A marquee matchup in South Bend versus USC and superstar JuJu Watkins and a trip to defending national champion UConn highlight the Notre Dame women’s basketball schedule for the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule, which was released Tuesday afternoon, sees coach Niele Ivey’s team also play seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2025.
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The Irish open the season with a home exhibition game versus Purdue Northwest Oct. 30. The regular season opener is at Purcell Pavilion Nov. 5 versus first time foe Fairleigh Dickinson. The Irish play their first three games in South Bend.
The USC game, a rematch of a game won by the Irish 74-61 at USC last year, is on Friday, Nov. 21. That game will be played prior to the Notre Dame football team hosting Syracuse on Nov. 22.
The Irish will play at UConn on Jan. 19. Notre Dame has won the last three meetings versus the Huskies. Notre Dame will also host ACC foe North Carolina State on Feb. 15. The then-ranked No. 1 Irish lost at North Carolina State in double overtime last season.
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Notre Dame finished 28-6 a season ago and shared the ACC regular-season title. The team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year, losing to TCU, 71-62. The Irish beat eight Top 25 teams last season, including No. 2 UConn, No. 3 USC and No. 4 Texas.
The Irish will have a vastly different look to its roster in 2025-26. Of the 12 players listed on the final roster from a year ago, only four played last season in Hannah Hidalgo, Cass Prosper, Luci Jensen and Bella Tehrani. Gone are starters Olivia Miles (15.4 ppg.), Sonia Citron (14.1), Liatu King (11.5) and Maddy Westbeld (7.6). Guard Miles, who sat out the 2023-24 season due to a knee injury, transferred to TCU after earning second team All-American honors in 2025. Citron plays for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA after being drafted third overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Westbeld plays for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA.
Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo (3) receives a pass during the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament between Notre Dame and Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, March 23, 2025, in South Bend.
Hidalgo will be the featured attraction again in 2025-26. The 5-6 junior guard averaged a program record 23.8 ppg. a season ago. She earned All-American honors and was the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
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Prosper made four starts a season ago, averaging 5.8 ppg. She was one of two players to play in all 34 games. Jensen played in 10 games and Tehrani in eight. KK Bransford also returns after being redshirted last season due to an injury. The 11-player roster includes six transfers or freshmen.
Ivey, who won a national title as a player at Notre Dame in 2001, enters her sixth season with an overall mark of 117-38, including 65-22 in ACC play. The St. Louis native was the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year.
ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
All times TBA
Oct. 30: Purdue Northwest (exhibition)
Nov. 5: Fairleigh Dickinson
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Nov. 9: Chicago State
Nov. 12: Akron
Nov. 21: USC
Nov. 24: Central Michigan
Dec. 4: at Ole Miss (ACC/SEC Challenge)
Dec. 7: at Florida State
Dec. 11: Morehead State
Dec. 14: at James Madison
Dec. 21: Bellarmine
Dec. 29: Pittsburgh
Jan. 1: at Georgia Tech
Jan. 4: at Duke
Jan. 8: Boston College
Jan. 11: North Carolina
Jan. 15: Louisville
Jan. 19: at UConn
Jan. 22: Miami
Jan. 25: Clemson
Jan. 29: at California
Feb. 1: at Stanford
Feb. 5: Virgina Tech
Feb. 8: at Virginia
Feb. 15: North Carolina State
Feb. 19: at Wake Forest
Feb. 22: at SMU
Feb. 26: Syracuse
March 1: at Louisville
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame women’s basketball opens regular season at home on Nov. 5
