NCAA Tournament: What to know, how to watch Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Stephen F. Austin

Tournament time has come again in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame hosts Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this afternoon. This is everything you need to know about the Fighting Irish’s matchup with the Ladyjacks.

Notre Dame women’s basketball vs. Stephen F. Austin game info

Teams: No. 3 seed Notre Dame (26-5) and No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin (29-5)

Head coaches: Niele Ivey (115-37, fifth year at Notre Dame); Leonard Bishop (51-17, second year at Stephen F. Austin)

All-time series: First meeting

Date: March 21, 2025

Location: Purcell Pavilion (South Bend, Ind.)

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Television: ESPN

TV broadcasters: Pam Ward and Stephanie White

Radio: 96.1 FM WSBT in South Bend

Radio broadcaster: Sean Stires and Karen Keyes

What to know about Notre Dame

• The Fighting Irish were No. 1 in the country for a brief moment in February before losing back-to-back games to NC State and Florida State. In total, Notre Dame has lost three of five entering the tournament.

• Notre Dame has a First Team All-American in Hannah Hidalgo, a Second Team All-American in Olivia Miles and an Honorable Mention All-American in Sonia Citron. They’re all guards. Guard play is unquestionably the heart and soul and strength of this Irish team. The Irish will run out an eight-player rotation with Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King, Liza Karlen, Cassandre Prosper and Kate Koval rounding out the group.

• The Irish have hosted tournament games in South Bend three years running now. In the two previous seasons, Notre Dame has comfortably made it out of the first weekend of the big dance. The Sweet 16, though, is the furthest a Niele Ivey-led Irish team has made it in the tournament. First things first — taking care of a pesky 14 seed in Stephen F. Austin.

What to know about Stephen F. Austin

• The Ladyjacks are winners of the Southland Conference. Only 15 teams in the country attempt more threes per game than them. They’ve played one power conference opponent this season, and they lost by 15 to Texas Tech. This is the third time in the last five seasons SFA has been in the NCAA Tournament, but the Ladyjacks have not won a tournament game since 2000.

• For more information on Stephen F. Austin, click here.

By the numbers

StatNotre DameStephen F. AustinScoring offense84.777.9Scoring margin22.616.3FG%48.746.13FG%39.536.03FG made/game7.49.4FT%77.273.0FT made/game12.514.9Rebounds43.139.9Rebound margin8.54.4Assists17.415.8Turnovers15.317.9Turnover margin3.20.0Assist/turnover ratio1.10.9Steals11.510.1Blocks5.43.2

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