Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 OCT. 29, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY TYLER HORKA N otre Dame head coach Niele Ivey noticed a theme in her exit inter- views with players returning for the 2022-23 season. They're all "hungry for more." But how does a team satisfy hun- ger? It's not as easy as an individual getting up off the couch to take a look inside the pantry. Or ordering food to the doorstep. This is the type of hunger that isn't erased without labor and the satis- faction of working toward a goal. But sometimes taking a step back and inter- nalizing where the hunger is stemming from is the first order of business. That's what Notre Dame did this off- season. The primary source was a 66-63 loss to North Carolina State in the Sweet 16. Notre Dame, a No. 5 seed, entered the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead over the Wolfpack, a No. 1 seed. The lead steadily dwindled throughout the frame. It was down to one point with 30 seconds left, but the Irish had the ball. Until they didn't. Senior guard Dara Mabrey had it stripped near the midcourt logo. North Carolina State easily scored on a break- away layup. The Irish couldn't connect offensively on the ensuing possession and lost by three. Hence, the hunger. When asked what's yet to be drilled down for a Notre Dame team that enters the season ranked No. 9 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 — the program's highest ranking since securing the No. 1 spot ahead of the 2018-19 campaign — the answer came easy to Mabrey. "Late game maturity," she said at ACC media days Oct. 11 in Charlotte, N.C. That's something that doesn't come without experiencing do-or-die situ- ations in the moment. As painful as it was for Mabrey to turn the ball over in the final seconds of a pressure-packed game, she's less likely to do it again if she processes what occurred in the right manner. And who better to help with that than 2001 consensus National Player of the Year and Notre Dame Fighting Irish na- tional champion Ruth Riley? Ivey, Ri- ley's teammate at Notre Dame, brought Riley in for a preseason team meeting recently. Her message resonated with Mabrey and her teammates. " I a s ke d h e r s p e c i f i ca l ly a b o u t fourth-quarter game scenarios, and she said, 'You guys just have to have this hyperfocus collectively,'" Mabrey said. "And that really fueled us. I think we're going to use that to our advantage." Mabrey is one of three graduate stu- dents among Notre Dame's nine schol- arship players. The others are Texas transfer Lauren Ebo, a 6-foot-4 center who advanced to the Elite Eight twice while with the Longhorns, and Stan- ford transfer Jenna Brown, a guard who played sparingly in Palo Alto because of injuries. "When she steps on the floor and you give her the ball, she's going to com- plete that play," Ivey said of Ebo. "She just brings experience … that leader- ship. She understands and knows the expectation. I think she's going to do an incredible job, especially with us losing Maya Dodson last season." Overall understanding and know- ing the expectation will be paramount for every Irish player. Those traits shouldn't be difficult to come by. Soph- omore guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron were there when North Caro- lina State came back to beat the Irish in March. So was junior forward Maddy Westbeld. They all threw metaphori- cal March Madness punches in NCAA Tournament wins over Massachusetts and Oklahoma. But they were dealt a heavy blow by the Wolfpack. If Riley's words truly hit home, Notre Dame will get off the mat and keep fighting. "We're gym rats, we love film, and we love being prepared and fixing our mistakes and just working towards per- fection," said Miles, a preseason Nancy Lieberman Award watch list member as one of the best point guards in the country. "Once you always work to- wards perfection, you can get the best that you can be." ✦ Irish Draw On A Program Legend's Wisdom For Motivation Graduate student guard Dara Mabrey is moti- vated by a late-game turnover suffered in last year's NCAA Sweet 16. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS CLASS OF 2023 COMMIT RECEIVES FIVE-STAR RANKING As of mid-October, Notre Dame only had one commit in the class of 2023, which will have its early signing period Nov. 9-16. That commit is an elite one, though. Emma Risch of Palm Bay (Fla.) Magnet High School was previously the No. 64-rated player in her class according to ESPN HoopGurlz. She rose to No. 20 and five-star status in the updated rankings released Oct. 17. Risch was the top riser in the class among players who were already rated in the top 100. She aver- aged 20.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.1 steals in 26 games as a junior. ESPN noted that Risch, 6-foot-1, "had a fantastic summer shooting the basketball" and has "improved strength and overall fitness." The outlet lauded "her ability to create space, relocate and make shots." It also complimented her court awareness and her knack for making teammates around her better. ESPN believes Risch could be an All-American as a senior. — Tyler Horka