Notre Dame's Ivey grateful for team's approach in win after tough week with son's NBA injury

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Notre Dame women's basketball coach Niele Ivey tried to focus on preparing her third-ranked team for a road game at No. 17 North Carolina. It wasn't easy amid the worry about her son — NBA player Jaden Ivey — after he sustained a serious leg injury that required surgery this week.

That's why she was so thankful of the way her Fighting Irish handled Sunday's 76-66 win.

“They really ignited me as a person, and a mother," said Ivey, her voice fragile with held-back emotion in the postgame news conference. “So I'm really grateful for that because I knew this was going to be a tough one for me.”

Ivey, 47, is in her fifth year as Notre Dame's coach and leads a team picked as the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorite as well as a potential Final Four contender. Her son, 22-year-old Jaden, was the No. 5 overall NBA draft pick in 2022 and was having a breakout year (17.6 points) in his third year with the Detroit Pistons.

Ivey was hurt Wednesday night when Orlando’s Cole Anthony slipped as he and Ivey went for a loose ball, and Anthony crashed into Ivey's planted left leg. Ivey was in obvious pain as members of the training staff held up towels to block the crowd’s view of the injury while players from both teams formed a circle around him. He was eventually loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled out of the arena with a towel covering the injury.

The team said after the surgery that he would be re-evaluated in four weeks.

Niele Ivey's Irish, who hadn't played since her son's injury, took control in the second quarter at UNC behind the latest big performances from Hannah Hidalgo (24 points) and Olivia Miles (19) — two previous Associated Press All-Americans in the backcourt.

Afterward, Ivey patted Miles gently on the back as she talked about the past week, saying she told her players afterward that they gave her a lift.

“It's a really, rough week for me having my son go down a couple of days ago,” she said. “They really played for me, and I really really appreciate that because it was really tough. I'm really grateful for them because they really kept my spirits up.”

Miles said it's “routine” that the players try to play hard for Ivey, but that they were also aware of the family's emotion.

“We always want to play for Coach Ivey in every game,” Miles said. “But there was definitely some added fuel to the fire just given the circumstances.”

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Teammates look over Detroit Pistons guard Jaden Ivey (23) after an incident during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Detroit. Ivey was carted off the court by stretcher. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

SAO PAULO (AP) — Indonesia has been admitted as a full member of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, the group's presiding country, Brazil, announced Monday.

Indonesia’s candidacy was endorsed by BRICS leaders in August 2023, according to the foreign ministry of Brazil, which holds the group’s presidency for 2025. However, the world's fourth most populous nation opted to formally join the bloc only after the formation of its newly elected government last year.

“The Brazilian government welcomes Indonesia’s entry into the BRICS,” the government said in a statement. “With the largest population and economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other members a commitment to reforming global governance institutions and contributes positively to deepening South-South cooperation.”

Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement Tuesday said that it reflects Indonesia’s increasingly active role in global issues, and its commitment to strengthening multilateral cooperation.

“Indonesia views its membership in BRICS as a strategic step to increase collaboration and cooperation with other developing countries, based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and sustainable development,” said the statement.

BRICS was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009, and South Africa was added in 2010. Last year, the alliance expanded to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has been invited to join but has not yet done so.

China, the world’s second largest economy, “warmly welcomes and congratulates Indonesia” on joining the bloc, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. He described Indonesia as a “major developing country and an important force in the Global South” that will “make a positive contribution to the development of the BRICS mechanism.”

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members and a few others have expressed interest.

The organization was created as a counterweight to the Group of Seven, comprised of developed nations. Its name derives from an economic term used in the early 2000s to describe rising countries expected to dominate the global economy by 2050.

Before Indonesia’s membership, the bloc accounted for nearly 45% of the world’s population and 35% of global gross domestic product, measured using purchasing power parity.

This version has corrected that Brazil holds the BRICS presidency in 2025 not 2024.

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

FILE - Staff worker stands behinds national flags of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India to tidy the flags ahead of a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen, southeastern China's Fujian Province, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP, File)