Skip to content
1 min left · finish 4:06 AM
Email
I
Bloomington Current
Illini CurrentBloomington: Twin City hub, insurance-industry anchor
Good evening, Columbus☀️54°F · Clear
BusinessCommunitySchoolsMore categoriesGovernmentSportsReal EstateTechnologyDiningArtsHealthSearchSaved

Advertisement · Why this ad?

  1. Home
  2. /Sports
  3. /How Notre Dame basketball’s trip came about to play Villanova in Rome — and potentially meet Pope Leo XIV
Sports

How Notre Dame basketball’s trip came about to play Villanova in Rome — and potentially meet Pope Leo XIV

Maria Gonzalez
Maria Gonzalez
Maria Gonzalez
Sports Reporter · Bloomington, IL

Born and raised in Bloomington, Maria is a passionate sports journalist with a degree from Northern Illinois University. She has covered the local high school sports scene for over 8 years and previously wrote for the Peoria Journal Star, bringing a fresh energy to sports reporting in the area.

More from Maria →
Sports Reporter · Saturday, October 31, 2026 at 1:15 AM · 1 min read
Text size
Typeface
Line spacing
Theme
Focus mode
Email
How Notre Dame basketball’s trip came about to play Villanova in Rome — and potentially meet Pope Leo XIV — Bloomington Sports news

When Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Niele Ivey first heard the idea, she was thrilled. With the election of Pope Leo XIV as inspiration, college sports event organizers wanted to host a pair of men’s and women’s basketball games in…

Up nextOhio State, Georgia facing upsets? College football bold predictions for Week 9Sports · 1 min read
#high-school-sports#local-election

More Sports stories

Ohio State, Georgia facing upsets? College football bold predictions for Week 9 — The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal)
Sports

Ohio State, Georgia facing upsets? College football bold predictions for Week 9

By Maria Gonzalez

College football teams spend millions on QBs. Why can’t they find a good backup? — The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal)
Sports

College football teams spend millions on QBs. Why can’t they find a good backup?

By Jake O'Donnell

Area playoff entrants eye first round matchups — The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal)
Sports

Area playoff entrants eye first round matchups

By Jake O'Donnell

Gang's all here! Brewers win first World Series despite big-name defections — The Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal)
Sports

Gang's all here! Brewers win first World Series despite big-name defections

By Maria Gonzalez

Also covering Illinois

St. CharlesGenevaBataviaElginLibertyville
I

Bloomington Current

Part of the Illini Current Network

Bloomington: Twin City hub, insurance-industry anchor. Hyper-local community news covering 40 Illinois cities.

Sections

BusinessCommunitySchoolsGovernmentSportsReal Estate

Latest Stories

Downtown Bloomington Art Walk set for Nov. 5-7WNBA's original dynasty rebuilt: Houston Comets face 'mad sprint' to 2027 returnGas, welding company breaks ground on new Mattoon office 11 months after fireThe best used cars, according to EdmundsKordell Stewart says a rumor was meant to ‘destroy’ him. Now he’s confronting it

About

Illini Current publishes independent community news across Illinois. Local reporters. Non-partisan. Community-first.

RSS FeedNetwork Directory

© 2026 Illini Current — illinicurrent.com

PrivacyTerms

A product of Edina Automation LLC

You're offline — showing the last loaded page
HomeSearchSaved