Entering the 2024-25 season on the heels of an ACC Tournament title and three consecutive Sweet Sixteens, expectations were sky high for year five of the Niele Ivey era. With an uber-talented roster, veteran coaching staff and a challenging schedule, Notre Dame had all the ingredients to contend for the program’s first National Championship since 2018. And while the program reached new heights throughout an exceptional regular season, postseason struggles haunted the Irish en route to early exits in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
The Irish knocked off three top-five teams by Dec. 12, collecting wins over No. 3 USC, No. 4 Texas and No. 2 UConn. They embarked on a two-month, 19-game winning streak and reached No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in over six years. But a home loss to Florida State in late February allowed NC State to share the ACC title before defeats to Duke in the ACC Semifinals and TCU in the Sweet 16 ended an extraordinary Irish season early. So, should the program embrace the successes of nearly four months of domination, or should three weeks of underwhelming play be a cause for concern for the future of Notre Dame women’s basketball?
Looking back to the preseason, Notre Dame opened with undoubtedly its most talented roster of the Ivey era. Sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo enjoyed a breakout rookie campaign in which she filled the stat sheet with averages of over 22 points, six rebounds and five assists, as well as a national-best 4.6 steals. She was joined in the backcourt by graduate Olivia Miles, who had averaged over 14 points and six rebounds, as well as twice led the ACC in assists over her two full seasons in South Bend, but was returning from an ACL tear suffered in Feb. 2023. Those two formed the nation’s most dynamic backcourt duo, but when also paired with Sonia Citron, the three created a three-headed offensive monster. The senior had developed into a do-it-all wing who could score efficiently from all three levels while also locking down the opponent’s best player.
In preparation for a challenging schedule which included four ranked matchups and three road tests in the non-conference before facing an ACC slate that would put eight teams into March Madness, Ivey and her staff built depth through the transfer portal. The program added composed forward Liza Karlen from Marquette to pair with five-star freshman Kate Koval in the post, as well as double-double demon Liatu King from Pittsburgh. With KK Bransford, Emma Risch and Kylee Watson all battling injuries, junior guard Cassandre Prosper stepped up off the Notre Dame bench to provide a spark.
The Irish began the season with four consecutive wins of 36-plus points, including a 102-58 thrashing of in-state rival Purdue in West Lafayette. Miles recorded a 20-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in the season opener against Mercyhurst, before coming just short of a triple-double in the 91-55 win at Lafayette. Hidalgo tallied 28 points in the victory over the Boilermakers, while Koval announced her arrival with a 16-rebound, six-block performance against James Madison.
The first big test of the season came in Los Angeles as Notre Dame battled standout JuJu Watkins and USC. In front of a national audience on NBC, the Irish throttled USC, leading by as much as 19 en route to a 74-61 triumph. Hidalgo cemented herself as the early-season Wooden Award frontrunner with a performance of 24 points, eight assists and five steals. Miles also pitched in 20 points, surpassing the 1,000-point plateau for her storied career.
Speaking on Hidalgo’s performance and maturity throughout the season, Ivey commented, “I thought her biggest growth from her freshman year was her poise with the experience she had under her belt. She is always the most competitive person on the floor, just someone who is a dog and wants to win.”
Notre Dame reached No. 3 in the country following the statement victory before dropping back-to-back games to TCU and Utah in the Cayman Islands. The Irish blew fourth-quarter leads in both games of the tournament, but those would be the only losses the team would suffer until late February.
The early season gauntlet continued as the calendar rolled into December, with the Irish welcoming Vic Schaefer’s fourth-ranked Texas Longhorns to a sold-out Purcell Pavilion for the annual ACC-SEC Challenge. The crowd was energetic from the jump, and the two offensive juggernauts put on a show from start to finish.
“We had really great support from our fans. We had a positive student body, and the highest student body attendance ever. We also had the most sold-out games in over a decade, which is a credit to the energy of our crowd, and how they support and love our team and women’s basketball,” Ivey commented on the season-long support from the Irish faithful.
Despite a clutch runner from Miles with under three seconds remaining, 40 minutes proved not to be enough between Texas and Notre Dame. Led by Hidalgo’s 30 points, the Irish would collect a second statement win of the campaign, dominating the Longhorns 12-2 in the overtime period to win 80-70. Citron starred on the defensive end, recording a career-high seven steals, while King continued her streak of grabbing double-digit rebounds in every game by pulling down 12.
Ivey complimented the steadiness that Citron and King, as well as senior forward Maddy Westbeld, who returned from injury in January, provided throughout the year for her lineup, attesting, “They were completely solid and very consistent every game. I knew exactly what I was going to get with all three of them.”
After smashing Syracuse 93-62 in the JMA Wireless Dome, the Irish returned to South Bend to renew the game’s greatest rivalry by welcoming legendary coach Geno Auriemma, fan-favorite Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies to northern Indiana. In preparation for perhaps the most anticipated game on the women’s basketball calendar, students lined up outside Purcell Pavilion hours early, and numerous alumni made the trek back to Notre Dame.
