NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL 1 SEMIFINAL - NOTRE DAME VS MARYLAND

March 24, 2023

Niele Ivey

Maddy Westbeld

Sonia Citron

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Sweet 16 Pregame Media Conference

NIELE IVEY: Well, super excited to be here in Greenville. Again, just coming off of an incredible high, being in the Sweet 16, and excited for this matchup on Saturday.

Just really proud of my team. I'm proud of where we are at this point. Obviously everyone knows the injuries we've battled and our adversity, things that we've overcome this season. Again, just excited to be dancing, and can't wait for this weekend.

Q. You just mentioned the injuries; what have you seen out of your team these last two games without Olivia that has allowed you guys to be able to get to this point?

NIELE IVEY: Yes, a lot of resilience and toughness. It's required everyone to step up. I'm starting a freshman. I have a 17-year-old early enrollee that is very impactful in what I'm trying to do. It's part of the growth that I'm super proud of, where we've come from, and also what everyone is doing.

When you lose two players, two starters, it requires everyone to do a lot more, and so I've asked them to do 10 percent more after Dara went down and then after Livy went down, another 10 percent. Everyone stepped up, and it's kind of become our identity, our resilience and toughness.

Q. I'm curious what you took from Olivia enrolling early and implemented into Cass, lessons, all of that.

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, Olivia gave me the blueprint of how to make the transition very easy and simple for Cass. Olivia was perfect, academically sharp and so is Cass, so that part was very easy. Cass graduated middle December, and for her to kind of come on campus and take on the academic load was incredible. And then athletically both of them were just -- it was an easy, easy transition.

Again, Olivia just -- it helped me going through what she needed for me to know what to do for Cass.

Q. What have you seen from the tape of Maryland so far that made them so good?

NIELE IVEY: Well, their offensive efficiency I think is probably the number one thing that I've noticed. They score at all levels. Their positionless basketball. They're playing with a ton of confidence and being led by Diamond Miller, averaging over 20 points in Big Ten play.

Again, they have incredible scorers. It's almost like they play four or five guards at a time, great percentage from three, and their chemistry is so great defensively and offensively. You can tell they run a lot of different sets. Every game is a new offense, and they're just playing high-level basketball. They do a great job of sharing the ball. They're very unselfish, and again, they can score at all levels.

I've been really impressed. Even when we played them in December, to see where they are now, you can tell they've really grown and matured over the season.

Q. I was going to ask about that December matchup. Is there anything you can take away from that game considering your team does look different right now?

NIELE IVEY: For sure. I felt like Diamond and Sellers did an incredible job, and obviously Diamond had 30 points that game, hit the buzzer beater. She was just unconscious the way that she scored. Coming away from that game, we really focused on being able to lock down defensively. But we also gave up 17 offensive rebounds.

Defensive rebounding was an area that we were lacking that game, so that's what I'm taking from, finding a way to score versus their defense, but doing a better job on the boards and defensively.

Q. Sort of going off that but bigger picture, both regional games tomorrow are rematches. Is there anything -- are rematches easier or -- obviously yours isn't traditional, but having that common tape regardless, is that helpful?

NIELE IVEY: It's very helpful, and again, we're a different team. I've added -- lost two starters, added an early enrollee, but it gives me an idea of what we did well and what we needed to work on and our weakness in that game. I love rematches.

Again, it helps to know my style of play versus Maryland. We have a feel for what they do. We have a feel for their personnel. Sometimes when you just watch film on teams you haven't played, it feels different when you're in person. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. I wanted to ask about diversity, too. It seems like in this Sweet 16 there are 12 female coaches. Four of the coaches are Black. Not that we're anywhere near where maybe it should be, but is it a good trend going forward that we're seeing this increased representation?

NIELE IVEY: Absolutely. I think it's amazing to have four Black coaches in the Sweet 16, like you said, 12 female coaches. It shows the growth of this game and the diversity. Again, you always want a lot more, but it's great to start somewhere, and I'm proud to be part of that four.

Hopefully obviously representation matters, but hopefully we can see more representation even moving forward.

Q. I know you guys just got here, but do you have any thoughts on the format this year with having double the amount of teams, considering you've played in a lot of different formats and coached in a lot of different formats?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, I think it's very unique. I'm excited to see the field. Again, just stepped in the arena, seeing all eight teams, really cool to see so many logos. I think it's great for women's basketball, just again, to see a different feel, to show a different format, how it works.

