Notre Dame Women's Basketball: Season Preview
As summer breezes give way to fall winds, the sports season shifts too. The pads still pop on the gridiron, but another sound can be heard: basketball hitting the hardwood.
Photo by Jim Dedmon - IMAGN Images
The Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team is set to begin a season of high expectations this Sunday in Rome as they take on the Villanova Wildcats. Fresh off a run to the Elite Eight, the Irish look to build upon their first appearance in the round of eight since 2019 and go further.
2025-2026 Season Recap
Notre Dame finished 25-11 and surged with a late-season push. That surge was ended in the Elite Eight by rival and national powerhouse UConn, 70-52. They were led by senior all-world guard Hannah Hidalgo. Hidalgo averaged over 25 Points Per Game (PPG) and 5.3 Steals Per Game (SPG) and is the lone returning contributor for the Irish (Leah Macy returns after missing last season due to injury).
New Additions
The cupboard is not bare for Notre Dame. Head Coach Niele Ivey built a stellar recruiting class that includes two McDonald's All-Americans, Guard Jenica Lewis and Forward Jacy Albi. These two will be looked at as contributors quickly. Joining them are four-star forwards Bella Ragone and Amari Biles. Ivey didn’t stop there; Notre Dame added Louisville Forward Anaya Hardy and former All-Ivy League Guard Madison St Rose. These additions should help the Irish in two areas they struggled with last season: interior defense/rebounding and perimeter shooting.
Season Schedule
The Irish will be tested throughout this season. The season starts against perennial NCAA Tournament participant Villanova. They will also compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament with Davidson, Florida, and West Virginia. Other key non-conference matchups include the yearly matchup against UConn, a Sweet Sixteen rematch on the road versus Vanderbilt, a road tilt against USC, and national runner-up South Carolina. Benefiting Notre Dame is that UConn will be played at home and South Carolina is a neutral-site game.
Conference play doesn’t get any easier. It's playing in arguably the toughest women’s conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Notre Dame is pegged to finish fourth by many outlets, with last season's Elite Eight participant, the Duke Blue Devils, projected to finish at the top of the conference. North Carolina and Louisville are also projected to finish ahead of the Irish. Notre Dame will have a chance to prove them wrong. They play Louisville twice (including the final game of the regular season), Duke and North Carolina once. Those four games will go a long way if Notre Dame can capture the conference title.
Season Prediction
Notre Dame’s success this season will rest on Hidalgo. As she goes, the Irish go. She is the best two-way player in the nation, and as shown, she can handle the workload. The key will be whether the younger additions provide enough support. In exhibition games, the Irish have shown a faster tempo and better shooting. If that continues into the regular season, the Irish will be a force to be reckoned with.
There will be some hiccups along the way. With a very difficult non-conference schedule, Notre Dame will have some growing pains. However, much like last season, those pains will make them better for late-season battles, including a second-place ACC finish.
I feel Notre Dame is primed to make the Final Four. They have Hidalgo, and the additions will only make it harder to defend her. This will serve Notre Dame well and give Ivey her best finish thus far as head coach.
Final prediction: 22-8 regular season, second in the ACC, Final Four participant
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