The Notre Dame Fighting Irish punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament with their 76-55 win over Michigan. Despite suffering an ankle injury against Stephen F. Austin, Olivia Miles suited up for Notre Dame to help them advance. Following the win, Miles spoke about why she decided to play through the injury, as per Irish Illustrated.

“I woke up thinking I wasn't going to play, and then I was like ‘F it,' I want to get out there,” Miles said. “I told coach [Ivey] to keep me out there, because I wanted to finish the game, it's my last time out there. Naturally, I wanted to stay and be with my team.”

With the higher seed hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament on the women's side, this was Notre Dame's final home game of the season. They now head to Birmingham for the Sweet 16. In her answer, Olivia Miles may or may not have dropped a hint as to her plans at Notre Dame following this season.

The redshirt senior guard is eligible, age-wise, for the 2025 WNBA Draft. But due to her redshirt season last year, she still has one more year of college basketball eligibility should she choose to use it. Miles has been projected as a probable lottery pick if she declares for the WNBA Draft. UConn star Paige Bueckers is the consensus No. 1 overall pick, but Miles has been talked about as possibly going as high as No. 2.

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It could be that Miles intends to declare for the WNBA Draft with her comments about this being her last time out there on the Notre Dame home floor. Or it could having nothing to do with the draft and it's just her simply speaking about this being the team's final home game this year.

In any case, the Fighting Irish were certainly glad to have Miles on the court on Sunday. She finished with a well-rounded stat-line of eight points, four rebounds, five assists and one steal in 28 minutes of play. She only took four shots, but knocked down two of them and was 3-of-6 from the free-throw line.

This season, Miles appeared in 32 games for Notre Dame, healthy after missing all of the 2023-24 season due to a knee injury. She averaged a career-best 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 48.8 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent shooting from the three-point line and 80.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Obviously Olivia Miles' ankle injury is going to be something to monitor as Notre Dame continues to advance in the NCAA Tournament.