Window Of Opportunity Awaits Notre Dame Women's Basketball
Entering her 30th season at Notre Dame, Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw has been to seven Final Fours, including five straight from 2011-15, won all three ACC titles while in the league since 2013 with a phenomenal 56-1 record, captured a national title (2001), and established the Fighting Irish this decade as the second best program in the country, behind the UConn dynasty.
The best might still be ahead, as McGraw believes her 2016-17 squad might be her best at Notre Dame when combining talent and depth.
“We have a lot of All-Americans, we’ve got a lot of veteran college players,” said McGraw this Monday, which was media day for the program. “We’ve got the depth pretty much at every position. I think it’s probably our best team.
“Just watching them work gives me confidence.”
That doesn’t mean it will win the national title like the 2001 unit, because there are more viable contenders now. There was virtually no bench help back then, and the Irish mainly played a 2-3 zone defense because of it.
This year’s confidence stems from numerous factors:
• A winning culture. The Irish are 176-12 the past five seasons for a .936 winning percentage.
• There are a school record eight McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster, including the entire starting lineup with juniors Brianna Turner and Kathryn Westbeld in the frontcourt, senior Lindsay Allen at point guard and last year’s dynamic freshmen tandem of Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey — both of who averaged double-figure scoring off the bench.
“We’ve got the best point guard in the country,” McGraw said of Allen. “I think Brianna Turner is the best player in the country. We’ve got great people around her, so we’ve got a lot of positives.”
• Three of the reserves were former National Players of the Year: freshman guard Jackie Young (Naismith), the all-time scoring leader in Indiana boys or girls basketball history, freshman forward/wing Erin Boley (Gatorade) and sophomore point guard Ali Patberg (MaxPreps), who was sidelined last year with a torn ACL suffered in the preseason.
• The sudden rise of 6-4 senior Kristina "Coco" Nelson, who has played with the starting unit while Turner continues to heal from April shoulder surgery (she is expected to be cleared for full 5-on-5 work next week). According to McGraw, in the first scrimmage this season against the men’s practice squad, Nelson scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
“Probably the surprise player of the preseason right now,” McGraw said of Nelson. “She’s made tremendous strides with her mind-set. She’s always had the ability but not the mind-set. She’s in better shape. I think she’s moving well. Her feet look a little bit quicker. Offensively she is killing on the block, and that has been her biggest improvement.”
Despite all the star power on the roster, McGraw is encouraged that the team is “incredibly unselfish.”
“They really don’t care how many points they score,” she said. “I talked to both freshmen about their goals, and scoring wasn’t even mentioned … The biggest challenge to me is who is that glue player going to be. Who is going to be out there that doesn’t need to score, but just wants to facilitate?
“There are a lot of scorers, but only one ball. Who will bring that ability to make the pass and the little plays. That’s something I’m actually a little worried about … That’s going to be my challenge, to figure out who plays well together.”
A Window Of Opportunity
The 2016-17 women’s college basketball season might be comparable to the 1993-94 NBA campaign when the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan took a full one-year hiatus from the game: Better jump on the chance to win the title now, because a more promising opportunity might not come along later.
There was an almost hopeless feeling in the NBA that as long as Jordan was in uniform for Chicago, everyone else played for second place.
Such was the case in women’s college basketball the past four years, especially the last three, with Breanna Stewart at Connecticut. The Huskies won four straight national titles, while the rest of college basketball played for No. 2, a la the UCLA men’s dynasty under John Wooden from 1964-75.
Stewart is now in the WNBA, as are teammates and No. 2 overall pick Moriah Jefferson and No. 3 selection Morgan Tuck. Connecticut is still Final Four caliber, but if there is a year for Notre Dame, Louisville, Baylor, South Carolina, Tennessee, Stanford, UCLA, Ohio State, Texas … to wear the crown next April, it is now.
“This may be the year we finally see some parity,” McGraw said. “Nobody lost a lot of talent, except for Connecticut. That really evens things out.”
Last spring, ESPN and Sports Illustrated designated Notre Dame as the “way too early” No. 1 choice, in part because of UConn’s attrition.
In addition to the dynamic inside-outside tandem of Turner and Allen —the latter has started all 117 games the past three years — the “instant offense” tandem of guards/wings Ogunbowale (11.4 points per game) and Mabrey (10.7) are primed for more this year as starters.
“I’m looking for Arike to really take a giant step forward defensively, and be a little more of a rebounder,” McGraw said.
The freshmen Boley and Young will be prominent the way Ogunbowale and Mabrey were last year and will have the green light to score. But McGraw has especially been pleased with the tenacity of Young’s intense defense on the perimeter. At 6-2, Boley is the archetype “stretch four” who can drain the threes or beat you off the dribble.
“Jackie I think is going to help us defensively, which I’m really pleased with,” McGraw said. “And Erin, probably the best shooter we have. Her three-point shot is amazing.”
Patberg had more surgery this year for bone spurs. By the end of October, she might be cleared for work beyond three-on-three activity.
“I’m thinking January when she is acclimated,” said McGraw, who also has a veteran backup in Mychal Johnson at point guard.
The Irish graduated the clutch Madison Cable and vocal leaders Michaela Mabrey and Hannah Huffman, so McGraw would like it to be a little “less quiet” in practices.
As for the immense preseason expectations, that’s old hat.
“Last year we were supposed to win every game but one (UConn),” said McGraw of the 33-2 team that was stunned in the Sweet 16 by Stanford, which had an amazing might of three-point shooting. “We’re used to having the target on our back. We’re just trying to embrace our roles and go out and prove every night that we deserve to be No. 1.”
Does she believe the Irish should be the preseason No. 1?
“I would put us in top 5,” she replied. “We haven’t earned anything. I want to earn it.”
2016-17 Roster By Class
Seniors
15 Lindsay Allen, guard, 5-8
21 Kristina Nelson*, forward, 6-4
35 Diamond Thompson, center, 6-5
Juniors
14 Mychal Johnson, guard, 5-7
11 Brianna Turner, forward, 6-3
33 Kathryn Westbeld, forward, 6-2
Sophomores
3 Marina Mabrey, guard, 5-11
24 Arike Ogunbowale, guard, 5-8
20 Ali Patberg, guard, 5-10
Freshmen
22 Erin Boley, forward, 6-2
5 Jackie Young, guard, 6-0
*Eligible for a fifth season in 2017-18
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