For 24 consecutive years, Notre Dame reached the NCAA tournament. Until it didn’t.

At 13-18 and 8-10 in ACC play, there was little chance of the Fighting Irish making the 2020 NCAA tournament. Only then there was no NCAA tournament.

Instead, Hall of Fame head coach Muffett McGraw’s 33-year career ended with a 67-65 loss to Pitt in the first round of the conference tournament. And the streak lived on.

When McGraw announced her retirement, it came as a surprise to nearly everyone, including the woman who has been tapped as the successor, Niele Ivey. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick was one of the only people who knew of McGraw’s decision ahead of time, and had a written agreement that the reigns would be passed off to Ivey.

Ivey, who was there for the first national championship in program history as a player and for the second as an assistant coach, has spent a total of 17 years at Notre Dame. This past season, she coached for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, a job she held when she received the shocking news that McGraw was calling it a career. After checking on her mentor, it was a quick process for Ivey to accept one of the most high profile coaching jobs in the sport.

Replacing Muffet McGraw is no easy task, one that was only made harder by the pandemic. Four months after her hiring, Ivey still had items in storage. After guidelines cost the team more than eight weeks together over the summer, Ivey and her players only initially met up in person on Aug. 1.

Usually, a coach would have all summer to install a new system, acclimate, and begin a new dynasty. Instead, Ivey, like everyone else, has had to make it up as she goes during an offseason dominated by Zoom meetings.

Notre Dame has never reached a Final Four without Ivey. Now, the team is hoping their new head coach will spark a tenth. But what do their prospects look like following 2019’s letdown?

During her time on the coaching staff, Ivey was often leading the charge on recruiting. She was instrumental in the recruitment of Skylar Diggins-Smith, and later Jewell Loyd and Arike Ogunbowale.

Ivey, like McGraw, is a former point guard. At the time of the hiring, Diggins-Smith posted this clip of her coach in action in the Final Four.

This was final four in Denver 2012.
I was playing soft and @irishcoachivey was NOT happy! She came on the floor and in my grill to speak her mind! ????????
This is great coaching! Half the kids nowadays couldn’t handle this, but I needed to hear it ???????????? pic.twitter.com/hSYvdOcAbE

— Skylar Diggins-Smith (@SkyDigg4) March 29, 2020

Now, Ivey can reap the benefits of her own recruiting as she inherits a stacked team. The freshman class was ranked third in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz behind UConn and Oregon. After a number of small classes, Notre Dame signed five players to its roster, including four five stars. Madeline Westbeld, Allison Campbell, Natalija Marshall, Alasia Hayes and Amirah Abdur-Rahim should all be able to make an immediate impact.

The 2019 class was ranked 11th despite there being just two members: Sam Brunelle and Anaya Peoples. The two five stars started the season opener, becoming the first pair to do so for Notre Dame since Teresa Borton and Jacqueline Batteast in the 2001-02 opener.

Peoples played in 17 games before a shoulder injury cut her season short, still finishing with a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game and 12.6 points per game, which would have been the best among ACC freshmen if not for Brunelle. The forward averaged 13.9 points per game and will continue to be a factor in 2020-21.

Katlyn Gilbert made more field goals than anyone on the team last year. While fellow foreigner five star Jordan Nixon transferred to Texas A&M, Danielle Cosgrove caught fire from behind the arc to shoot 8-for-20 over the last nine games, and Abby Prohaska will be returning from a medical redshirt.

Last year, Mikayla Vaughn was the only player with significant on court experience returning from the 2019 national championship appearance, but missed 11 games with a sprain in her right knee, after tearing the ACL in her left knee as a freshman. In 20 games, all starts, Vaughn shot a team-high 58.4% from the field with 10.6 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Granted a sixth year, returning leading scorer will be back for her second year with the team after coming over from North Carolina. Dara Mabrey, who transferred from Virginia Tech, will not be eligible for the 2020-21 season, but will look to add her 3-point shooting and follow in her sisters’ footsteps in finding success in a Notre Dame uniform.

Ivey’s legacy as a fantastic recruiter is already showing up. Olivia Miles, the second highest rated player in 2021, and Sonia Citron, also in the top 20, verbally committed within the first week of Ivey’s tenure.

Notre Dame can also expect Ivey, like McGraw and so many others throughout the women’s game, to continue to be a champion for issues off the court.

“What sets Niele apart is her ability to connect with all generations — alums, her current team and future student-athletes,” McGraw said. “She will be a fantastic role model and a leader in the women’s empowerment movement, and she will represent Notre Dame in a way that will make our fans proud.”

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

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Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.