Notre Dame women’s basketball proved its new No. 1 ranking with a 64-49 victory over No. 11 Duke and extended its lead atop the ACC, inching one step closer to a regular-season title. In front of an electric home crowd in Purcell Pavilion Monday night, the Irish had their hands full after the first half, taking only a narrow 2-point lead into halftime in a cagy defensive battle. They would assert their dominance coming out of the break, however, in a 21-8 third quarter powered by a 17-1 run that had the lead as high as 18. Taking a 50-35 advantage into the fourth quarter, they cruised to another comfortable victory to improve to 23-2 on the year, remaining undefeated at 14-0 in ACC play.
Now heading to Florida to face Miami, the Irish have four more regular-season games before they set their sights on a bigger prize in the postseason. While the Hurricanes shouldn’t pose a significant threat to Notre Dame on paper, head coach Niele Ivey’s group will be wary not to look ahead to Sunday’s matchup against No. 13 N.C. State, the only team that holds on to hope of stealing their regular-season title. Their sloppiness with turnovers continues to be an issue to monitor as well, giving it away 18 times against the Blue Devils and 15.4 times per game on the season. Self-inflicted errors seem to be the only thing capable of stopping the Irish right now, but if they stay out of their own way, they should expect another routine win on Thursday.
Miami in year one of the Cullop era
Since their unlikely 2023 Elite Eight run, the Miami Hurricanes have struggled to reach similar heights in recent seasons. They took a step back in 2023-24, due largely to the Cavinder twins taking a year off from basketball. After transferring from Fresno State, both sisters contributed in their first year with the team. Hanna played a role off the bench in 2023, but her sister Haley was the star, leading the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game. Without the Cavinders, Miami went 19-12 and 8-10 in the ACC, missing out on the NCAA Tournament.
Legendary head coach Katie Meier retired at the conclusion of the season after 19 years with the program. Former Toledo head coach Tricia Cullop took the reins entering the 2024-25 season, boasting a career record of 476-279 with 10 20-win seasons across her tremendous 25-year Division I coaching career. Inheriting a team full of new faces, however, year one of the Cullop era has come with some growing pains for the Hurricanes. After opening up the season 11-1, they struggled out of the gates in ACC play, losing their first seven conference games. After a pair of wins against Virginia and SMU finally got them off the mark, they stared down a gauntlet of five straight top-25 matchups, which included No. 20 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Duke, No. 13 NC State and then-ranked No. 23 Florida State. They round out that stretch with their toughest test of the season, the nation’s new No. 1 in Notre Dame.
Despite losing their four previous games, the Hurricanes showed life, losing a 76-74 heartbreaker on the road against the Wolfpack before falling a point short in an 83-82 thriller against the Seminoles. Late-game scenarios have plagued Miami this season, as the Hurricanes have suffered six losses by 5 points or fewer. Winning a few of those could make their 3-11 ACC record look a lot better. But as things stand, they sit in 15th place and would be the last team in the ACC Tournament, which now relegates the bottom three teams in light of the conference’s expansion. Their four remaining ACC contests will be pivotal as they try to hold off Pittsburgh and SMU.
The Cavinder twins and senior guard Jasmyne Roberts are the only returnees from the 2023 Elite Eight team. Haley Cavinder picked up right where she left off, leading the team in scoring with 18.8 points per game on an efficient 47.2% from the field, the best of her five-year collegiate career. Transfer forwards Cameron Williams and Natalija Marshall round out the starting lineup along with freshman guards Ahnay Adams and Leah Harmon, members of the 18th-best freshman class in the country, adding minutes off the bench. Williams, a four-year player at Michigan, has added 11.7 points along with a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game. While the new-look squad has shown flashes this season in year one under Cullop, it will need a near-perfect performance to slow down this Irish team the way they are playing right now.
Tip-off for the ACC clash is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in the Watsco Center. ACC Network will broadcast the game.
