Notre Dame women's basketball in Elite 8 thanks to core quartet

FORT WORTH, Texas – Sometimes, the power of friendship is real. Notre Dame women’s basketball’s roster is full of five-star recruits, yes, but the 2025-26 Irish were by no means expected to be the team that broke the streak of four straight Sweet Sixteen losses. Not if last year’s squad that featured Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron and others couldn’t.

Quite frankly, the 2025-26 Notre Dame squad has done more than just surpass its middling expectations. Making their first Elite Eight since 2019, the 6-seed Irish have proved that what might matter most in March Madness is team chemistry. At least, that’s what is most important to them .

“Those girls are my sisters; we have such an undeniable bond,” senior KK Bransford said. “Knowing how sad we were last year — lots of tears, lots of very disappointed faces — to see this with smiles on our faces is amazing. ” More: Notre Dame women's basketball advances to Elite 8 with win vs Vanderbilt Bransford is one of just three scholarship players who returned to Notre Dame after last season.

Joining her was fellow senior Cassandre Prosper and junior Hannah Hidalgo. The three were quickly branded by sixth-year head coach Niele Ivey as the Irish’s “core. ” Hidalgo, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player and Defensive Player of the Year, has been one of the NCAA’s best players this season, making history as the first player of the last quarter-century to average 25-plus points, five-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus steals per game.