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Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: 2021 has been kind to the Irish

By Brad Weiss

Jan 14, 2021; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame’s Destinee Walker (24) looks to pass during the Wake Forest at Notre Dame NCAA women's basketball game Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-USA TODAY NETWORK
Jan 14, 2021; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame’s Destinee Walker (24) looks to pass during the Wake Forest at Notre Dame NCAA women's basketball game Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-USA TODAY NETWORK /
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The Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team took a few weeks to get rolling this season, as new head coach Niele Ivey started to piece together what her rotations would look like. However, since their New Year’s Eve win over the University of Miami (FL), they have been one of the best teams in college basketball.

Thanks to a balanced approach, led by freshman star Maddy Westbeld, the Irish are getting contributions from different players every night, and on Thursday, it was guard Destinee Walker coming off the bench and dropping 16 points in 32 minutes of action to help the team beat Virginia Tech.

For the Irish, it was another step in the right direction, and as we inch closer to March, you have to believe that they should be able to punch their ticket back to the NCAA Tournament after missing it following a 13-18 record in Muffet McGraw’s last season at the helm.

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball has lost once since December 31

Since their win on New Year’s Eve against Miami, the Irish have lost only once, a 64-61 defeat on the road against Boston College. During these last six games, they have won five against ACC opponents, rocketing up the standings, where they currently hold a 6-3 conference record.

They have won three of those games by double-digits, and at 8-5 overall for the season, they look nothing like the team that was blown out by Clemson back on December 20, 2020, a 23-point loss to the Tigers.

Westbeld leads the team in scoring with a mark of 15.8 points per game, while Walker is No. 2 at 13.1. In total, four members of the Irish team are averaging double-digits in points, showing just how balanced this offense can be when it is playing at its best.

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Remember, this is a program that has an elite recruiting class coming in next season, so Ivey definitely has them moving in the right direction. For now, a top-25 ranking has to be on the horizon, and we will keep an eye on that as we move into next week.