It was a moment in the making as much as it was a spontaneous display of celebratory bliss.
Seconds after Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles drained a 3-pointer against Louisville just ahead of the third-quarter buzzer, she jogged past Irish head football coach Marcus Freeman’s courtside seat.
And made a point to reach out and slap hands with the Irish women’s basketball regular attendee. Who just happened to predict an ND victory on ESPN’s College Gameday Show, on location at Purcell Pavilion, early in the day.
The day before the Irish took out Louisville, 72-59, to cap their regular-season with an ACC co-championship and end a two-game slide, Freeman and Notre Dame fifth-year head coach Niele Ivey met in person in part to talk about how Ivey planned to recapture the momentum for a team that was ranked No. 1 two weeks ago.
More Content
► Notre Dame WBB gets defensive, locks up share of ACC title by decking Cards
► Five-star target schedules Notre Dame visit
► NFL Combine Tracker: Former Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard puts arm on display
► Chat Transcript: Why the outside obsession with Notre Dame's independence?
► Notre Dame targets rise, commits fall in March update of 2026 Rivals250
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS ON YOUTUBE
“We have a lot of respect for each other,” Ivey said Monday on an ACC Zoom call with the media, previewing this week’s ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. “Just right from the beginning, [we] just really clicked. And [we] really support each other through highs and lows.
“ We’re always there for each other, and I'm grateful. He's very genuine, and he genuinely supports me and our program.
“And it's always amazing having somebody with his profile and status to come support us. He's a girl dad. He has a couple daughters that he brings to the games, and his children and his wife. So, it's awesome to have that support. And he knows that it's mutual.”
In fact, Ivey and the women’s basketball team are regular attendees at Notre Dame football games. Freeman’s Irish are roughly two weeks away from the still unannounced start of spring practice after playing for the national title on Jan. 20 and finishing No. 2 in the final AP and coaches polls.
Freeman is starting his fifth year at Notre Dame and his fourth as the head football coach of the Irish.
“We have a lot in common,” Ivey said. “And so, I think that's how our relationship has grown. Right when he got the job, he texted me right away. We met right away, and then ever since then, just been great friends and colleagues.
“We just bounce ideas off of each other. We're both big supporters of each other's programs, especially, again, high-profile, high-stress types of jobs here at Notre Dame.”
Ivey’s stress ramps up again Friday, when the Irish (25-4), seeded second in this year’s ACC Tourney, play an ACC Tourney quarterfinal game at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN against either 7 seed Cal (24-7), 10 seed Virginia (16-14) or 15 seed Pitt (13-18).
The tournament’s top four seeds received double-byes, with seeds 5 through 8 taking one round off. Pitt and Virginia play in a first-round matchup on Wednesday (3:30 p.m., ACC Network), with the winner advancing to take on Cal in Thursday’s second round (5 p.m., ACC Network).
Notre Dame is the defending tournament champ, having won out of the 4-seed spot last season and taking down then-5 seed Louisville, 1 seed Virginia Tech and 2 seed NC State on consecutive days.
The Wolfpack are the top seed this year, by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Irish.
ACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(All Times Eastern)
At Greensboro, N.C.
FIRST ROUND
Wednesday
No. 12 Boston College (15-16) vs. Syracuse (12-17), 1 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 10 Virginia (16-14) vs. Pittsburgh (13-18), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 11 Stanford (16-13) vs. Clemson (13-16), 6:30 p.m. (ACCN)
SECOND ROUND
Thursday
No. 5 North Carolina (25-6) vs. BC/Stanford, 11 a.m. (ACCN)
No. 8 Virginia Tech (18-11) vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech (21-9), 1:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 7 Cal (24-7) vs. Virginia/Pitt, 5 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 6 Louisville (20-9) vs. Stanford/Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
QUARTERFINALS
Friday
No. 4 Florida State (23-7) vs. UNC/BC/Stanford, 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
No. 1 NC State (24-5) vs. Va. Tech/Ga. Tech, 1:30 p.m. (ACCN)
No. 2 Notre Dame (25-4) vs. Cal/Va./Pitt, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 3 Duke (23-7) vs. Louisville/Stanford/Clemson, 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
SEMIFINALS
Saturday
FSU bracket winner vs. NC State bracket winner, Noon (ESPN2)
ND bracket winner vs. Duke bracket winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
FINAL
Sunday
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Looking ahead?