I'm happy to be a part of it. I just think it's going to be exciting.

For me, to be able to be around such incredible coaching, more coaches -- sometimes it's only four teams. But I always get good energy from being around more excellent coaches, so I think that's part of it that I'm excited for as a coach, just to be a part of such greatness that's around.

Q. You talk about the rematches and how you like them. When you put your schedule together, what does playing a team like Maryland do in November and December for now, and do you ever think when you leave the floor, hey, we may see them again?

NIELE IVEY: Yeah, well, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge gives you an opportunity to play some high-level leagues and conferences. I'm always trying to make sure my non-conference schedule prepares me for the tournament. That's always the goal.

I felt like we did a great job of that, and again, seeing -- being able to see Maryland, I do feel like this is potentially somebody we might see later. So it's really great to be able to match up against a lot of top-10 teams.

We played UConn early, and I think it can only prepare you. But in the ACC we have eight teams in the tournament, so every moment, every game we're playing ACC is a potential NCAA matchup. I think it's awesome.

Q. We talked a little bit about Olivia, but I'm curious how she's handled the last couple of weeks knowing that her season ended, what kind of role she's had now with the team.

NIELE IVEY: Yes, the first couple weeks were really hard. They were really challenging, I'm going to be honest. She struggled with it. It's her first major injury. Being away from the team, not being able to be a part of this physically has been really challenging for her mentally.

I feel like the last week, last week and a half, we've poured into her. I've tried to pour into her. I've been in her shoes. I've been shut down twice with an ACL and had to watch from the sideline. I've tried to be really intentional about making sure she's engaged.

I'm texting her almost every day, making sure in practice I'm talking to her about what did she see in practice, what did she see in the game. And on the bench she's like my point guard after I -- she is my point guard. But after I tell the team my thoughts, my message, I'm like, make sure you go talk to Soni.

So she still has that voice. She still has that impact on the side because she sees the game so well. Our team trusts her so much that she still is a valuable voice for me in the games, in the locker room and in practice.

Q. When you had Olivia, obviously the team's identity kind of revolved around her, everything that she did, and then play making for teammates, as well. In the four games and now going on five that you haven't had her, what would you say this team's identity is, and how hard has it been to try to find one in March?

NIELE IVEY: I think right after she went down versus Louisville the second half, we went in at halftime and we were down nine, and we found a way to win that game, and we fought back. Ever since that half -- Soni ended up with I think 27 points, ran the point, played the entire 20 minutes in the second half, and we just found our toughness. We found our resilience.

We just felt like everyone had to step up, and we just needed everyone to do something to help us, and everyone found that something to do. If that was defense, that was rebounding, Ebo had 18 rebounds the last game, somebody stepped up in every game. KK ran the point for me.

I felt like after Olivia went down, our toughness was what we identified.

Once we found that, the team found that, they've kind of really put that on their shoulders, like okay, this is who we are. Because you have to figure out -- it took a while to figure out who were we going to be now without Olivia, and that was something that we had to figure out in practice. I put them in a lot of really tough situations and scenarios to try to really force them to figure out who they were.

And it's something that we're still growing and learning, but I definitely feel like the resilient and tough mindset is who we are at this point.

Q. Yesterday Kim made a remark about a general thing about there's nothing worse than when a college player takes off the uniform for the last time, although she did not differentiate -- I believe in her case it was a championship. But do you kind of remember as a senior your last game?

NIELE IVEY: Oh, absolutely. I was just fortunate that I had a redshirt year to come back my senior year, redshirt year in my hometown of St. Louis. So having the opportunity to even play in my last game and to win is just icing on the cake.

Again, even with Dara, I feel like I go back to Dara, she didn't know versus Florida State that was going to be her last game. So it just reminds me of how blessed and fortunate I was to have the opportunity to play my last game and to win. It was the best moment of my life and my career to win a National Championship in my hometown in my last game.

Q. Is Olivia here with you guys this week, or does her rehab preclude her from traveling?

NIELE IVEY: No, she's with us. She's a big part of what -- I want her to experience this, but also I need her energy. I need her leadership. We're not here if we didn't have Olivia Miles or Dara, so I wanted to make sure she was part of this.

