SOUTH BEND — Freshman Emma Risch, who flashed her highly regarded shooting prowess during the opening weeks of this injury-specked Notre Dame women’s basketball season, will undergo hip surgery and miss the rest of it, according to coach Niele Ivey.
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Ivey said Wednesday that Risch’s surgery is scheduled for Thursday.
“It was over time,” Ivey said of whether Risch’s injury was connected to a specific event. “It was something that happened even before she came on campus, just kind of her anatomy, so just needed to fix it.
“Something that got sore throughout the season,” Ivey continued. “We went in and tried to do a couple things to eliminate the pain, (but) it’s something that needed surgery and couldn’t wait til the end of the season.”
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Risch, who’s missed the last four games, is expected to retain four years of eligibility, according to Ivey, given that the 6-foot-1 shooting guard from Melbourne, Fla., appeared in just seven contests, which will wind up below the NCAA’s 30% participation threshold.
Still now word on return of Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron
The No. 16-ranked Irish (9-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have battled numerous injury challenges all season, including junior All-American Olivia Miles not playing at all following right knee surgery last April, All-ACC first-team junior Sonia Citron missing the last eight games due to a right knee sprain, and Cass Prosper and Jenna Brown being out for extended periods as well.
“It’s definitely been challenging,” said Ivey, whose club visits Pittsburgh (6-8, 0-1) for a 6 p.m. game Thursday, “but my team has been resilient and it’s next person up. Unfortunately, the numbers are getting kind of low, but we’re trying to pivot, navigate, and we’re doing everything we can to keep our team healthy, and for the ones that are potentially coming back, get them ready.”
Ivey shared that Miles and Citron are progressing well, but acknowledged that Miles still could miss the entire season.
“Honestly, it’s just individual day by day for her,” Ivey said of Miles. “She’s back into practice, doing a lot more. She feels great. She’s getting stronger day by day, so it’s an individual decision for her (regarding a return this season), and I’m ready for whatever she does.”
Citron, averaging 20.3 points through the opening three games, suffered her injury in a Nov. 15 win over Northwestern. She was initially projected to miss just “a couple weeks,” but has missed seven so far.
“She’s healing and she’s in a great direction,” Ivery said of Citron. “She’s getting better every day, getting stronger, so I’m looking forward to when she joins us.”
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Regarding Risch, the McDonald’s All-American arrived at ND as the No. 20-ranked player in her class by ESPN as well as No. 15 by Prospects Nation.
Risch averaged 4.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game off the bench. Her most extensive action, 26 minutes in a 113-35 blowout win over Chicago State on Nov. 21, featured 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, on her way to 16 points.
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In all, Risch hit 6-of-14 from distance and 11-of-23 from the field overall to go with 4-of-5 at the line. She added five assists, three blocked shots and two steals against three turnovers.
Without Risch, Miles, Citron, Prosper and Brown, the Irish are at just eight players, including grad transfer forward Becky Obinma, who has averaged just 10.2 minutes over six appearances, and former walk-on Sarah Cernugel, who’s averaged 3.5 across seven.
“Everyone’s just trying to get better and staying ready,” Ivey said in response to a question specifically regarding the spotty usage of Obinma, who has battled health issues of her own. “You never really know when your time’s gonna be called for multiple minutes or whatever the case may be, so for her, I’m like ‘keep getting better, keep getting stronger and staying ready,’ because that’s really all it is for her.”
Concerning Brown, who has not played at all this season and has missed time away from the club, she “absolutely” remains, per Ivey, a member of the Irish.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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