From a national perspective, Notre Dame’s slide from No. 3 in the AP poll to No. 6 in Monday’s latest rankings likely means the Irish need to repeat as ACC Tournament champions to climb back into a trajectory for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, with Selection Sunday slated for March 16 (8 p.m. EDT on ESPN).
The Irish do have an interesting résumé asset having beaten all three No. 1 Texas, No. 2 USC and No. 3 UConn this season. No other college team has beaten two of them.
And none of those are talking points Ivey will have with her team ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal matchup.
“Focus on the ACC Tournament,” Ivey said of what she wanted her team thinking about. “We have our goal, and the goal is to get to go one step further after our game Friday, depending on the matchup.
“So, I don't talk about the [NCAA Tournament] seeding. Obviously, your performance, the further you go in the conference tournaments dictates a lot. A lot can happen in the next week and a half. So, my focus and goal and messaging for the team is to take care of business on Friday.”
Waiting on Westbeld
The bottom-line efficiency of grad senior forward Maddy Westbeld in 16 games this season, after missing the first 13 following offseason foot surgery, has been impressive.
She is shooting 55% from the field and 41% from the 3-point arc, but the rest of her game has been a bit of roller-coaster experience. When it comes to defense, to rebounding, to consistently staying out of foul trouble and logging big minutes on the court.
Consequently, Westbeld is averaging a career-low in points (8.2) and rebounds (3.0) and has only been in double-digits scoring in one of her last seven games and hasn’t had more than three rebounds in any of her last eight.
She got in early foul trouble in each of the last two games, an 86-81 loss to Florida State on Thursday night and a 72-59 win over Louisville on Sunday. Last season, Westbeld averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds a game playing on the injured foot.
“I think she's close,” Ivey said of Westbeld returning to form. “And I think with it being that we’re in a scenario that we're in March and you’re one and done at this point, [it’s a] new season. And I think you're going to see an even more elevated version of Maddy.
“I think, it’s just unfortunate with her foul trouble, just getting comfortable this entire season. But even with her foul trouble, her getting back healthy, her presence means a lot to this team. Her leadership.
“I think she's going to continue getting better, and she just does whatever is needed for this team. And I think you'll see more of her consistency as the stakes are higher now.”
Miles named Lieberman finalist
One of women’s college basketball's best comeback stories continues to be so much more than just that.
Grad senior guard Olivia Miles on Monday was named one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which since 2000 has been given annually to the nation's top point guard. Skylar Diggins-Smith, a two-time winner (2012-13), is Notre Dame’s only recipient.
After missing all of last season rehabbing from a February of 2023 ACL tear, Miles this season is ND’s second-leading scorer (16.1) and rebounder (6.1), and leader in assists (5.9), and is the NCAA active leader in assists per game (6.6) nationally.
She is shooting 51% from the field and 42% from the arc for the nation’s top 3-point-shooting team.
“I'm super proud of her, coming back from injury and what she's done to help us the entire season,” Ivey said. “Just a credit to the work ethic and drive that she has. And I'm just grateful that she is getting the recognition.
“She doesn't play for awards, but it's just an honor to be in that respective group, because there's a lot of great point guards in the country, and she's a finalist. I think that's a major deal.”
Miles is joined on the finalist list by Kentucky's Georgia Amoore, Texas' Rori Harmon, UCLA's Kiki Rice and UConn's Paige Bueckers, the 2021 winner. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who was a rookie this past season in the WNBA, won each of the past three years.
Recruiting watch
One of the nation’s top sophomores was on campus Sunday for an unofficial recruiting visit a day after leading her Sunbury (Ohio) Big Walnut team into the Division II Final Four of the Ohio State girls basketball tournament.
Sydney Mobley, a 6-2, forward, had 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 62-53 win over Westerville South in the regional title game. She’s rated as the No. 23 player nationally overall in the 2027 class by ESPNw.
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
