Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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American by the Associated Press and Sports Illustrated. Now, Turner in the low post and Re‑ imer in the high post provide assets Mc‑ Graw hasn't seen in her 28‑year career. Both possess the athleticism to bring the ball up and lead fast breaks, yet also can provide a double‑trouble presence in the paint. Without the graduated Natalie Achonwa, a top‑10 WNBA pick who is now also serving as the director of women's basketball operations for her alma mater, both Turner and Reimer will fill her void. Beyond her superb leadership on the floor, Achonwa was an exceptional passer in the high post that helped keep the offense in flow. This year there is some alteration. "It's a big adjustment for the guards having to look in," McGraw said. "They never had to do that before, and now we're really encouraging that. We've had a couple of practices where we're trying to score only inside. We're work‑ ing on our passing, which is not great right now. We're working on feeding the post a little bit more and running some different things. We're still run‑ ning Princeton, but we're going to run some different options that help us get the ball inside." Reported to have a 36‑inch vertical leap and having been able to dunk a basketball since her early days in high school, Turner provides a game‑changer in the post. In recent national championship game outings, a smaller Notre Dame team had problems against Baylor's 6‑8 Brittney Griner and UConn's 6‑4 Bre‑ anna Stewart and 6‑5 Stephanie Dol‑ son — especially with Achonwa out with a knee injury last season. Turner and Reimer might be able to swing the pendulum. "She earned the starting role, and it did happen quickly," McGraw said of Turner. "Her ability coming in as far as rebounding, defense, blocking shots was something we really needed, and she filled that void immediately. She just gets more comfortable every day. It's fun coming to practice and seeing what improvements she's going to make that day …" "I'm just trying to learn my place," said the humble and soft‑spoken Turner, who admitted some nerves were pres‑ ent in her exhibition debut Nov. 4 ver‑ sus Division II Ferris State. She also describes Reimer as her role model. "I've known her for a really long time," Reimer said of their days to‑ gether with USA Basketball. "She's just one of my favorite people on and off the court. I just love playing with her. She's so athletic and just loves the game, and she always tries to get better every day … and she elevates my game by just how hard he she plays and how hard she works." In 18 minutes versus Ferris State, the more assertive and better‑conditioned Reimer scored 10 points, grabbed 11 re‑ bounds, blocked five shots and handed out three assists. Last year while play‑ ing 19.2 minutes per game for the 37‑1 Irish, Reimer averaged 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, and recorded double‑ doubles against three ranked teams. However, initial adjustments included trying to build better stamina. "That's something I was focusing on a lot over the summer," Reimer said.