Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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remain a bona fide Final Four contender. This year the dynamics change. Four starters return to complement the topthree freshman class, but the graduation of the program-changing Diggins leaves an immense void in leadership and swagger. "Having four starters back with a rookie point guard is really about as good as you can do," McGraw said of replacing Diggins while noting what could still keep Notre Dame among the nation's top 10. "We've got people around the freshman that will help her and make her job a lot easier. We've got people we can rely on to score; we've got people that have played big minutes in big games." Lindy's Sports College Basketball Preview has Notre Dame the highest, at No. 4 nationally, while Sporting News — listing McBride as a preseason first-team All-American, Achonwa a preseason second-team All-American ✦ 2013-14 Numerical Roster No.Name 3 Whitney Holloway 5 Kristina Nelson 11 Natalie Achonwa 12 Taya Reimer 15 Lindsay Allen 21 Kayla McBride 22 Madison Cable 23 Michaela Mabrey 24 Hannah Huffman 32 Jewell Loyd 34 Markisha Wright 35 Diamond Thompson 44 Ariel Braker Pos. G F F F G G G G G G F C F and Loyd a preseason third-team AllAmerican — has it No. 9. USA Today Sports also ranks the Irish No. 9, and ESPN.com puts them at No. 10. Connecticut is the overwhelming choice to win its eighth national title under head coach Geno Auriemma, while Duke, Maryland and North Carolina will join Notre Dame as the powers of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Veterans McBride and Achonwa moved into leadership roles seamlessly last year in place of Novosel and Peters. The multidimensional 5-11 McBride can play most anywhere on the floor (she is the next option at point guard, behind Allen) and joined Diggins on last year's Women's Basketball Coaches Association 10-woman AllAmerica team. She averaged a teamhigh 19.4 points in five NCAA Tournament games last year, and her 88 assists and 57 steals for the year were second only to Diggins. This October, Ht. Yr. Hometown 5-4 Jr. Plainfield, Ill. 6-3 Fr. Buford, Ga. 6-3 Sr. Guelph, Ontario 6-3 Sr. Fishers, Ind. 5-7 Fr. Mitchellville, Md. 5-11 Sr. Erie, Pa. 5-11 Jr. Mt. Lebanon, Pa. 5-10 So. Belmar, N.J. 5-9 So. Diablo, Calif. 5-10 So. Lincolnwood, Ill. 6-2 Jr. Des Moines, Iowa 6-4 Fr. Wheaton, Ill. 6-1 Sr. Grosse Point Woods, Mich.