March 29, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET
FORT WORTH, TX ― By each logical metric, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (25-10) aren’t speculated to be in Sunday’s Elite Eight game towards the UConn Huskies (37-0) at Dickies Arena.
Before this season started, Notre Dame misplaced 4 gamers to the switch portal, together with starter Olivia Miles. Miles, who averaged 13 factors and practically six assists a recreation throughout 4 seasons at Notre Dame, moved on to TCU, reconfiguring the identification of the Irish with her choice.Within weeks, Notre Dame additionally misplaced glue participant Sonia Citron and two others to the WNBA, additional decimating its already skinny roster. Hannah Hidalgo, KK Bransford and Cassandre Prosper had been lone returning gamers, seeking to get Notre Dame again to the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t think anybody had expectations for us this season, so I’m the type of coach that I have a bubble. I have a circle, (a) circle of network, and I stay within that bubble,” Irish head coach Niele Ivey stated.
“We talked about, in the beginning of the year, no one is going to expect anything out of us. We have to expect it out of ourselves. That’s what we talked about, and we kind of (quieted) the noise, got to work, built the relationships, and I just focused on trying to get better. That’s all you can do.”
Ivey says with so many modifications, she started regarded for gamers to fill open positions. She wanted one other ball handler outdoors of Hidalgo. Ivey discovered Vanessa De Jesus, a Duke switch guard, who could possibly be the Irish’s ground common and rating. The Fighting Irish wanted a participant who might area the ground and shoot. Enter Iyana Moore, one other switch guard, this time from Vanderbilt. Ivey additionally needed extra versatility and dimension from her submit positions. She discovered Gisela Sanchez from Kansas State and Malaya Cowles from Wake Forrest.
Signing so many transfers wasn’t simple, however, Ivey stated, they “checked the boxes” her gamers must have: family-oriented, dedicated to teachers and excessive character. Then got here the tough half: ensuring that who she introduced in meshed with Notre Dame’s core. De Jesus instructed USA TODAY Sports she and her teammates began constructing chemistry by means of off-court actions final summer time.
“We knew that once we got a couple of practices in, played together ― had a couple of pickup games ― that we have a really special group,” De Jesus stated. “It was just so easy hanging out with one another. We’d play (the game) Mafia all the time, just at the house, or go to someone’s house and just make food together. So I think seeing that bond off the court ― sometimes it’s rare in different programs ― but literally no drama.”
De Jesus says time spent collectively, together with occasions like a player-led retreat to be taught communication kinds, helped the Fighting Irish construct belief and imagine in one another. According to De Jesus, the Irish leaned on Hidalgo, Bransford and Prosper’s management to assist them get by means of the season, together with a brutal stretch to open ACC play in January.
Notre Dame was with out Bransford for your complete month, a devastating blow to the staff’s rising synergy. Bransford, whom Ivey has spoken about as being important, does the issues that do not present up on a stat sheet: sealing off her defender to maintain them from rebounding a basketball, saving a possession from turning into a turnover and inflicting deflections.
Without Bransford, Notre Dame went 3-6 in January, casting doubt on if the staff would even make the NCAA Tournament. Then, February arrived and altered the complexation of the season. Bransford returned, and so did Notre Dame’s confidence. The Fighting Irish went 7-1 over the month, including an exclamation level to their sudden resurgence with a high 10 upset over Louisville to finish the common season.
“A lot of people counted us out early on, didn’t think this team would be here like (Coach Ivey) said. So all we had is what we knew in this locker room,” Moore instructed USA TODAY. “We had faith in each other and ourselves, and our coach had faith in us, so that’s all we needed to get here.”
Moore stated the staff developed a “Why not us?” mindset firstly of the season and have become a proverbial rally cry each time the Irish surpassed expectations. Finish the common season with solely 9 losses? Why not us? Go down to the wire with Duke within the ACC Tournament semifinal recreation? Why not us? Make it to the Elite Eight, upsetting the Commodores and the highest scorer within the nation? Why not us?
However, one other query has emerged from the chatter surrounding the staff: Why did seemingly nobody count on Notre Dame to have this type of success?
“I’m not really sure, to be honest,” Bransford stated bluntly to USA TODAY Sports.
“My parents are like ‘You’re delusional,’ but I kind of always had this expectation for this team, just seeing how we worked in the summer. I knew it was going to take some ups and downs just because we’re a new team. So the chemistry had to be there, but at the end of the day, I’m not sure why people doubted us. I knew eventually it was going to click.”
Bransford stated she instructed Ivey she was pleased with her after the Sweet 16 win. The Irish guard says her coach has grown since she joined this system in 2022. Brandsford complimented Ivey’s “Xs and Os” and playcalling, saying the advance in these areas is why the staff has a lot perception.
On Sunday, Notre Dame will lean on Ivey once more when it performs UConn in a rematch of a Jan. 19 recreation, the place the Irish misplaced by 38 factors, 85-47. Hidalgo instructed the media on web site in Fort Worth that beatdown was not “Notre Dame basketball.”
She shared the staff had confidence it could win that recreation, however being within the atmosphere at Gampel Pavilion modified issues. Many of Hidalgo’s teammates hadn’t been in that form of ambiance earlier than.
“I can say last time, I think we were a little, probably star-struck, being (on) a stage like that was different. We hadn’t seen a stage like that,” Hidalgo stated. “So now that we’ve seen it, we’ve been through it, I think it’ll help us a lot more.”
Hidalgo’s teammates additionally imagine Sunday could possibly be totally different.
“We’re here. We’re here in the Elite Eight. We’re here for a reason. Why not us? Because we’ve worked hard,” Bransford stated. “Now I think it’s just coming all together.”
