Olivia Miles suffered what looked like a serious non-contact knee injury on Sunday afternoon.
The Notre Dame star let up a 68-65 victory over Louisville just before halftime on Sunday by diving for a stray ball under the basket at the KFC Yum Center in Kentucky. Miles’ right knee gave way as she descended to the floor, and she remained lying down for several minutes.
Miles eventually limped off the field on her own, but did not return. She returned to the bench in the third quarter with ice and a right knee wrap.
Miles finished the day with two points, three rebounds and two assists.
Despite the injury and scoring just nine points in the second quarter, the No. 10 Notre Dame rallied in the fourth to earn the three-point victory over the Cardinal behind 27 points from Sonia Citron. It clinched the ACC regular season title for the Fighting Irish, their first since sharing it with Louisville in 2019.
While the severity of Miles’ injury is unclear, losing her at this point could make things extremely difficult for Notre Dame in the playoffs. Miles is averaging 14.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and seven assists per game this season, and has 10 double-doubles on the year.
The Fighting Irish ended their regular season on a six-game winning streak. They will take the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. That will give Notre Dame a double bye in the tournament, meaning she won’t play until Friday, which could give Miles the extra time she needs to recover if her knee injury isn’t serious. If so, however, Miles’ status for the rest of the year could be in doubt.
Louisville ended its season having won six of its last eight games. The only two losses in this streak came at Notre Dame. The Cardinal finished fifth in the ACC standings going into next week.