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

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 8–7 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.

## 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

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Maddy Westbeld F | Kettering, OH | Fairmont | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: 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 |
| Star ratings: 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 |
| Star ratings: 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 |
| Star ratings: 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 |
| Star ratings: 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:

## Schedule and results

Source:
| 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 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| January 14, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Pittsburgh | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | 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 | Canceled due to Duke suspending season | 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 | Canceled due to Virginia suspending season | Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN |
| February 15, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at No. 4 NC State | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC |
| February 18, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | Syracuse | Postponed due to COVID-19 | Postponed due to COVID-19 | 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
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | No Change |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |