Irish star Olivia Miles out rest of season with knee injury

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles will miss the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury to her right knee.

The Fighting Irish (25-5) are a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host No. 14 Southern Utah (23-9) on Friday.

Miles suffered the injury in a 68-65 win over Louisville in the regular-season finale and sat out the ACC Tournament. She will undergo surgery next week.

The second-team Associated Press All-American led Notre Dame to the ACC regular season title. She averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals.

“The current timetable for her return is that we hope that she will be back for the summer in order to participate for the workouts,” coach Niele Ivey said. “My focus now is on this team, excited for this opportunity to play here back in South Bend, a team that has overcome a lot of adversity.”

Notre Dame also lost starting guard Dara Mabrey to a right knee injury against Virginia on Jan. 22. She was the team’s leading 3-point shooter at the time and secondary ball handler.

“We have two injured players and two injured starters that would die to be on the court, so you’re playing for a lot more than yourself,” Ivey said. “This team is a very close unit team. They play for each other, they have great chemistry and they’re an incredible group to work with.”

Ivey will employ a “point guard by committee” with guards Sonia Citron, KK Bransford and Jenna Brown. Citron leads Notre Dame with 14.7 points, along with 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

“Her confidence is high,” Ivey said. “It’s something that we’ve adjusted to the last couple of weeks. If you see the Louisville game, after Olivia went down, Sonia took over that role.”

Notre Dame is hosting first and second-round NCAA games this weekend.