It’s not often a basketball team can finish 13-18 and then the next season be ranked in the initial Associated Press top 25 poll, with a new head coach, no less.
Such is the 2020-21 world for the Notre Dame women’s basketball, which begins the season ranked No. 22 in the AP.
That aforementioned 2019-20 in the big picture is now perceived as a year-long mulligan following seven Final Four appearances in the previous nine seasons, highlighted by the 2018 national title.
Five former starters beginning their pro careers all at once last year, two others transferring, and a bevy of injuries resulted in a precipitous descent, and the upward climb with a mostly youth-laden squad should now take shape.
Under first-year head coach Niele Ivey, a long-valued assistant under Naismith Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw from 2007-19 and also the point guard for her 2001 national champs, Notre Dame also has been tabbed to finish fourth in the 15-team ACC this season by a Blue Ribbon Panel — although only sixth by the coaches.
In the AP poll, No. 5 Louisville and No. 8 North Carolina State were the only two league members ahead of the Fighting Irish, although Syracuse was right behind at No. 23.
This Tuesday morning, sophomore forward Sam Brunelle landed on the Blue-Ribbon Panel’s Preseason All-ACC list, while freshman forward/guard Maddy Westbeld was a consensus pick for the ACC Newcomer Watch List among five players for the coaches and four for the Blue Ribbon panel. Brunelle was a 2020 ACC All-Freshman Team selection — as were guards Anaya Peoples (who underwent shoulder surgery in late January) and Katlyn Gilbert.
Virginia native Brunelle started all 31 games last season and led all ACC freshmen in scoring with her 13.9 points per game while significantly improving her shooting stroke that made her a top-5 caliber recruit. Over the last five games she averaged 18.6 points on 45.2 percent shooting, and in the final 17 she connected on 45-of-118 (38.1 percent) beyond the arc. Her 58 made three-pointers ranked second all-time for a Notre Dame freshman.
Peoples averaged 12.6 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds prior to her injury, while Gilbert, medically redshirted as a freshman, had a 13.6 scoring average.
The top returning scorer is sixth-year senior guard Destinee Walker (14.5), while the addition of Virginia Tech junior transfer Dara Mabrey — one of the nation’s top three-point shooters the past two years — fortifies the deep backcourt and provides strong leadership.
Westbeld headlines a five-woman freshmen class with her McDonald's All-America honors and as the 2020 Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Player of the Year. As a senior, Westbeld led Fairmont High to a 25-3 record and a regional finals appearance in the OHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships. She led her team in scoring (18.0), rebounds (11.2), assists (3.6), steals (2.8) and blocks (2.3).
ACC Head Coaches Predicted Order of Finish
Louisville (13 first-place votes) — 223
North Carolina State (2) — 210
Syracuse — 193
North Carolina — 157
Georgia Tech — 146
Notre Dame — 138
Virginia Tech — 125
Florida State — 124
Boston College — 120
Miami — 99
Duke — 74
Wake Forest — 73
Clemson — 56
Pittsburgh — 37
Virginia — 25
Blue Ribbon Predicted Order Of Finish (57 voters)
Louisville (45 first-place votes) — 840 points
North Carolina State (10) — 797 points
Syracuse (2) — 724 points
Notre Dame — 555 points
North Carolina — 547 points
Florida State — 516 points
Virginia Tech — 482 points
Boston College — 468 points
Georgia Tech — 452 points
Duke — 385 points
Miami — 359 points
Wake Forest — 258 points
Clemson — 183 points
Virginia — 149 points
Pittsburgh — 125 points
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