Q. For either of y'all, obviously the roster looks a little different, but do you guys like rematches? You've seen them live; does that help?

SONIA CITRON: Yeah, it definitely helps. I think we know Maryland pretty well just by having played them before. So we know what to look for. We know what to expect. Yeah, I think it definitely helps.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, I think just knowing the matchup and knowing personnel is really going to help us tomorrow. But yeah, match-ups are good. We look different, they look different, so it'll be a new game, a different game. But yeah, we have a good idea of what to expect.

Q. For both of you, how have you been able to recover from the injuries, especially losing Olivia, who was such a big part of your team?

SONIA CITRON: I would say that everyone is just required to do a little bit more, and I think that we all have done that. We've been practicing so hard, and every single person on this team means so much because we don't have a big team.

I think everyone is just rising up and just doing a little bit more. So collectively I think we're good, and we've been working hard for this.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, I think practices the past couple weeks have been very detailed in that every person brings something different to the table. And so going forward, just knowing that we have something different to attack from each spot and just taking advantage of that. Like she said, everybody has to step up a little more.

Q. Maddy, can you talk specifically about defense against Miller? Your coach mentioned how difficult a matchup she is, both for the post players and for the guards because she can do so much. Can you talk about going against her having faced her already this season?

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, she's a great player. I think we're excited this time around because we are as a team a lot better defensively. Knowing personnel and having played against them one time this season, I think we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from them and from her specifically.

There's a couple different things we have, but I think we should be good tomorrow, and we'll be playing hard.

Q. Maddy, sisters is kind of a theme at Notre Dame, and obviously your older sister was very successful. What did she pass on to you about playing college ball that helped when you got your shot to do it?

MADDY WESTBELD: I would say the biggest thing was humility and playing at such a high level like this and respecting everybody that you play. And just knowing that this is not normal. Like being at this level and making it to a Sweet 16, it's not easy. Although it looked easy from the stands as a little girl, being here now, I have a much bigger appreciation for it.

Yeah, just being grateful for it. That humility aspect is something that I really try not to take for granted, that this doesn't happen to anybody.

Q. For both of you guys, Niele was just in here and I asked her what the identity of this team is without Olivia because she was so much of what drove everything for you guys when you had her, and she just said, "toughness."

My question is how difficult is it to turn that toughness up when you guys had to? And you've won some games with toughness, the Louisville game when Liv went out, NC State in the ACC Tournament, and obviously what you just did against Mississippi State. How hard is it to turn that toughness up?

SONIA CITRON: I mean, I think I would say it's really not too hard because the love that we have for this game and for each other just really fuels how we play. So every game we're expected to play 100 percent for 40 minutes, and I think that that's what every single person on our team is going to do regardless of what's happening in the game.

Like that is something that is demanded of us from Coach Ivey, from everyone, so let's say we're not shooting well or it's not going our way, you can count on us playing with everything we have.

I think that's just the nature of our team, so I wouldn't say it's too hard to do, per se.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, I agree. It's definitely tougher without Liv and without Dara, but like she said, the toughness aspect and playing hard makes it really easy when you have something much bigger to play for. Yeah, that's what we'll be doing.

Q. If both of you could answer this, you're used to saying, hey, the answer is we have to do more, but emotionally you've seen two of your teammates go through something really hard. How do you guys sort of balance that emotion in terms of the friendships you have and helping them and how do you balance that with having to go out and do your jobs?

MADDY WESTBELD: I think seeing them every day. They also are going through something that they've never had to go through before, and just meeting with them and spending quality time with them and actually seeing how they're doing. Because they have a lot of people reaching out, and sometimes that can be overwhelming.

Just being whatever they need at that moment, while also trying to prepare for them and for the success of this team. But just congratulating them on every little accomplishment that they have every day can go a long way. So I think just being there emotionally for them is really important for them and it's really important for us.

SONIA CITRON: Yeah, I would say the same thing. They're traveling with us. They're here doing everything just like us. So kind of seeing them, it's really hard, but at the same time it kind of reminds us how grateful we should be to play this game and to have them here. And like Maddy said, just as much as they're here for us, we have to be there for them.