2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

2020–21 ACC women's basketball standings
	Duke suspended their season on December 25, 2020; Virginia suspended their season on January 14, 2021
	† 2021 ACC Tournament winner ; As of March 30, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
2020–21 record	10–10 (8–7 ACC)
Head coach	Niele Ivey (1st season);
Associate head coach	Carol Owens (21st season)
Assistant coaches	Coquese Washington (1st season); Michaela Mabrey (2nd season);
Home arena	Purcell Pavilion
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fighting Irish were led by first year head coach Niele Ivey and played their home games at Purcell Pavilion as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Fighting Irish finished the season 10–10 and 8–17 in ACC play to finish in sixth place. In the ACC tournament, they lost to Clemson in the Second Round. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.

Previous season[]

The Fighting Irish finished the 2019–20 season at 13–18 and 8–10 in ACC play to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the tenth seed in the ACC tournament, they lost to Pittsburgh in the First Round. The NCAA Tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.^[1]

Offseason[]

Departures[]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Kristin Baer	1	F	6'2"	Graduate Student	San Jose, CA	Graduated
Kaitlin Cole	2	G	5'10"	Senior	Toledo, OH	Graduated
Margaret Murdock	3	G	5'8"	Sophomore	Glencoe, IL	—
Catherine Murdock	5	G	5'8"	Sophomore	Glencoe, IL	—
Marta Sniezek	13	G	5'8"	Graduate Student	McLean, VA	Graduated
Kathleen Keyes	40	F	5'11"	Freshman	Ridgewood, NJ	—

Incoming transfers[]

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Dara Mabrey	1	G	5'7"	Junior	Belmar, NJ	Virginia Tech

2020 recruiting class[]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight
Madeline Westbeld F	Kettering, OH	Fairmont	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Madeline Westbeld F	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98
Allison Campbell PG	Altoona, PA	Bellwood-Antis	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A
Allison Campbell PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97
Natalija Marshall F	Queens, NY	Christ the King	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	N/A
Natalija Marshall F	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97
Alasia Hayes PG	Murfreesboro, TN	Riverdale	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	N/A
Alasia Hayes PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Amirah Abdur-Rahim F	Marietta, GA	St. Francis	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Amirah Abdur-Rahim F	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Source:^[2]

Roster[]

2020–21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	1	Dara Mabrey	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Manasquan Virginia Tech	Belmar, NJ
F	3	Amirah Abdur-Rahim	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	St. Francis	Marietta, GA
G	5	Alasia Hayes	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	Riverdale	Murfreesboro, TN
G	10	Katlyn Gilbert	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Heritage Christian	Indianapolis, IN
G	12	Abby Prohaska	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	Lakota West	Liberty Township, OH
F	15	Natalija Marshall	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Fr	Christ the King	Queens, NY
G	20	Nicole Benz	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	William S. Hart	Santa Clarita, CA
G	21	Anaya Peoples	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	Schlarman Academy	Danville, IL
F	22	Danielle Cosgrove	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr	Sachem East	Holbrook, NY
G	23	Alli Campbell	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Bellwood-Antis	Altoona, PA
G	24	Destinee Walker	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	GS	Lake Highland Prep North Carolina	Orlando, FL
C	30	Mikayla Vaughn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr	Paul VI Catholic	Philadelphia, PA
F	33	Sam Brunelle	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	William Monroe High School	Ruckersville, VA
F	34	Maddy Westbeld	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Fairmont	Kettering, OH

Head coach

Niele Ivey (Notre Dame)

Assistant coach(es)

Carol Owens (Northern Illinois)
Coquese Washington (Notre Dame)
Michaela Mabrey (Notre Dame)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 4, 2020

Schedule and results[]

