Notre Dame women’s basketball cruises past Virginia, Mabrey suffers knee injury
After a nervous victory over Clemson Thursday, Notre Dame got back to their comfortable winning ways on Sunday, taking down Virginia 76-54.
After a nervous victory over Clemson Thursday, Notre Dame got back to their comfortable winning ways on Sunday, taking down Virginia 76-54.
The Notre Dame track and field team competed this weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational with the women’s team finishing second and the men finishing third. The Irish also collected six event titles across both teams.
The Holy Cross College women’s basketball team came into Saturday’s matchup against Olivet Nazarene University looking for their 13th win, which would put them two away from setting the all-time program record.
Irish quarterback room looking sharp entering 2023
Featuring major transfer portal addition Sam Hartman and a handful of highly-rated prospects to learn from him, Notre Dame’s quarterback group is set up for success. Here’s a look at the signal-caller situation moving into next season.
The Notre Dame wide receiver room was a point of weakness in 2022, but there is reason for optimism heading into the 2023 season. The Irish will bring in Sam Hartman, a Wake Forest transfer quarterback who set several ACC records during his tenure with the Demon Deacons. Hartman ranked first in depth of target in 2022 (Irish starting quarterback Drew Pyne ranked 129th), so that immediately elevates the ceiling for what these receivers can accomplish in 2023. The Irish offense is looking to improve on their 31.8 points per game mark. Notre Dame finished 7-0 when exceeding that point total in 2022, but they were just 2-4 when they fell below that mark.
No. 7 Notre Dame women’s basketball improved to 15-2 overall and 6-1 in ACC play with perhaps its most exhausting victory yet. The Irish defeated Clemson 57-54 in a game that was never led by more than eight points. Notre Dame’s high-powered offense scored a full 24 points below its season average thanks to a slow start. However, sophomore guard Olivia Miles and the Irish defense came alive in key moments to survive a Thursday night thriller at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Irish return the key pieces from their vaunted rushing attack in 2022, and they’ll look to establish more consistency to bring the offense to another level in 2023.
Tight end will be a position to keep an eye on for Notre Dame in 2023. They lose projected first-round pick and All-American Michael Mayer and will look to replace Mayer’s leadership and team-leading production in the passing game. The Irish record holder in virtually every major statistic for tight ends, Mayer leaves a big hole in an Notre Dame offense that will feature a new-look passing attack in 2023.
Notre Dame fencing is back for a series of challenging meets to close out January. After a long winter break, some fencers returned to the 2023 USA Fencing North American Cup (NAC), where they proved that they were not rusty coming out of the holiday. Nine Irish fencers earned top-ten spots across six events. This included graduate student sabre Jared Smith, who tied for third in men’s sabre, and freshman epee Sedna Gandhi, who tied for third in the juniors women’s epee.
There were a lot of things that didn't go right in the first half of Notre Dame's 2022 season. Few position groups performed further below expectations than Notre Dame's offensive line. It was one thing to see the Irish struggle to run the ball against an Ohio State team that would eventually reach the College Football Playoff. But to see the Irish held to 3.5 yards per carry by Marshall the next week raised immediate red flags about the state of Notre Dame's offensive line.
The Notre Dame defensive line loses both of their vypers from 2022 along with two of their regular defensive tackles. They’ll look to replace that production and spearhead a strong Irish defense in 2023.
Both the men and women of the Holy Cross basketball program were in action on Wednesday night. The 11-9 women’s team took to the road against Calumet College of St. Joseph, looking to improve on their 6-6 conference record in a pivotal game.
The Fighting Irish linebacker core will bring back the same top six players that closed out last season. Two four-stars and a three-star from the 2023 recruiting class will join them. Here’s a full outlook on Al Golden’s group of linebackers heading into next season.
When freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison was the toast of South Bend after recording five interceptions during a three-game span in November, The Athletic’s Pete Sampson dropped a bombshell that flew a bit under the radar. “Before the Ohio State opener, a source at Notre Dame indicated Morrison might be the best cornerback Notre Dame had signed in 10 years,” the longtime Irish beat writer wrote. While Notre Dame isn’t exactly known for its defensive back program, that’s still a pretty bold claim — especially since the source told Sampson this before Morrison played a single snap of collegiate football.
Notre Dame special teams will undergo some changes ahead of the 2023 season, including starting their third different kicker in three seasons. One of the nation’s most improved units will look to continue to impact the game positively for the Irish under special teams coach Brian Mason.
After they opened the new year 2-1, the Saint Mary’s basketball team fell 121-51 to No. 8/9 Hope on Wednesday evening. The Belles took down Olivet a week earlier but couldn’t find the same rhythm against the reigning Division III champions.
Mike Brey, the winningest coach in Notre Dame men’s basketball history, plans to retire at the end of the season, the university announced Thursday afternoon. Brey is expected to tell the team after practice Thursday.
Notre Dame men’s basketball (9-10, 1-7) returns to action on Saturday for another ACC battle with Boston College (8-11, 2-6). Both teams are looking to escape the league’s basement after poor starts in conference play. The Eagles check in on a four-game losing streak after playing their most difficult stretch of the season. After beating Notre Dame in January, they faced then-No. 16 Duke, Wake Forest, No. 17 Miami and national runner-up North Carolina. The Irish have dropped eight of their last ten, including Tuesday’s home debacle against Florida State. The Seminoles opened the game on a 13-0 run, then went up 32-8 before securing an 84-71 win at Purcell Pavilion.
Another large opportunity awaits Notre Dame hockey this weekend at Pegula Ice Arena. The Fighting Irish (10-11-3, 5-7-2) will make the trek east to finish their season series with the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions (17-6-1, 7-6-1). Notre Dame still occupies fifth place in the Big Ten standings; a tie (shootout win) and shutout loss against No. 2 Minnesota brought the Irish to 17 points in 14 games. Meanwhile, Penn State just played its most competitive series of the season to date. The Nittany Lions took an overtime loss and earned a 4-4 tie (shootout loss) in No. 15 Michigan State’s barn last weekend. Penn State now sits in a three-way tie for second place with Michigan State and Ohio State but has two games in hand on the Spartans. All three teams trail front-running Minnesota by 10 points.