ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2023

Niele Ivey

Maddy Westbeld

Sonia Citron

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Postgame Press Conference

Louisville 64, Notre Dame 38

NIELE IVEY: It was a rough game today. Felt like the pressure really bothered us. Hats off to Louisville. I felt like they came out really locked in, shot the ball really well, had a really great game.

We will learn from this. We've got struck with a lot of adversity, but no matter what, there are lessons to learn from moments like this and losses like this. So we'll get back to the drawing board, get better, learn from it, and move forward.

Q. Coach, obviously it's tough to beat a team twice, let alone three times without a player like Olivia Miles. What was it today that kind of was different about Louisville in the third matchup?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, I thought that they set the tone from the beginning. They went after us, we got into some foul trouble, and they pressured us for 40 minutes.

We turned the ball over 22 times, didn't get a chance to really get a flow offensively, so I would say I thought their defense was locked in. I thought they shot the ball really well.

Q. Early on, Louisville just applied so much defensive pressure to you specifically, Sonia. How did that really affect your offensive rhythm, and how did you try to get it back?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, we do a lot of different pressure releases. I thought Sonia did a really good job. She's handling a completely different position. She's getting double-teamed. She's getting their best defenders denying for 40 minutes, so trying to get some pressure releases. Maddy and KK did a good job of helping us get into the offense, so we had a lot of backup plans to that.

But I thought they did a good job pressuring us for 40 minutes, everyone pretty much.

Q. Coach, do you have any idea if Olivia will be ready for the NCAA Tournament? Where does that stand, and if not, what do you got to do to win without her?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, we're day-to-day, so we won't know anything until we get back to South Bend. And that just requires everybody to step up like we did the game and a half, requiring pretty much everybody. We need everybody to step up and do a little bit more, handle the offense, handle the ball, getting some more decision making positions. Again, we've showed that we can do it, so we just have to do it a little bit more consistently.

Q. I know days feel like years right now, but just a few days ago you were named Coach of the Year as the first Black woman to win Coach of the year. And you particularly shouted out Charlene Curtis, and she passed away before the season and means a lot to folks around here. I wonder if you'd speak to her legacy and what she's meant.

NIELE IVEY: Absolutely. It's an honor to have an award like this and to recognize all the people that have paved the way, and Charlene was the one that paved the way for me. I know I'm the first African-American head coach at Notre Dame and her being the first in the ACC at Wake Forest, if she didn't pave the way, I might not have this opportunity. I'm always humbled and honored, and she was an amazing woman, somebody that I met multiple times, and I wish she was here to see it.

But again, I'm just grateful to be able to carry her legacy and grateful for all the strong women and all the other coaches that have gone before me because it's an incredible honor.

Q. Sonia, with the foul trouble that your bigs were in early on in the game, how tough did that make you from the guard play, from the guard position against Van Lith and Robinson?

SONIA CITRON: Yeah, it was definitely difficult making that adjustment just because we are already just not -- like we don't have a big team. We rely on our bigs a lot, and we have a great big presence, so we definitely try to look to pass it in. That foul trouble did -- it was tough for sure, yeah, just adjusting to that.

Q. Maddy, I just want to ask you, you've already played Louisville twice this season. Playing against them now, what did you see from them on the court today that was different from the first two times you played them?

MADDY WESTBELD: I mean, they definitely came ready to play for 40 minutes, especially defensively. They came out, obviously denied Sonia and were double-teaming, put all their best defenders on her and just really strategically knew personnel really well.

I mean, hats off to them. They played a great game. But yeah, I would just say they were very strategic about the way they came out and played.

Q. Hopefully Olivia is available for the tournament, but if she is not, what would you say -- I want the players to address the selection committee. Because you put together an incredible body of work and they're supposed to consider available personnel, but what would you say given your team's body of work this season?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, I would tell them to look at the end of the Louisville game and the last game versus NC State. That shows who we are. We've had to adjust without having Liv but the body of work, like you mentioned, but also our last two performances not counting today as far as what we're capable of. I have an incredibly talented group. We've got great size, great athleticism. We have great scorers. We definitely have enough as far as the tournament selection.

But I have great players on this team, and when you have adversity, it allows other people to have an opportunity to step up. And we've done that all season, even without Dara.