Olivia Miles dazzles again in another Notre Dame women's basketball win
Olivia Miles untucked her jersey, strode to center court and put a headset on. Time for Thursday night’s postgame media hit. The routine has become quite common for the Notre Dame freshman point guard.
What broadcast crew wouldn’t want to chat with a player who averaged 23.7 points per game in three matchups in a span of five days? Miles dropped 30 Sunday, dipped down to 13 Tuesday before exploding for another 24 Thursday in a 68-55 Notre Dame victory over Virginia Tech.
No. 20 Notre Dame (18-4, 9-2 ACC) has won five straight, the latter four of which have come inside Purcell Pavilion. The Irish improved to a perfect 11-0 inside their home arena. Miles put on a dazzling display for the 4,230 who braved poor driving conditions because of a Wednesday snow storm to see the Irish down the Hokies (15-6, 7-3).
“Getting that four-game win streak at home means so much to me, the fans and everyone who supports us and loves us,” Miles said.
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Miles nailed a trio of three-pointers, indulging the crowd in an impossible to replicate skipping celebration after the second. The animation still paled in comparison to her antics when fellow freshman Sonia Citron dished a behind-the-back dime to junior forward Sam Brunelle for an easy layup with 1:44 left.
“I was jumping up and down like, ‘There is no way!'” Miles said.
Citron’s assist was impressive, but Miles might’ve had an even more majestic helper moments earlier. First, she stole a pass from Virginia Tech center and leading-scorer Elizabeth Kitley. Then she sprinted down the court on a two-on-one with junior guard Anaya Peoples. Without breaking stride, she slung a behind-the-back beauty of her own right into Peoples’ bread basket.
Peoples made the layup. Miles made another highlight reel.
“I was waiting for the other defender to react, so when she bit that’s when i was like, “Alright. I’m just sending it. Whatever,'” Miles said. “She was there. She got it. Tough finish, and-one. That was just really spectacular for her.”
For her.
Those two words might be more symbolic than any in ascertaining why Notre Dame is playing so well right now. The Irish were down to seven scholarship players with Abby Prohaska out nursing a head injury sustained Tuesday. Brunelle wasn’t at 100% coming back from an ankle issue that sprung up in the same game.
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Selfish efforts weren’t going to win the day. Not in a fourth game in a grueling stretch of eight days, even if every one of those came at home. The Irish got the memo. All seven Notre Dame participants had at least one assist. Six had at least two. The only one who didn’t was graduate senior center Maya Dodson, who came up big in other areas.
Dodson only scored six points, but she had a team-high five steals and limited Kitley, an 18 points per game threat, to just eight on 3-of-10 shooting. She added two blocks and tied for a team-high with seven rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass. That, too, tied for a team-high.
“A lot of those steals were coming from Maya’s incredible defense fronting and getting deflections, which was huge” head coach Niele Ivey said. “Kitley is their go-to player. They have great balance around them, but we took them out of what they wanted to do as far as establishing their inside game. It’s a credit to Maya’s defense.”
Miles’ offense and Dodson’s defense has become a lethal combination for Notre Dame, a team sitting tied for third in the ACC standings with six regular season games remaining. The Irish will take a much-needed rest day Friday before traveling to take on Florida State on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Another opportunity to have each other’s backs.
“Regardless of how hard things are, they love this game,” Ivey said. “And it’s showing with the way they play together collectively.”