“We had six players come back, and they’re all really intentional about supporting this program and continuing to be a part of this program on the road,” Ivey said.
On the court, Hidalgo took over the game from the tip, besting UConn on both ends of the floor, using 6-11 shooting from beyond the arc to tally 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Excluding a brief Husky surge to open the second half, the Irish led start to finish as they collected a program-record, third top-25 win with the 79-68 victory. Commenting on the importance of enduring such a difficult stretch of games, Ivey added, “I think it’s really important to challenge yourself early in the non-conference season to prepare for a really competitive ACC season. Those tough matchups at home and on the road helped us grow as a group.”
The Irish rolled through the next 14 games to reach the pinnacle of the sport with a No. 1 ranking on Feb. 17. During the 19-game streak of excellence, Notre Dame recorded ranked wins at No. 17 North Carolina’s Greensboro and at home over No. 17 Georgia Tech, as well as a nearly 40-point blowout in Purcell over No. 21 California. That win came just three days after the Irish toppled the Stanford Cardinal, a two-time National Championship program, by 49 points. Miles also recorded back-to-back triple-doubles in the wins over Loyola (Maryland) and Virginia during the stretch.
Ivey’s bunch kept the train moving by collecting a 15-point win over No. 11 Duke and a 40-point domination at Miami. But trouble would strike soon.
Having yet to lose on U.S. soil, Notre Dame took its winning streak and No. 1 ranking into Raleigh, North Carolina, for a battle with perennial ACC power NC State on ESPN’s College GameDay. Battling a feisty Wolfpack team and hostile crowd, the Irish fought for all 50 minutes with the game heading into two overtimes. Despite Hidalgo’s 28 points, King’s 14 rebounds and a miraculous buzzer-beating triple from Citron, perfect free throw shooting from a historically poor Wolfpack output was too much to overcome as the Irish fell 104-95.
Despite this, there was no panic surrounding the Irish — until they lost again, this time at home on Senior Night to Florida State in what was a hapless defensive effort. Notre Dame conceded a 21-3 run in the first half and a 10-0 run in the second half, and despite Citron’s best efforts to tie the game late in the fourth, the Seminoles and the nation’s leading scorer Ta’Niya Latson left South Bend with the 86-81 win.
Notre Dame responded with close wins over Louisville and California to end the regular season and start the ACC Tournament but were bested once again as Duke’s defense stymied them to a season-low 56 points in the Semifinals.
A two-week break allowed the team to decompress before beginning its NCAA Tournament quest as the No. 3 seed in the Birmingham Region. Back in the comfort of Purcell Pavilion, the Irish attack absent in Greensboro returned, with the team securing a fourth consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance following a 106-54 win over No. 14 Stephen F. Austin in the First Round and a 76-55 win over rival No. 6 Michigan in the Second Round.
Notre Dame next traveled to Alabama for a high-stakes rematch with star Hailey Van Lith and TCU. The back-and-forth reprise saw the Irish lead by one heading to the fourth quarter, but the Horned Frogs closed with a flurry of threes, winning 71-62 and advancing into the Elite Eight. Despite a double-double from King, Hidalgo, Miles and Citron combined to shoot 10-44 from the field, and just 40 days after reaching the mountaintop, Notre Dame’s fairytale season was over.
The hits didn’t stop in Birmingham, Alabama, however, as a mass exodus occurred through the transfer portal. Roster turnover and surprise departures have become almost a certainty, and Ivey says that she and her staff have adapted to the new world of collegiate athletics.
“Everybody in college basketball has had to pivot as far as this just being the new normal. The landscape has changed, and the transfer portal opens right after the season, so everyone is creating rosters fast. For us, it’s just trying to find the right pieces. We want to find players with the intangibles to fit a winning culture.”
The most shocking news came when Miles, the projected No. 2 pick in April’s WNBA Draft, opted to forego professional opportunities and transfer to TCU for her final season of eligibility. Koval then departed for LSU, and Watson returned closer to home to Villanova. All told, four players transferred out, and five graduated with Citron being selected third in the draft and Westbeld and King going 16th and 28th, respectively.
Turning the page toward 2025-26, Ivey expressed an upbeat tune as she enters into a vitally important offseason.
“I’m really grateful for the core that’s returning. Hannah, Cass and KK have been putting in a lot of work, and we’ve added some really great pieces through the portal and with freshman Leah Macy. I’m really encouraged and excited to start a new canvas with a new team,” she said.
The head coach is especially looking forward to seeing what Hidalgo can do as the alpha, saying, “She’s going to take on that leadership role as being the most vocal on the team, as well as the point guard responsibilities.”
So as Ivey and her program move on from the roller coaster ride of the 2024-25 season, there are certainly setbacks that need to be explored, contemplated and retooled. But much of the season was an overwhelming success, proving that Notre Dame women’s basketball belongs among the sport’s elite when they play their brand of physical, energetic, fast-paced basketball. Expectations will always be through the roof in South Bend, but Ivey feels confident and poised with her incoming group.
“They’re hungry. They’re motivated. They want to win, and they have that competitive nature. And at Notre Dame, they’re also just high-character humans,” she concluded.
