The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are the underdogs as they prepare to open NCAA Tournament play this week, but they still would have preferred to see their opponent at full strength.
So when news broke Thursday that Notre Dame’s star point guard Olivia Miles would miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the Thunderbirds expressed only sympathies.
“I think it’s really sad,” said SUU guard Cherita Daughtery. “I hate seeing stuff like that. I wish it didn’t happen. I think it’s unfortunate for her and her team.”
Senior guard Tomekia Whitman echoed those sentiments.
“It’s very sad to see a player go down, especially the impact she’s had on their team,” she said.
Miles was a second-team Associated Press All-American who averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.1 steals for the Fighting Irish this season. She suffered an undisclosed knee injury in Notre Dame’s (25-5) regular-season finale and will undergo surgery next week.
“We’ve scouted them with her now, now we can scout them without her,” Whitman said. “It’s very unfortunate, but it doesn’t change your game plan or what we’re planning on doing.”
Even without Miles on the floor, the No. 3-seed Notre Dame (25-5) will be a tough test for the Thunderbirds.
“I think they’re a great team,” SUU coach Tracy Sanders said. “Whether she’s on the floor, not on the floor, we’re going to have our work cut out for us. We just have to be ready. I don’t think the game plan is going to change too much, but we just have to be ready. They obviously have a lot of great players, a lot of different weapons. We need to be prepared and focused.”
The 14-seeded Southern Utah made the tournament after winning the WAC championship last week — a victory that stamped a remarkable turnaround after a 4-7 start to the season.
“We went on the 19-2 run when we were beating some of the best teams in the WAC,” Whitman said. “We were having fun while we were doing it. These girls really stepped up, did their part. I’m really proud of them. I think that’s where it comes from.”
Friday’s game (a 1:30 p.m. MT tipoff on ESPN2) will be a home game for the Irish at Purcell Pavillion in South Bend, Ind.
“It’s a really special opportunity to be here,” Whitman said. “We can’t treat it any differently than any game we played. I think the minute we start acting like we’re playing a really great team, really great school outside of our conference, I think that’s making it a little stressed out and worried.
“I think our main thing right now is just take it first five minutes at a time. We are going to play a really great team, but we’re also a really great team. We made it this far. I think it will be a really great challenge. Just not worried too much about it.”
