Notre Dame women's basketball finally delivered the bad news Thursday morning. All-America point guard Olivia Miles, who injured her right knee in the regular-season finale at Louisville on Feb. 26, will miss the remainder of the season.
The diagnosis significantly lowers the NCAA Tournament expectations for No. 3 seed Notre Dame (25-5). The loss of Miles leaves the Irish without their second-leading scorer (14.3 points per game) and leader in rebounds (7.3), assists (6.9) and steals (2.1). Miles' impact on her team is so great that she's the only player in Division I to average at least 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals per game.
The program shared the news via its Twitter account Thursday morning: "After consulting with the medical staff and undergoing treatment and examinations by our physicians, All-American guard Olivia Miles will miss the remainder of the season."
Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said Sunday that Miles was still meeting with doctors this week to make a determination on her status. On Thursday, Ivey said Miles will undergo surgery late next week but declined to elaborate on the nature of the knee injury, citing Miles' privacy.
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"The current timetable for her return is that we hope that she will be back for the summer in order to participate for the workouts," Ivey said. "My focus now is on this team, excited for this opportunity to play here back in South Bend, a team that has overcome a lot of adversity, and super excited that we brought this the regular season ACC title back to South Bend. Looking forward to trying to make a deep run in the tournament."
The likelihood of Miles playing never seemed high based on her visible limp whenever she was seen in public the last two weeks. If Miles had been ruled out prior to Sunday, the NCAA Tournament selection committee may have held that against the Irish when seeding them.
The committee still didn't do the Irish any favors by placing them in a regional that includes a two-seed in Maryland (25-6) who already beat the Irish and the No. 1 overall seed in South Carolina (32-0).
Notre Dame will begin its NCAA Tournament run Friday by hosting No. 14 Southern Utah (23-9) in Purcell Pavilion (3:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2). If the Irish win, they'll host the winner of No. 6 Creighton (22-8) and No. 11 Mississippi State (21-10) on Sunday.
Miles shared a post on Instagram following the announcement of her status:
"while injuries are certainly not ideal, they are a part of this game that we love and value. it’s been difficult for me to come to terms with everything, and while i prioritize my privacy, it would be a disservice to those who love and support me to remain silent. for this reason, i’d like to thank everyone who has been supportive and shown nothing but love to me and my family thus far. i can’t express how much it means to me!
"on february 26, i suffered a knee injury that will keep me out the rest of the season. while this injury will be very difficult to work through, i trust in those around me to guide me on the path to recovery and returning to the game. i hope that this process brings both motivation and peace with the circumstances. i will be back, but until then i will support my team as best as i can. all my love irish nation"
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