Notre Dame HC Niele Ivey shares wholesome message for former Fighting Irish star Sonia Citron following first WNBA matchup

Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Sonia Citron is currently experiencing her first taste of the WNBA. Earlier on Saturday, May 3, the 21-year-old played her very first professional game ever as her squad, the Washington Mystics, went up against the Indiana Fever for their first fixture of the 2025 preseason.

It was a milestone moment for Citron given that she has finally gotten her first runs in as a WNBA player. To add to the surefire core memory, Citron was also delighted to see that her college basketball coach in Niele Ivey was in appearance to watch her play her first matchup.

Ivey has then taken it to her Instagram account to share a wholesome message for the former Fighting Irish star, with a photo of them after the game and a heartfelt caption.

"Rookie of the Year! No debate," Ivey captioned with a praying and a red heart emoji.

(image credits: @irishcoachivey on Instagram)

She added to this support by uploading clips of Citron's pre-game shootaround while tagging her.

Another Instagram story of Ivey is of Citron heading into a timeout as the tenured tactician included a plethora of red heart emojis.

Fortuntely for Citron and her collegiate hoops coach in Ivey, the now WNBA rookie had a great first outing in the league. She posted 15 points on a highly efficient 5-of-6 clip, four rebounds, two assists, and two stocks (steals plus blocks) in around 22 minutes of playing time. It was not enough, however, as the Mystics fell to the Fever in overtime by five points, 79-74.

Hannah Hidalgo and other Notre Dame Fighting Irish came to watch Sonia Citron's first WNBA game

Apart from her former mentor Niele Ivey, Sonia Citron had several other key Notre Dame Fighting Irish personnel who watched her play her first WNBA preseason game ever.

This includes incoming junior star Hannah Hidalgo, standout stalwart Cassandre Prosper, alumnae and now Indiana Fever player Brianna Turner, program manager Sharla Lewis and assistant coach Charel Allen.

In the post uploaded by the Fighting Irish social media team on Instagram, they were seen posing with Citron post-game as her professional playing career is officially underway.

For the current slew of Fighting Irish, they are ramping up this offseason to hopefully churn out a better campaign next year. Notre Dame finished the 2024-2025 season with an overall record of 28-6, 16-2 in the ACC this 2025.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash