Notre Dame Professional Athletes

The Spectacle Is Real

Olivia Miles didn't just have a good week — she's in the middle of one of the most talked-about rookie seasons in WNBA history, and the final stretch of the 2026 regular season is only amplifying the noise.

The Notre Dame product, affectionately dubbed "The Spectacle," surpassed 225 assists on the year, becoming the fastest player in league history to reach the milestone. She also passed a WNBA legend — details confirmed in multiple reports — in a home win over the Golden State Valkyries earlier in the week, before the Valkyries returned the favor Tuesday, shutting Miles down (8 points, 5 assists on a -12) to hand Minnesota its rare loss and deny the Lynx a clinch of the No. 1 playoff seed.

That result stings, but context matters: the Lynx have gone 16-1 in their last 17 games. Miles has been the engine. Napheesa Collier, recently back from ankle injuries, put it simply: "I've never played with a player like that." Collier told reporters that Miles has made a game-changing adjustment to the team's offensive system — one that essentially restructured Collier's own role upon her return.

The MVP conversation around Miles is now impossible to ignore. She sits second in the 2026 regular-season race, behind A'ja Wilson, with oddsmakers listing Wilson as an overwhelming favorite over the field (-1200 at DraftKings). But the cultural footprint is growing fast: Miles appeared alongside Victor Wembanyama in the NBA 2K27 Season 1 gameplay reveal, a crossover moment that signals her arrival as a mainstream sports figure. At least one former NBA All-Star has publicly argued she should have been the No. 1 overall pick. The Wall Street Journal profiled her as a potential dual Rookie of the Year-MVP, which would make her only the second player in WNBA history to accomplish the feat, joining Candace Parker.

Miles told reporters her rookie season has surpassed her own expectations — particularly given that she anticipated more losses while Collier was sidelined.

Citron Carries Washington Into the Playoffs

Meanwhile, fellow Irish alumna Sonia Citron has been quietly putting together a standout stretch for the Washington Mystics. Citron helped the Mystics clinch their first playoff berth since 2023, and she backed that up with a massive three-game run this week: 14 points and 6 assists in a win over the Fire on Sunday, 19 points and 9 assists in a win over the Mercury on Wednesday, and 22 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in a narrow loss to the Sparks on Saturday. She's been Washington's most consistent two-way contributor down the stretch.

Dallas Duo Delivers

In Dallas, Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard gave Notre Dame fans plenty to watch. In Wednesday's 96-78 Wings win over the Fire, Shepard was the standout: 21 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and a +21 in one of her best performances of the season. Ogunbowale chipped in 17 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals in the same game. Both players followed up with contributions Sunday in a 22-point blowout win over the Storm — Shepard posting 11 and 11 (a double-double), Ogunbowale adding 7 points and a team-high 6 assists.

Las Vegas Irish

Jackie Young continued her dependable postseason push with Las Vegas, scoring 21 and 23 points in the Aces' back-to-back wins over the Toronto Tempo — including 8 assists and zero turnovers in Saturday's 93-73 rout. Brianna Turner provided steady frontcourt minutes in both contests.

It's a good time to be a Notre Dame fan with a WNBA subscription.

Notre Dame's WNBA alumni had a week to remember — and most of it was written in Minneapolis.

McBride Rewrites the Record Books

Kayla McBride didn't just win a game on August 9. She rewrote WNBA history. The 34-year-old Lynx guard drained a WNBA-record 10 three-pointers against the Dallas Wings, finishing with a career-high 43 points in Minnesota's 103-90 victory — the performance that made the Lynx the first team to clinch a 2026 playoff berth.

It wasn't a hot-shooting fluke. McBride was surgical, and the magnitude wasn't lost on her coach. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve didn't mince words afterward, calling McBride's exclusion from the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game roster "disgraceful" and publicly campaigning for an All-WNBA designation. "There is no better feeling," McBride said of the playoff clinch — though the record-setting night had to come close.

Four days later, McBride stayed hot against Portland, posting 19 points, four steals, and a +8 in an 85-81 Lynx win.

Miles Writes Her Own Chapter

If McBride supplied the fireworks, Olivia Miles supplied the architecture. The Lynx rookie posted 20 points and 13 assists in the Wings win on August 9 — a historic stat line that, per reporting, surpassed Caitlin Clark's single-game assists record. Miles finished a +15 on the night, her floor vision anchoring a Minnesota offense that made the playoff push look inevitable.

