FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 Niele Ivey was the first person off Notre Dame\u2019s bench as the clock hit zero and her team clinched an Elite Eight berth.<\/p>\n
She embraced star guard Hannah Hidalgo, who ran right to her, and was then swallowed in a massive pile, surrounded by the players who bought into her vision of the Notre Dame program.<\/p>\n
When five players graduated and three players transferred last year, and there was just Hidalgo, KK Bransford and Cassandre Prosper on the roster, nobody believed except them. Even when Bransford\u2019s mother called her delusional for having faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be like, no, just watch,\u201d said Bransford, a senior who missed last season with a foot injury. \u201cI see how we look in practices, I see the glimpses we had. I knew if everybody clicked and bought in we could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That trust in Ivey and each other led Notre Dame down an improbable season turnaround.<\/p>\n
From not having enough players last spring to play pickup basketball to having just six healthy scholarship players in January, the Irish have made the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve done so with an improbable run: Many picked No. 11 Fairfield as an upset Cinderella against the sixth-seeded Irish. They then surprised No. 3 seed Ohio State on its home court. And No. 2 seed Vanderbilt was expected to be a sure bet for the Elite Eight.But the Irish didn\u2019t let up yet again, putting together a 67-64 victory on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Ivey\u2019s first time as a head coach in the Elite Eight. It\u2019s not her most talented team, either, but it\u2019s surely her best coaching job. This season is becoming a legacy moment for the sixth-year coach, who won a national championship as a player and later as an assistant coach at Notre Dame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love this program. I pour into these kids,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cIt means more to me because I went here, I walked in their shoes, so I want them to experience what I experienced and I experienced a national championship twice. That\u2019s the reason why I give back to this program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivey has been an elite recruiter in her time at Notre Dame, but one of the most memorable recruiting calls she had was with Prosper. They met on a Zoom call, when Prosper told Ivey, \u201cI want to be part of your legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat really touched my heart, because I\u2019ve never heard a player say that. I\u2019ll never forget that,\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no surprise that Prosper was a key piece in lifting the Fighting Irish to the Elite Eight.<\/p>\n
Hidalgo scored 31 points to go with 11 rebounds and 10 steals to propel Notre Dame. But Prosper\u2019s presence on the floor was crucial. She scored 15 points, and was also one of the main defenders against Vanderbilt star, and the nation\u2019s leading scorer, Mikayla Blakes. Blakes, who averages 27 points per game, scored 26 points, but shot just 7-of-26 from the field.<\/p>\n
Her versatility was a difference-maker in the Sweet 16, but the Irish might not have even reached this point without her behind-the-scenes impact during the offseason.<\/p>\n
Though Ivey was recruiting transfers to join the roster, Prosper was at every dinner and on every phone call to help recruit the right players. Instead of going to play for the Canadian national team this offseason, she stayed back to help build chemistry with her new team, as well.<\/p>\n
It paid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat tells you her commitment to this program,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cShe knows that I love her so much, but it\u2019s because of what she\u2019s done for me, and it\u2019s rewarding to receive that back and forth from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
started sweet, advanced to elite! #GoIrish<\/a> \u2618\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/wXHXhlkcxJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notre Dame Women\u2019s Basketball (@ndwbb) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The transfer of former Irish guard Olivia Miles to TCU was one of the most noteworthy offseason moves.<\/p>\n Prosper is one-third of the returning trio that meant so much to Ivey. Hidalgo sat in Ivey\u2019s office in the offseason and told her she was locked in, as did Bransford. Ivey said she didn\u2019t take some of the transfers to heart, and she didn\u2019t have time, especially in an era of college basketball with so much roster turnover.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was 59 other schools that were in the same position,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She had a trio she could build around, but while being the head coach of a storied program like Notre Dame comes with its perks, it also makes recruiting transfers more difficult.<\/p>\n Because of the way Notre Dame registers its credits, the Fighting Irish largely have to recruit graduate transfers. Most transfers don\u2019t want to lose a year on their academic record because their credits didn\u2019t transfer over, but Notre Dame doesn\u2019t have that problem with graduate transfers.<\/p>\n The positive side is the experience those recruits brought.<\/p>\n Of the players brought in, Ivey added former Duke guard Vanessa De Jesus, who played in the Elite Eight last season, Iyana Moore from Wake Forest, Malaya Cowles from Wake Forest and Gisela Sanchez from Kansas State.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew that would be helpful, with the experience, but knowing it was everybody\u2019s last year it was that much more motivation to win,\u201d Bransford said.<\/p>\n It was a roster that put Notre Dame at No. 21 in\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s preseason Top 25, so there was some potential, but with a nearly brand-new roster, nothing was assured.\u00a0Bransford hated sitting out nearly a month and a half, stretching from Dec. 12 to the end of January.<\/p>\n The only person more upset was Ivey, who had just six scholarship players in January as the Irish went 6-6, a run that included an unthinkable 95-90 loss to Georgia Tech, which finished under .500 this season.<\/p>\n \u201cJust even having one more player to stretch my roster to seven makes a big, big difference,\u201d Ivey said. \u201cAlso, even with adversity, we learned a lot. It\u2019s a lot of experience. Our back was against the wall. We had to learn how to fight through things, and it\u2019s paying off now.\u201d<\/p>\n When Bransford returned, the Irish caught fire. Notre Dame has won 12 of its last 14 games, being carried by a defense that is built to cause chaos and wreck havoc on offenses.<\/p>\n In the NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame has forced 63 turnovers, led by Hidalgo, who broke the program\u2019s NCAA Tournament record for steals against Ohio State and broke her own record again on Friday. She also set the single-season record for steals.<\/p>\n After Friday\u2019s win, Hidalgo and Notre Dame legend Skylar Diggins, a former Final Four player for the Irish, shared a long embrace.<\/p>\n Irish love \ud83c\udf40<\/p>\n Notre Dame legend, @SkyDigg4<\/a> can\u2019t contain her excitement!! #MarchMadness<\/a> x \ud83c\udfa5 ESPN \/ @ndwbb<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5xsGjTZPFW<\/a><\/p>\n