Notre Dame forward Maddy Westbeld loves learning something new. It invigorates her. That’s how the self-described rabbit hole enthusiast explains her zest for life on and off the basketball court.

Westbeld is in her fifth season with the Fighting Irish and has an impressive resume under head coach Niele Ivey. During her tenure, she’s earned First Team All-ACC, Second Team All-ACC and ACC Rookie of the Year honors. This season, Westbeld was named to the Wooden Award Watch List and the Katrina McClain Watch List, an annual award recognizing the nation’s top power forwards.

As Notre Dame’s year rolls on and the ever-curious Westbeld pushes right alongside her squad into the NCAA tournament, she’s learned something else that excites her — a new word to describe the No. 6 ranked Fighting Irish. “I would say gritty,” Westbeld recently told For The Win.

“I would say that word because every person has an individual chip on their shoulder for something that they that they want to accomplish this year, whether that’s coming back from injury or whether that’s getting drafted … This is the year for them. So, it’s really amazing to see everyone sacrifice just a little bit so that we can all cohesively win as a group. And, you know, we understand that those two things are not mutually exclusive.”

Ahead of this year’s March Madness, For The Win spoke with Westbeld about playing basketball for Notre Dame, her relationship with her WNBA mentor Jewell Loyd, and why her cat Bean — which she shares with teammate Olivia Miles — is so famous.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

1. Basketball is woven into so much of what Maddy Westbeld does and who she is

FTW: If someone never met you, who is Maddy Westbeld? What’s your elevator pitch?

Obviously, I play basketball for Notre Dame. Basketball is probably one of my biggest forms of my identity, and I say that more so just to say that I love [things] all around the game. I love everything that it brings.I’m somebody who really tries to embrace opportunities that I encounter. And so with basketball, it has so many kind of avenues to stretch that, and I feel like through that I’ve really learned who I am … So, yeah, I would say I’m somebody who puts joy first. I would say that in everything that I do, I really try to seek joy through things and then also bring abundance to the people around me.

2. She talks ― a lot ― especially in the locker room

FTW: Are you a vocal leader for Notre Dame? Who speaks up when things need to be said?

Yeah, I’m definitely one of the more vocal leaders on the team. I would say Liv also is a pretty vocal leader when it comes to, you know, just saying what needs to be said. But yeah, I would say I consistently am kind of the voice of the team, and just kind of maintaining that standard every day in practice.

I try to elevate my game so that I can elevate everybody else’s and bring that intensity. Because, you know, games are won in practice, and so, it’s got to start somewhere, and being that vocal leader and holding everybody accountable is really important to me.

3. Jewell Loyd, her WNBA mentor, keeps her honest

FTW: Is there anyone you admire or have a special relationship with in the WNBA that you talk to regularly?

Jewell Loyd. She’s always been one of my favorite players, and she’ll text me after every game. We played at Miami, and a bunch of the Unrivaled girls were there. After the game, she texts me. She said, “Hold your follow-through. That’s all she said …*pauses to laugh*

I text her a lot. I’ll ask her for advice, ask her random things, and you know she’s been through it … She’s been where I want to go. And so, she’s just been such a great mentor for me, and [Skylar Diggins-Smith] and [Arike Ogunbowale] and [Marina Mabrey] and all of the alumni …

We just have an incredible network of people, and they are really, truly people who come back and want to give back. And so they’re always there for us. They’re in locker rooms after games when they go to it, and they’re talking to us, always come to practice ― you know, different things. They’re all amazing.

4. Bean, her cat, has his own internet following

FTW: We heard you have a cat, Bean, with Olivia Miles, and you are the godmother to Sonia Citron’s cat. Tell us about the playdates with the cat cousins. How does this happen?

So Sonia first got a kitten, I think, a couple of years ago, and I fell in love with it, and it was like the breed that I loved … I’m not really a big cat person, but I just fell in love with it. And then I started to babysit it, and then, she asked me to be the godmother …

And me and Liv were roommates at the time, so we were always watching it, and then … We were like, let’s look at the breeder, and we just kind of full sent it. It was like two days before I had surgery in August, right when I came back. I was non-weight bearing. I was on the couch for six weeks, and I had a little kitten beside me. It was just like we became best friends. So, that was great for me. And, yeah, now he’s more famous than all of us.

5. Soul and afrobeats music have her heart

FTW: Are there any songs that you listen to faithfully on game days?

Well, I have a soul playlist, and that is something that’s really important to me. I’ll listen to it in the morning, at night. It’s just kind of like my go-to. It has a lot of like chill, kind of afrobeats music, but then it’s also just kind of, you know, like Alicia Keys vibes ― like just something to get your heart in a good place, get your mind in a calm and peaceful state.

FTW: Who else outside of Alicia Keys are you listening to? Any favorite artists that you dig?

6. A good outfit hates to see Maddy coming

FTW: We know that you’re huge into fashion. Who styles you?

I kind of look at everyone. I mean, Melissa Berger helps me a lot with, like, sending me inspiration and stuff. So, she definitely takes part in that and encouraged me to keep doing it … I mean some designers ― William Bassee is somebody who really helped me out. He sent me a couple fits, and they were staples. Everybody loved them, and, you know, I felt amazing in it. So it was really cool.

I would say, obviously my coach [Niele Ivey] is [a] huge fashion fashionista. So, every time she steps ― Also my assistant coach, Michaela Mabrey. She’s kind of more subtle with it, but she always has something new. Both of them are really inspiring [me] to wanna up my game a little bit with the fashion world.