Olivia Miles status may be the biggest question facing Notre Dame as March Madness begins. The latest news isn’t what they were hoping for.
Olivia Miles has been a rock for Notre Dame this season, giving the Irish structure at both ends of the floor. The sophomore point guard averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game on a 53.8 true shooting percentage. Her ferocious defense at the point of attack was a tone-setter and her steady orchestration on offense was just as important.
If you want to see how essential she has been to Notre Dame, look no further than the 26-point drubbing they took from Louisville in the ACC Championship game without Miles. She was out for the entire ACC Tournament after injuring her knee in Notre Dame’s final game of the regular season.
Miles played just 16 minutes in that regular-season finale but managed 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in a three-point win. Ten days before that, she put up 18 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists in a three-point overtime win over Louisville. But without her on the floor, Notre Dame was absolutely steamrolled.
The hope had been that another week of rest would allow her to play in the NCAA Tournament but Notre Dame has now officially ruled her out for the rest of the season.
Can Notre Dame make a run without Olivia Miles?
Notre Dame landed a No. 3 seed and will kick off their tournament experience against Southern Utah on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET. They’ll likely be favored in that game even with Miles but Southern Utah is no easy out — they finished the season 23-9 and on a six-game winning streak, winning the WAC. If the Irish get past Southern Utah, powerhouses like Creighton, Maryland and Arizona could all be waiting for them.
In the absence of Miles, Notre Dame will lean even more heavily on leading scorer Sonia Citron who averaged 14.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Citron has played on the wing for most of her career but helped fill-in as a primary ball-handler and creator with Miles out.
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