Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2020 77 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Williams' Tar Heels have been rav- aged by attrition and injuries. The day after the Tar Heels suffered the defeat to Clemson, McGraw's Fight- ing Irish were crushed 90-56 at home by North Carolina State. That made the Irish 6-11 overall — after having been 279-23 for a .924 winning percentage the previous nine years combined. The loss to Louisville Jan. 30 dropped Notre Dame to 3-8 at home — the most defeats ever suffered in one season on its floor. It also clinched the first losing season at home since 1980-81, the first year the program competed at the Division I level. McGraw was surprised at how Williams reached out to her. "We sort of vented to each other," revealed McGraw of a conversation she estimated lasted about 20 min- utes. "We both had just won a cham- pionship the last couple of years, and just how it is to come from always winning to now always losing. "It picked me up. … the number of people that have been reaching out and sending notes of encouragement. That's been really uplifting." The gist of the conversation was the theme of rising again from the ashes someday. "Just knowing that you've had suc- cess, you know it's going to come back," she said. "You've got to go through the valleys. That's been hard but I think we're both trying to figure that out." Another figure to contact would be Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who has been to the NBA Finals each of the past five years and won three titles in a four-year stretch — but this year had the worst record (12-41) in the league through Feb. 10. "I should call him," McGraw joked. "I thought I'd start a support group, Steve, Roy and me, and see if we can go on Twitter." While she has accepted the current reality a little better than a month or two ago, some habits are difficult to break after the prolonged dominance. "I go into every game expecting to win, which is why it makes it so much harder," she said. "I keep say- ing we have to lower the bar, and it's just not happening. I'm just not capable of accepting that." Humility can also help evoke em- pathy. "Now I know what it has felt like for our opponents for the last five years or so," she said. ✦ 2019-20 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 5 at Fordham W, 60-55 Nov. 8 Loyola Maryland W, 84-60 Nov. 11 Tennessee L, 74-63 Nov. 14 Michigan State L, 72-69 Nov. 20 Toledo W, 54-51 Nov. 23 at Michigan W, 76-72 Nov. 28 vs. Florida Gulf Coast^ L, 69-60 Nov. 29 vs. South Dakota State^ L, 65-59 Nov. 30 vs. South Florida^ W, 67-51 Dec. 4 Minnesota% L, 75-67 Dec. 8 at Connecticut L, 81-57 Dec. 11 DePaul L, 105-94 Dec. 29 Clemson* L, 71-55 Jan. 2 at Pittsburgh* W, 60-52 Jan. 5 at Syracuse* L, 74-63 (OT) Jan. 9 Boston College* L, 75-65 Jan. 12 NC State* L, 90-56 Jan. 16 at Duke* L, 50-47 Jan. 19 Miami* W, 76-53 Jan. 26 at Virginia* L, 90-60 Jan. 30 Louisville* L, 86-54 Feb. 2 at Georgia Tech* W, 59-51 Feb. 6 at Wake Forest* W, 75-71 Feb. 9 Pittsburgh* W, 74-52 Feb. 13 at Boston College* (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Louisville* (ACCN) 3 p.m. Feb. 20 Virginia Tech* (RSN) 8 p.m. Feb. 23 Syracuse* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Feb. 27 North Carolina* (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Mar. 1 at Florida State* (ESPN2/ACCN) 2 p.m. Mar. 4-8 ACC Tournament$ (ACCN) TBA ^ Cancun Challenge at Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico; % ACC/Big Ten Chal- lenge; * ACC game; $ at Greensboro, N.C; ACCN — ACC Network; BTN — Big Ten Network; RSN — Regional Sports Networks; ACCNE — ACC Net- work Extra Three-Point Play 1. Building Blocks The young nucleus led by sophomore guard Kat- lyn Gilbert (13.9 points per game), freshman for- ward Sam Brunelle (13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game) and freshman guard Anaya Peoples (out the rest of this year after shoulder surgery) all have three years of eligibility remaining, plus center Mikki Vaughn (10.8 points, 6.9 rebounds per game) has two years after this campaign. "The more that we can get out of them now and the learning experience that we're going through, that's just what we're looking at — just individuals and how can we get better," head coach Muffet McGraw said of what she hopes to salvage from this season. 2. Full Future Roster? The NCAA permits women's basketball programs 15 scholarships, but McGraw's preferred number has been about 11 — two full teams to practice, and one for an injury. However, the enormous volume of injuries and greater gravitation by players to the transfer portal is now having her look at the full 15 in the future. If leading scorer Destinee Walker (14.3 points per game) applies for a sixth year next sea- son (for which she is eligible) and is approved by the NCAA, the Irish could have 12 scholarship players. "We don't want to be in a situation where we've been the past few years where you just never know what's going to happen at the end of the year," McGraw said. "There are injuries, there are kids that transfer — we've got to be prepared to have a full roster." In reality, and in our humble opinion, 12 might be a more ideal number because 15 is only going to perpetuate the cycle of transfers. 3. Madeline Westbeld Named McDonald's All-American Like older sister Kathryn Westbeld (2014-18), the younger Westbeld was one of 24 players selected to play in the prestigious all-star outing to be held April 1 in Houston. The 6-2 wing was averaging 24 points, 12 rebounds and four assists per game entering the Ohio state playoffs. Among the other four Irish 2020 recruits, guards Alli Campbell and Alasia Hayes were averaging 28 and 23 points per game, respectively, while 6-2 forward Amirah Abdur-Rahim has recovered well from last year's ACL surgery. Unfortunately, 6-5 recruit Nat Marshall suffered a torn ACL her senior season, which will leave her freshman campaign at Notre Dame next year somewhat in limbo. — Lou Somogyi Sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert, who was aver- aging 13.9 points per game through Feb. 10, is another vital member of the young nucleus of Irish players who are steadily improving under the pressure of a rare losing campaign in South Bend. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER