BY LOU SOMOGYI
E
ach of the past three years one
has heard, "This is the year
Notre Dame falls out of the top
four or five."
Yet in no team sport at Notre Dame
over the past five years has the state-
ment "tradition never graduates" been
more applicable than head coach Muf-
fet McGraw's women's basketball pro-
gram.
Even McGraw had acknowledged
last October this would be the year
Notre Dame would incur huge growing
pains after having graduated starters
Kayla McBride, Natalie Achonwa (both
WNBA top-10 picks) and Ariel Braker.
Five months later, Notre Dame won
both the ACC regular-season and tour-
nament titles, finished 31-2 with a No.
2 ranking (behind only UConn), and
entered the NCAA Tournament on a
17-game winning streak while continu-
ing to build momentum with what has
been a relatively young squad.
The Irish finished No. 1 in Ratings
Percentage Index and were 9-1 versus
the final pre-NCAA Tournament As-
sociated Press top 17, capped by a com-
A Culture Of
WINNING
No. 2 Notre Dame enters NCAA Tour-
nament with 17-game winning streak
The Irish captured both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and are now a remarkable 37-1 in
their two years in the league.
PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS
