Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKEBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI S ome would say Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is "playing possum" again. Oth- ers might refer it to Aesop's Fables famous "crying wolf." McGraw insists she is only apprais- ing her No. 3-ranked squad with a cautious outlook. Notre Dame was supposed to re- build two years ago with the gradua- tion of three starters, including top-10 WNBA picks Devereaux Peters and Natalie Novosel. It finished 35-2 and in the Final Four. Then after graduating the program- changing Skylar Diggins last season, Notre Dame was destined to take a dip. But the Irish were 37-0 before los- ing to Connecticut in the national title showdown. This time, according to McGraw, the graduation of two more top-10 WNBA picks — All-American guard Kayla McBride and center Natalie Achonwa — plus glue figure Ariel Braker makes her 28th Notre Dame team one of her greener ones. No senior is in the start- ing lineup and four of the top seven players are freshmen and sophomores. "We've gone slowly," McGraw said a couple of days before the Nov. 14 opener against UMass Lowell. "I've tried to be very patient with the fresh- men, and I think I have been. We have tremendous talent, and I think the younger players are really good. We're just so inexperienced. It's just a differ- ent team from last year. "We thought there would might be growing pains last year. We talked about that last year, too — 'We're go- ing to take some lumps early. We're going to play in some games that could go either way.' "We overachieved last year. This year, I really mean it — we're going to take some lumps early. … We're really young. We are so different from last year." In relative terms, "taking lumps" of late for the Irish has meant allow- ing the opposition to come within 20 points, or even — egads — winning by less than double digits. LUMP PAYMENTS A hard-earned win at No. 15 Michigan State is an early primer