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2022 Shamrock Classic: Notre Dame and Cal head to St. Louis, make women’s basketball history

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey speaks with Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) during the sweet sixteen of the Women's Div I NCAA Basketball Championship.

BRIDGEPORT, CT - MARCH 26: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Niele Ivey speaks with Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) during the sweet sixteen of the Women’s Div I NCAA Basketball Championship between NC State Wolfpack and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on March 26, 2022, at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The inaugural Citi Shamrock Classic, featuring the University of Notre Dame and Cal Golden Bears’ women’s basketball teams, tips off this Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri. The game – which airs live on NBC and Peacock at 4 p.m. ET – marks the first live broadcast of a women’s college hoops game on NBC.

The Fighting Irish, who advanced to the 2022 Sweet Sixteen last season under third-year head coach Niele Ivey, arrive in St. Louis ranked No. 9, having won their season opener Monday vs. Northern Illinois (88-48). The Golden Bears, led by head coach Charmin Smith, also come in off a season-opening win vs. CSU Northridge (86-56).


How to watch the 2022 Citi Shamrock Classic

The 2022 Citi Shamrock Classic, featuring the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. the Cal Golden Bears, airs live from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis this Saturday, Nov. 12. You can watch the game on NBC or Peacock beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

RELATED: Notre Dame’s Nat Marshall talks Shamrock Classic, gender inequity in basketball and more


Who’s playing in the 2022 Citi Shamrock Classic

Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team posted a 24-9 season in 2021-22, advancing in the NCAA postseason to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to North Carolina State. Starting the season ranked No. 9, the Irish return four of last season’s top-five scorers, including leader Olivia Miles (13.7 points), Sonia Citron (11.8), Maddy Westbeld (11.8) and three-point specialist Dara Mabrey (10.3), who boasted a 36.9-percent shooting average from behind the arc.

Cal is coming off an 11-13 season and aiming to rebound under veteran leadership from fourth-year head coach Charmin Smith, who has been with the Golden Bears’ program since 2007. Sophomore guard Jayda Curry, who earned 2021-22 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, returns after averaging 18.6 points per game last year. The Bears also return starters Evelien Lutje Schipholt and Leilani McIntosh, while adding Utah transfer and two-time All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention honoree Kemery Martin in the offseason.

The Shamrock Classic will mark the third all-time meeting between Notre Dame and Cal, with both previous matchups taking place in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish defeated the Bears in the first round of the 2007 tournament and again in 2012 in the second round.


Shamrock Classic marks full-circle moment for Notre Dame, Cal coaches

The Shamrock Classic marks a homecoming of sorts for both head coaches, who each grew up in St. Louis. Cal’s Charmin Smith played for local Ladue Horton Watkins High School before heading to Stanford, where she appeared in three consecutive Final Fours with the Cardinal.

As a junior player in St. Louis, Niele Ivey led Cor Jesu Academy to its first Missouri state title in 1995. She went on to play for Notre Dame and was a member of the Fighting Irish’s 2001 NCAA national championship team – which captured the title in none other than St. Louis.


Rosters

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

NUMBER NAME POSITION HEIGHT CLASS
0 Jenna Brown Guard 5-10 Graduate
1 Dara Mabrey Guard 5-7 Graduate
2 Trinity Cha Guard 5-5 Junior
5 Olivia Miles Guard 5-10 Sophomore
11 Sonia Citron Guard 6-1 Sophomore
14 KK Bransford Guard 5-11 Freshman
15 Natalija Marshall Forward 6-5 Junior
20 Lauren Zwetzig Guard 5-9 Junior
21 Maddy Westbeld Forward 6-3 Junior
22 Kylee Watson Forward Forward 6-4 Junior
25 Sarah Cernugel Guard 5-4 Junior
33 Lauren Ebo Center 6-4 Graduate
Head coach Niele Ivey

Cal Golden Bears

NUMBER NAME POSITION HEIGHT CLASS
0 Ugonne (Michelle) Onyiah Forward 6-3 Junior
1 Leilani McIntosh Guard 5-5 Senior
2 Amaya Bonner Guard 6-0 Freshman
3 Bella Stevens Guard 5-10 Freshman
4 Karisma Ortiz Guard 6-0 Graduate
5 Claudia Langarita Forward 6-4 Sophomore
12 Jadyn Bush Forward 5-11 Graduate
14 Alma Elsnitz Guard 5-11 Junior
15 Kemery Martín Guard 6-0 R-Sophomore
21 Mia Mastrov Guard 5-11 Sophomore
24 Evelien Lutje Schipholt Forward 6-2 Senior
30 Jayda Curry Guard 5-6 Sophomore
31 Ornela Muca Guard 5-7 Junior
32 Sela Heide Center 6-7 Junior
33 Peanut Tuitele Forward 6-1 Graduate
Head coach Charmin Smith