If Emma Risch indeed makes a permanent recovery from a hip injury that has cut short her first two collegiate seasons, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team will get to see at least a snippet of it firsthand.
As an opposing player.
The third of Notre Dame’s four outgoing transfers on Tuesday announced she has found a landing spot at fellow ACC member Florida State. The Irish annually face the Seminoles in league play.
That leaves grad senior center Kylee Watson as the lone Irish transfer portal plunger still looking to solidify her next school. Previously, freshman center Kate Koval (LSU) and All-American grad senior point guard Olivia Miles (TCU) announced where their next chapters will unfold.
Notre Dame finished 28-6 this past season, losing to Miles’ new team, 71-62, March 29 in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 round in Birmingham, Ala.
One of Notre Dame’s five regular-season losses this season was to a Florida State team that so far has lost six of its players to the transfer portal, including the nation’s leading scorer — guard Ta’Niya Latson — who’s committed to South Carolina.
Overall 69 players from the ACC have submitted their names to transfer so far in this cycle, led by SMU with eight. The transfer portal for women’s hoops remains open through April 23.
Risch came to Notre Dame from Melbourne, Fla., ahead of the 2023-24 season as a McDonald’s All-American and a prolific high school 3-point shooter. But a hip injury that originated in high school flared up and truncated both of Risch’s seasons in an ND uniform.
In her freshman season, the Palm Beach Magnet School product played in seven games. This past season, it was 13.
In those games in the recently completed season, Risch averaged 5.7 points and 1.8 rebounds. She shot .441 from the field and .419 from the 3-point arc. She never got to the free-throw line,
Risch was the No. 20 recruit nationally in the 2024 class, per ESPNw. Because she was able to take a medical redshirt year, she would have three years of eligibility remaining at Florida State.
The Irish also lost five players from its ACC regular-season co-champion squad to expired eligibility, including three who were drafted by WNBA teams on Monday night — Sonia Citron (first round to Washington), Maddy Westbeld (second round to Chicago) and Liatu King (third round to Los Angeles).
Two-time All-America sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo leads the three returning scholarship players. The lone high school signee in the 2025 recruiting class, McDonald’s All-American Leah Macy, may not be able to play in the upcoming season because of a knee injury.
The Irish added 6-3 Wake Forest grad transfer forward Milaya Cowles on Friday.
