South Carolina, Notre Dame Women to Play 1st-Ever NCAA Basketball Game in Paris

The South Carolina and Notre Dame women's basketball teams will head abroad to open the 2023-24 season.

The programs announced Wednesday they will face off in Paris on Nov. 6, the first NCAA regular-season basketball game ever in the City of Light.

"We did not hesitate to accept the invitation" Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley said. "Playing Notre Dame in Paris is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes, and I'm thankful for the support of our administration and our donors.

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey emphasized the significance of the game.

"It's always been my mission to break barriers and provide opportunities for my players to have life-changing experiences," she said. "Women's basketball is on the rise right now, and having this exposure continues to grow the game on an international platform."

South Carolina and Notre Dame both figure to be top-10 teams when they tip off.

The Gamecocks had five players—Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Victaria Saxton—selected in the 2023 WNBA draft, but Kamilla Cardoso and Raven Johnson will be back and should thrive in starting roles.

The Fighting Irish will return nearly all of their squad, including their top three scorers in Sonia Citron, Olivia Miles and Maddy Westbeld. The status of Miles, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 26, figures to be a major storyline.

Women's basketball is riding a wave of momentum that could alter the trajectory of the sport.

LSU's national championship victory over Iowa drew 9.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched women's game on record. Viewership for the NCAA tournament rose 55 percent (averaging 983,000 viewers).

The timing couldn't be any better with the NCAA entering the final year of its television deal with ESPN to broadcast nearly all of the organization's championships.

"Basically, this thing is going out this year and it's going out on the heels of what will have been the most successful tournament," NCAA President Charlie Baker told reporters April 1. "... Let's see what the market thinks it's worth. I think the market is going to think it's worth a lot."