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Notre Dame's chances of making a deep tournament run will be greatly impacted by the availability of star guard Olivia Miles. The Irish have yet to clarify her status moving forward since suffering a right knee injury against Louisville on Feb. 26. Miles, who was leading the team this season in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals at the time of her injury, did not play in Notre Dame's two ACC Tournament games later that week.
Miles attended Sunday night's watch party for the tournament announcement, but she was not made available to reporters. Miles was walking with a visible limp at the event in the Joyce Center. Head coach Niele Ivey wouldn't confirm if Miles would or wouldn't play Friday.
Ivey enters this year's tournament with a 2-1 record as Notre Dame's head coach in NCAA Tournament games. The Irish advanced to the Sweet 16 last season with wins over UMass and Oklahoma before a 66-63 loss to NC State in Bridgeport, Conn.
Notre Dame hasn't hosted an NCAA Tournament game since it was a one seed in 2019. That was also Notre Dame's most recent trip to the Final Four. The Irish lost to Baylor by one point in the national championship game that year.
Tickets for the first and second round games at Notre Dame can be purchased here.
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