Against Portland on August 13, Miles added 13 points and 7 assists in another Lynx win. The rookie's season has drawn MVP buzz, and it's not hard to see why: two Notre Dame alums operating as Minnesota's one-two punch, with McBride hitting from deep and Miles threading the needle from the point.

Young Carries the Aces; Ogunbowale Grinds On

The Irish weren't only thriving in Minnesota. In Las Vegas, Jackie Young delivered one of the performances of her career. The Notre Dame product dropped 32 points and five assists in the Aces' 83-76 win over the Mystics on August 14 — a result that punched Las Vegas's own playoff ticket. Young followed that up with 25 points and eight assists in an 86-76 win over Washington on August 12, making her the week's most consistent Irish scorer outside of McBride.

Jewell Loyd chipped in 13 points in the August 14 Aces win, while Brianna Turner logged minutes in both Las Vegas victories.

In Dallas, Arike Ogunbowale was a tale of two games. She managed just 5 points against the McBride-fueled Lynx on August 9 — a brutal -26 in that blowout — but bounced back with 21 points and five assists in a 94-88 Wings road win over the Tempo on August 13, then scored 20 more in a loss to Indiana on August 14. Marina Mabrey, meanwhile, delivered a 36-point outing for the Tempo on August 11, even in a losing effort.

In Washington, Sonia Citron quietly continued an impressive sophomore campaign — posting 19 points against the Mercury on August 9, 17 against Las Vegas on August 14, and 21 points with eight assists in an 80-70 win over the Sparks on August 15.

Notre Dame's WNBA footprint is wide — but this week, it started and ended with two Lynx Irish making history together.

It was the kind of week that turns a promising rookie into a franchise cornerstone. Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles did a little bit of everything for the Minnesota Lynx — claimed her third consecutive Rookie of the Month award, scored 26 points in a clinching win over the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces, and drained a half-court buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter that lit up highlight reels across the league. The Caitlin Clark comparisons, always hovering, are now louder than ever.

The headline moment came Saturday, when Miles posted 26 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and a +11 plus-minus to lead Minnesota past Las Vegas 98-87 — making the Lynx the first team to clinch a 2026 WNBA playoff berth. It was Miles' third straight game scoring 20 or more points. Her MVP case, already building, got considerably stronger.

That Saturday win also overshadowed a Friday stumble. The Lynx dropped an 82-89 decision to the Sparks, a loss Miles addressed pointedly afterward, reiterating coach Cheryl Reeve's message about what's "non-negotiable" going forward. Even in the loss, Miles went for 23 points, five assists, and eight rebounds. The rookie is doing that most nights.

Her third Rookie of the Month honor coincides with Minnesota's 10-game winning streak — their longest since 2016 — though the Sparks result snapped it. Fellow Lynx alumna Kayla McBride has quietly been a steady contributor alongside Miles, putting up 15 points in both the Sparks loss and the Aces clincher while going for 10 in the earlier win over Indiana.

---

More Irish Around the League

Jackie Young had a wild week in Las Vegas. On Monday, she authored one of the best individual performances of the WNBA season: 28 points, 10 assists, and 11 rebounds in a 109-87 dismantling of the Atlanta Dream. By Thursday, she was at the center of an off-court story when she prompted security to remove heckling fans during a dramatic 86-84 overtime comeback win over the Fever — a moment that drew national broadcast attention. Young still put up 22 points and nine assists in that game. On Saturday, against Miles and the Lynx, she led a losing effort with 23 points.

Jessica Shepard is quietly putting together a strong stretch for the Dallas Wings. She had a monster Wednesday — 22 points, seven assists, and 11 rebounds against the Mystics — and followed it with 11 rebounds in a loss to the Valkyries on Saturday. Arike Ogunbowale has been mixed; she had a nice Sunday outing (15 points, +14) against the Sun to open the week, but managed just five points in Saturday's loss.

On the Mystics side, Sonia Citron was steady in Washington's 79-74 upset of the playoff-chasing Atlanta Dream on Friday — 14 points, three assists, a steal, and a block — while Cassandre Prosper chipped in 10 points and two blocks off the bench. The win helped push Atlanta's playoff hopes further into doubt.

Marina Mabrey is dealing with a neck injury for the Tempo, which limited her availability late in the week. She gutted through nine points in Friday's loss to the Fire after a rough stretch of games.

The Irish footprint across the WNBA is wide, but right now, all roads run through Minneapolis — and through the player who's making the league's most compelling rookie case since the sport's recent surge in national attention.