Olivia Miles out for ND's ACC quarterfinal matchup, in limbo beyond that
Niele Ivey had seen this movie before, or something eerily similar.
Twenty-four years after Ivey’s junior season as Notre Dame’s starting point guard ended in tears, disbelief and a torn left ACL in the Big East women’s basketball semifinals, the third-year Irish head coach on Sunday watched ND sophomore point guard Olivia Miles suffer a right knee injury against Louisville.
Perhaps the sequel will have a more optimistic ending. For now, it's mostly in limbo.
What is known for sure is that Miles won't play when the 10th-ranked and top-seeded Irish (24-4) face eighth-seeded NC State (20-10) in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 2 p.m. EST (ACC Network) in Greensboro, N.C.
Beyond that, her status remains "day to day" with re-evaluation and re-examination ahead next week after the conclusion of the tournament, per Ivey. Miles has not been ruled out of subsequent ACC tourney games should the Irish advance past the Wolfpack, though she was seen out in public Thursday in Greensboro with a pronounced limp.
Meanwhile, NC State turned up the defense and placed five players in double figures scoring as the Wolfpack blew out ninth-seeded Syracuse, 83-58, Thursday in the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament’s second round.
The Wolfpack handed the ACC regular-season champion Irish one of their three league losses — a 69-65 upset in Raleigh, N.C., on Jan. 29 — a game in which ND was without injured center Lauren Ebo.
NC State held Syracuse to .328 shooting from the field for the game, including .167 (3-of-18) in the fourth quarter. Friday’s winner advances to play the Louisville/Wake Forest survivor Saturday at noon in the ACC semifinals. The 12th-seeded Demon Deacons pulled off the first upset of the tourney, with a 65-54 ambush of fifth seed Florida State.
Miles, a 5-foot-10 first-team All-ACC selection, is ND’s second-leading scorer (14.3 ppg), its leading rebounder (7.3) and seventh nationally in assists per game (6.9).
After writhing on the floor in pain and grabbing her right knee late in the second quarter at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center, Miles limped to the locker room for the final 2:35 of game action in the first half. She returned to the bench with ice on her knee in the third quarter and did not return to game action.
The Irish fell behind by nine at the half, then thundered back behind sophomore Sonia Citron’s season-high 27 points to take down the ACC preseason favorites, 68-65, and claim the conference regular-season championship for themselves.
Notre Dame already lost graduate senior guard Dara Mabrey, a starter, for the season with a torn ACL earlier this year.
In 1999, the Irish (25-4) were punished by the NCAA Tournament selection committee for the Ivey injury, and dropped to 5 seed and lost hosting rights for the first and second rounds. Projected as high as a 2 seed before Ivey’s injury, the Irish were sent on the road to Baton Rouge, La., where they lost to the host Tigers in the second round.
The Irish will have the week off after the conclusion of the ACC Tourney on Sunday before they find out their NCAA Tournament assignment on March 12. The first round of the NCAA Tournament is scheduled for March 17-18 at on-campus sites of the top 16 teams.
ACC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
SCORES/SCHEDULE
AT GREENSBORO, N.C.
(All Times EST)
FIRST ROUND
Wednesday
(12) Wake Forest 68, (13) Virginia 57
(10) Clemson 71, (15) Pitt 53
(11) Boston College 62, (14) Georgia Tech 57
SECOND ROUND
Thursday
(12) Wake Forest 65, (5) Florida State 54
(8) NC State 83, (9) Syracuse 58
(7) North Carolina 78, (10) Clemson 68
(6) Miami 84, (11) Boston College 69
QUARTERFINALS
Friday
(4) Louisville 74, (12) Wake Forest 48
(1) Notre Dame (24-4) vs. (8) NC State (20-10), 2 p.m., ACC Network
(2) Duke (24-5) vs. (7) North Carolina (21-9), 6 p.m., ACC Network
(3) Virginia Tech (24-4) vs. (6) Miami (19-11), 8 p.m., ACC Network
SEMIFINALS
Saturday
(4) Louisville (22-10) vs. ND/NC State, Noon, ACC Network
Duke/UNC vs. Va.Tech/Miami 2:30 p.m., ACC Network
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m., ESPN
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