Source:^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference Regular season
November 27, 2020* Noon, ESPN+	No. 22	at Ohio	L 85–86	0–1	Convocation Center (0) Athens, OH
November 29, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 22	Miami (OH)	W 88–68	1–1	Purcell Pavilion (79) Notre Dame, IN
December 3, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ACCN		No. 24 Michigan ACC–Big Ten Women's Challenge	L 66–76	1–2	Purcell Pavilion (122) Notre Dame, IN
December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX		IUPUI	W 65–58	2–2	Purcell Pavilion (523) Notre Dame, IN
ACC Regular season
December 13, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCNX		Georgia Tech	L 67–82	2–3 (0–1)	Purcell Pavilion (93) Notre Dame, IN
December 17, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN		Virginia Tech	W 84–78	3–3 (1–1)	Purcell Pavilion (64) Notre Dame, IN
December 20, 2020 3:00 p.m., RSN		at Clemson	L 55–78	3–4 (1–2)	Littlejohn Coliseum (425) Clemson, SC
December 31, 2020 3:00 p.m., ACCN		at Miami (FL)	W 71–60	4–4 (2–2)	Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL
January 3, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		Georgia Tech	W 69–67	5–4 (3–2)	Purcell Pavilion (53) Notre Dame, IN
January 7, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN		at Boston College	L 61–64	5–5 (3–3)	Conte Forum (0) Chestnut Hill, MA
January 10, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		at No. 24 Syracuse	Postponed due to COVID-19^[4]		Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
January 14, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX		Pittsburgh	Postponed due to COVID-19^[4]		Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN
January 14, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		Wake Forest	W 79–72	6–5 (4–3)	Purcell Pavilion (50) Notre Dame, IN
January 17, 2021 Noon, ACCN		Boston College	W 83–73	7–5 (5–3)	Purcell Pavilion (110) Notre Dame, IN
January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN		at Virginia Tech	W 65–60	8–5 (6–3)	Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA
January 24, 2021 Noon, ESPNU		at North Carolina	L 73–78	8–6 (6–4)	Carmichael Arena (0) Chapel Hill, NC
January 31, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		Duke	Canceled due to Duke suspending season^[5]		Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN
January 31, 2021 11:00 a.m., ACCN		at Syracuse	L 69–81	8–7 (6–5)	Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY
February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN		at No. 1 Louisville	L 65–71	8–8 (6–6)	KFC Yum! Center (2,912) Louisville, KY
February 11, 2021 7:00 p.m., RSN		Virginia	Canceled due to Virginia suspending season^[6]		Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN
February 15, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2		at No. 4 NC State	Postponed due to COVID-19^[7]		Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
February 18, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN		Syracuse	Postponed due to COVID-19^[8]		Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN
February 22, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN		at Pittsburgh	W 59–48	9–8 (7–6)	Peterson Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 25, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX		Florida State	W 72–64	10–8 (8–6)	Purcell Pavilion (114) Notre Dame, IN
February 28, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 6 Louisville	L 61–78	10–9 (8–7)	Purcell Pavilion (126) Notre Dame, IN
ACC Women's Tournament
March 4, 2021 8:30 p.m., RSN	(6)	vs. (11) Clemson Second Round	L 63–68	10–10	Greensboro, NC (451) Greensboro Coliseum
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Rankings[]

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll	Pre- Season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Final
AP	22	RV	RV
Coaches	23	RV

**Legend**
		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		No Change
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked

References[]

^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships".
^ "2020 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits – Notre Dame – ESPN". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ "2020–21 Women's Basketball schedule". und.com. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
^ "Duke Blue Devils end women's basketball season amid coronavirus concerns". espn.com. ESPN. December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
^ Voepel, Mechelle (January 14, 2021). "Virginia women's basketball team cancels rest of season due to coronavirus issues". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
^ "ACC Announces Women's Basketball Postponements". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
^ "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.

[1] "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships".

[2] "2020 High School Girls' Basketball Recruits – Notre Dame – ESPN". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[3] "2020–21 Women's Basketball schedule". und.com. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved December 4, 2020.

[acc-4] "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.

[5] "Duke Blue Devils end women's basketball season amid coronavirus concerns". espn.com. ESPN. December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.

[6] Voepel, Mechelle (January 14, 2021). "Virginia women's basketball team cancels rest of season due to coronavirus issues". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved January 19, 2021.

[7] "ACC Announces Women's Basketball Postponements". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.

[8] "ACC Women's Basketball Announces Schedule Changes". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.

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v t Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball
Venues	Joyce Center (1977–present)
Rivalries	UConn
Culture & lore	Notre Dame Leprechaun Bird at the Buzzer
People
	2009–10 2010–11 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

2020–21 ACC women's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Louisville	14	–	2	.875	26	–	4	.867
No. 3 NC State†	12	–	2	.857	22	–	3	.880
Georgia Tech	12	–	6	.667	17	–	9	.654
Syracuse	9	–	7	.563	15	–	9	.625
Florida State	9	–	7	.563	10	–	9	.526
Notre Dame	8	–	7	.533	10	–	10	.500
Virginia Tech	8	–	8	.500	15	–	10	.600
North Carolina	8	–	9	.471	13	–	11	.542
Miami (FL)	8	–	10	.444	11	–	11	.500
Wake Forest	8	–	10	.444	12	–	13	.480
Clemson	5	–	12	.294	12	–	14	.462
Pittsburgh	3	–	12	.200	5	–	14	.263
Boston College	2	–	11	.154	7	–	12	.368
Duke	0	–	1	.000	3	–	1	.750
Virginia	0	–	2	.000	0	–	5	.000
Duke suspended their season on December 25, 2020 Virginia suspended their season on January 14, 2021

† 2021 ACC Tournament winner As of March 30, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll