What to know about Notre Dame women's basketball vs. Boston College

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•01/11/24•

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Times are tough for Notre Dame women’s basketball. The Fighting Irish are coming off a 61-57 home loss to North Carolina this past Saturday. Tonight, they look to bounce back against visiting Boston College.

Here’s everything you need to know about Thursday’s matchup.

Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Boston College game info

  • Teams: No. 18 Notre Dame (10-3, 1-2) vs. Boston College (9-7, 1-2)
  • Head coaches: Niele Ivey (71-28, fourth year at Notre Dame); Joanna Bernebei-McNamee (213-142 overall, 87-76 at Boston College; sixth year at BC)
  • Date: Jan. 11, 2024
  • Location: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)
  • Time: 7 p.m. ET
  • Television: ACC Network
  • TV broadcasters: Tyler Reidy and Dara Mabrey
  • Radio: 99.9 WQLQ-FM in South Bend
  • Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires

Matchup notables

• Notre Dame is 28-9 in its all-time series vs. Boston College. The Fighting Irish have won the last three, including a 72-59 triumph on the road on Feb. 2, 2023 in the most recent matchup. The Irish are 17-1 vs. the Eagles in South Bend.

• The Irish and Eagles both lost on the road at Syracuse. Boston College also has an ACC loss at Duke. The Eagles’ lone conference victory came at home vs. Miami.

• Notre Dame is hoping to have senior forward Maddy Westbeld back from a concussion that held her out of the loss to the Tar Heels. It’s been exactly one week since Westbeld was hit in the head in the Irish’s win at Pittsburgh.

• Westbeld was present on the bench for the North Carolina game. Niele Ivey said Wednesday that was a good sign. “Everyone’s concussion is different,” Ivey said. “She has to go through certain protocols for her to be available. Our performance team does a good job of making sure she’s where she needs to be. Ultimately, it’s her health we’re concerned about. It’s been a good process, and she’s had consecutive good days.”

• Health has been at a premium for Notre Dame. Junior guard Sonia Citron has returned from a knee injury that kept her out for nearly two months, albeit with a bulky brace on the affected leg. Fellow junior guard Olivia Miles has yet to make her season debut, and sophomore combo guard Cass Prosper has been out with a lower leg injury since late November.

• With the absences, every Notre Dame starter played at least 33 minutes against North Carolina. Only one reserve, senior center Nat Marshall, came off the bench in a six-player rotation. Graduate student post Becky Obinma and former walk-on guard Sarah Cernugel were Ivey’s only other healthy and available options.

• A diminished roster plus practice squad guys having been away for thew winter break has made it difficult for Ivey to conduct true practices. “It’s definitely a challenging balance because you have to get work in but I also realize numbers are low,” Ivey said. “It’s a gray area that I’m trying to work through. Honestly, I rely a lot on our performance team. We do a lot of low impact cardio stuff, and I try to keep practices at a minimum.”

• Junior guard Andrea Daley leads Boston College at 15.8 points per game. The Irish should match up well with the Eagles in the low post, which has not been the case in every game for Ivey’s team. Boston College sophomore guard Teya Sidberry averages 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, but she’s only 6-1. Freshman Lili Krasovec is 6-3 and she figures into the rotation at times, but Sidberry is BC’s main post presence.

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