Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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tional Team in the 2012 Summer Olympics, has gone above and beyond with a 14.0 scoring av��� erage while hauling in 9.5 rebounds, shooting at a .532 clip and record��� ing the second-most as��� sists (76) on the team with her effectiveness in the high post. Her 16 double-doubles through March 11 tied the singleseason school record set by Katryna Gaither dur��� ing the 1997 run to the Final Four. ��� Fifth-year senior guard Brittany Mal��� lory was the glue of the 2012 team and its defen��� sive stopper. However, in five-star freshman Jewell Loyd, the Irish upgraded their athleti��� cism. Whereas Mallory averaged 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds, Loyd has pretty much doubled those outputs with 11.7 and 5.1 averages, re��� spectively, while also often getting assigned to defend the oppo��� nent���s top player with her quickness and leap��� ing ability. ��� Consensus AllAmerican Diggins posted stats (17.2 points per game, team-high 182 assists) similar to last season, but her value is measured far beyond raw data. Two-time Big East Player of the Year Dig��� gins, McBride and Achonwa all earned first-team All-Big East honors, while Loyd was named Freshman of the Year and McGraw the Coach of the Year. McGraw has comple��� mented the Big Four with a nucleus of ju��� nior fifth starter Ariel Braker, sophomore cen��� ter Markisha Wright, and sophomore Madi��� son Cable and freshman Michaela Mabrey in the backcourt. Entering the week of March�� 11, Notre Dame ranked eighth or bet��� ter nationally in seven major categories, in��� cluding second in scor��� ing offense (81.5 points per game), third in free throw percentage (.796), fourth in rebounding margin (plus-11.2) sixth in field goal percent��� age (.458) and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (plus-1.23). Another Standard In Notre Dame men���s b a s k e t b a l l h i s t o r y, the 71-70 victory over UCLA Jan.�� 19, 1974, is the benchmark of epic conquests when all seemed lost. The women estab��� lished their own stan��� dard with a triple-over��� time thriller March 4 that resulted in a 96���87 victory over Connecti��� cut. It was a fitting send-off for seniors Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner in their fi��� nal home game. ���I felt like I was pro��� tecting my house or something, like I was a guard dog,��� said Dig��� gins, who finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and four steals in the nationally televised showdown in front of a sellout audience. ������ Just seeing familiar faces of the fans in the crowd and the connec��� tion with them was my way of saying thank you.��� The Irish rallied in regulation time and then from a 70-64 defi��� cit in the first overtime when Kayla McBride���s three-pointer ��� the only one of the game for the Irish ��� with 5.2 seconds remaining led to a second overtime. The second overtime saw the Irish fall behind again, 80-75, before clawing back to force