Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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right now," McGraw said of the versa- tile Cable. "Her team defense is among the best on the team. She's a better ath- lete than she looks. I think she surprises people when she blocks shots, but she's been shooting the ball well." Westbeld (7.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game) provides similar versatility with more height, and combines with Turner and guard Mychal Johnson (4.5 points per game) in a freshman class McGraw describes as "probably among the best we've ever had" in her 28 sea- sons. 'What Would You Fight For?' Notre Dame's message in its recent school publicity ads is "What would you fight for?" The No. 5-ranked women put it on display Dec. 13 during the pregame warm-ups versus Michigan. Head coach Muffet McGraw's team sported black shirts with three words in white lettering: "I Can't Breathe." It was a response to a Dec. 3 grand jury decision to not indict a Staten Island, N.Y., police officer who last July 17 reportedly placed Eric Garner in a chokehold when Garner resisted arrest. Garner reportedly re- peated "I can't breathe" while lying facedown on the sidewalk before eventually dying. The grand jury decision in the racially charged event prompted protests nationally, including a "die- in" by Notre Dame students on campus. Sophomore forward Taya Reimer said she was heading to class when she saw the protest and it prompted her to act. "It's not an anti-law enforcement, anti-anything message," Reimer said. "It's just showing condolence for the families and just supporting them." "One of the things I try to teach them is you've got to fight for what you want," McGraw said. "You've got to fight for playing time, you've got to fight to win a national championship, you have to be willing to stand up and fight, and you have to be accountable in that fight. The accountability doesn't end when they leave the locker room. … I want to have strong, confident women who are not afraid to use their voice and take a stand. … Look in the mirror and say, 'What are you willing to fight for?'" The players paid for the shirts, and university vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick sup- ported it with the idea that it had to be a unanimous feeling among the team. "They are students first," Swarbrick said after the game. "… If there's anything I worry about it's that our kids get too focused on the athletic side of it and don't do enough of the other things, so I was very happy that they had a broader perspective and wanted to do this. "If all we're doing is teaching them to play sports, we're missing the boat. We want to create an environ- ment where they make decisions like this." — Lou Somogyi Notre Dame joined a nationwide movement by sporting the above T-shirts before topping Michigan 70-50 Dec. 13. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND