Where Notre Dame women’s basketball ranks in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•04/03/23•

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Just over a week after Notre Dame’s elimination from the NCAA Tournament, the 2022-23 women’s basketball season is officially over. The LSU Tigers won their first national championship in program history with a resounding 102-85 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes in Sunday’s national championship game.

Now it’s time to turn attention to 2023-24.

ESPN released a way-too-early top 25 for next season Monday. The outlet placed Notre Dame No. 10 in the rankings. Here is analyst Charlie Creme’s full explanation for where he put the Irish:

“A healthy Olivia Miles is paramount to the Fighting Irish’s status as a top-10 team. Since the extent of a season-ending knee injury suffered in the regular-season finale remains unknown, so does her status for the beginning of the season. Miles at 100%, along with Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld, would make the Irish the ACC favorite. The further development of Cassandre Prosper and KK Bransford will be key, as will incorporating incoming guard Hannah Hidalgo, the co-MVP of last week’s McDonald’s All-American game.“

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Miles did not play in the postseason. She missed the final five matchups of the year. Notre Dame averaged 59.6 points per game without her on the floor. The second-team All-American averaged 14.3 points and 6.9 assists per game, both of which were team-highs.

Citron eventually led the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Westbeld finished her junior year as the only other Irish player with a double-digit scoring average at 11.2.

Center Lauren Ebo and guard Dara Mabrey are the only Notre Dame players who exhausted their eligibility this past season. Ebo averaged 9.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Mabrey, who did not play after tearing her ACL on Jan. 22, averaged 9.3 points and 2.4 assists per game.

Notre Dame advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the last two seasons. Head coach Niele Ivey is looking to take her team a step further in her third year on the job.

Here is a complete look at ESPN’s way-too-early top 25.

  1. UConn
  2. Utah
  3. LSU
  4. Iowa
  5. Indiana
  6. UCLA
  7. South Carolina
  8. Ohio State
  9. Stanford
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Tennessee
  12. Maryland
  13. Texas
  14. Virginia Tech
  15. Ole Miss
  16. Duke
  17. Baylor
  18. Oregon
  19. Florida State
  20. Colorado
  21. USC
  22. Louisville
  23. Creighton
  24. North Carolina
  25. Washington State

Also considered: Kansas State, NC State, Nebraska, Arkansas, Washington, Kansas

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