Notre Dame star Olivia Miles leaves win over Louisville early with non-contact knee injury

Olivia Miles went down with what looked like a serious non-contact knee injury on Sunday afternoon.

The Notre Dame star left their 68-65 win over Louisville just before halftime on Sunday while diving for a loose ball under the basket at the KFC Yum Center in Kentucky. Miles’ right knee gave out as she went down to the floor, and she remained down for several minutes.

Miles eventually limped off the court on her own power, but did not return. She came back out to the bench in the third quarter with ice and a wrap on her right knee.

Miles finished the day with two points, three rebounds and two assists.

Despite the injury, and scoring just nine points in the second quarter, No. 10 Notre Dame rallied in the fourth to grab the three-point win over the Cardinals behind 27 points from Sonia Citron. That clinched the ACC regular season title for the Fighting Irish, their first since sharing it with Louisville in 2019.

While it’s unclear how severe Miles’ injury is, losing her at this point could make things extremely tough for Notre Dame in the postseason. Miles is averaging a team-high 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’ll take the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, which starts on Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. That will give Notre Dame a double-bye in the tournament, meaning it won’t play until Friday — which could give Miles the extra time she needs to recover if her knee injury isn't serious. If it is, 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 that stretch came to Notre Dame. The Cardinals finished in fifth in the ACC standings.