How Notre Dame women’s basketball matched a program record Tuesday
For the second time in as many seasons, Notre Dame women’s basketball contributed four players to the All-ACC Academic Team. The Fighting Irish never had that many All-ACC selections before the 2020-21 season.
Head coach Niele Ivey has guided a group of intelligent players in both seasons she’s been at the helm. This year, graduate student forward Maya Dodson, senior guard Dara Mabrey, and freshmen guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron made the list of 43 student-athletes from all 15 member programs.
Mabrey has been on the All-ACC Academic Team in all four of her collegiate seasons. She made it twice at Virginia Tech and now twice at Notre Dame. A season-long starter who announced she will return to the Irish for a fifth year of eligibility, Mabrey averaged a team-best 18.7 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. She made 13 three-pointers in the tournament, which ranked second among all participating players.
Dodson wanted to join Mabrey in coming back to Notre Dame, but the NCAA denied her eligibility waiver. Dodson needed that waiver to go through to earn a sixth season of eligibility. The transfer from Stanford was selected in the third round of the WNBA Draft this week after averaging 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in her lone season with the Irish. She blocked 91 shots, tied for sixth nationally.
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Miles was the unquestioned catalyst of the Notre Dame offense in her first full collegiate season. She averaged a team-best 13.7 points and 7.4 assists per game. The latter statistic ranked second in the country. She had two triple doubles, including one in the NCAA Tournament. Miles joined Jackie Young as the only two Notre Dame players to ever record two triple doubles in one season.
Citron won ACC Freshman of the Year honors for averaging 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Citron upped her average to 14.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting in the NCAA Tournament.
A note from Notre Dame and the ACC on All-ACC Academic Team selections: The minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
