Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/396685
Notre Dame began practice Oct. 6, will play an exhibition game Nov. 5 ver- sus Ferris State and opens the season Nov. 14 versus UMass Lowell. JEWELL LOYD LEADS NEW NUCLEUS Two years ago, the Irish had to replace top-10 WNBA draft picks Devereaux Peters and Natalie Novosel — but still won a school-record 30 straight games (three against UConn) before losing to the Huskies in the national semifinals. Last year after the graduation of three-time All-American Skylar Dig- gins, Notre Dame eclipsed the one-year school record with 37 straight wins. This year's nucleus will be led by 5-10 junior guard Jewell Loyd, a 2014 consen- sus All-American and possibly the main challenger to UConn's Breanna Stewart for National Player of the Year honors. Loyd paced the Irish in scoring (18.6 points per game) and steals (58), was second in rebounds (6.5 per game) and already has been described by Mc- Graw as the greatest athlete she's ever coached. McGraw said the ultra-versatile Loyd is playing better than ever, but the pro- gram has always prided itself on excel- lent balance. "If she has to average more than 20 points per game, we're not going to be very good," McGraw said. "We need to continue to be that team-oriented style that everybody's sharing the ball. There are going to be games where we need her to score a lot." Joining Loyd as starters are sopho- mores Lindsay Allen and Taya Reimer. Allen started all 38 games at the point last season and earned Full Court Press Freshman All-America honors after leading the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.24). A 49.7-percent shooter from the field while averaging 6.2 points per game, Allen will have more shot oppor- tunities sans McBride. The McDonald's Player of the Year as a high school senior, Reimer averaged 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds last season while playing 19.2 minutes per game. She will fill Achonwa's role, especially as an effective high-post passer who will face the basket more, and her condition- ing has reached a higher level. "She is maybe our most improved played coming into this season," Mc- Graw said of Reimer. "Her and Madison Cable have really made great strides." "Just mentally and in her attitude, she is so much more aggressive this year. … She just looks like a different person." THE NEXT WAVE The next trio is comprised of senior wing Cable, junior wing Michaela Mabrey and 6-3 freshman Brianna Turner, the Gatorade National Player of the Year — and already a preseason third-team All-America pick by Sporting News. Last year, Mabrey and Cable provided excellent support off the bench. The sharp-shooting Mabrey led the team in threes (72 at a 42.1-percent clip), while Cable provided a little of everything, in- cluding 25 treys of her own on 46.3-per- cent shooting. With so many different scoring op- tions, McGraw wants Turner — who will mainly play in the low post — to concentrate on other areas first while helping make the Irish quicker and more athletic than last season.