Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/499410
BY LOU SOMOGYI T he theme throughout Notre Dame's 2014-15 season was even though it might have a chance to make the Final Four a fifth straight season, it was "a year away" from better challenging the Connecti- cut juggernaut for the national title. With the surprising exit of consen- sus All-American junior guard Jewell Loyd to the WNBA, where she was the No. 1 overall selection in the league's draft April 16, it might be the same theme again in 2015-16. It was virtually a given that the UConn dynasty would win its third consecutive national title this year, in part because Notre Dame, its main and sometimes sole challenger the past several years, was more youth-laden and in a rebuilding mode after gradu- ating first-team All-American guard Kayla McBride, honorable mention All-American center Natalie Achonwa and starting forward Ariel Braker. • The centerpiece was Loyd, still only a junior. • Five of the top eight players at the start of the season were freshmen (cen- ter Brianna Turner, forward Kathryn Westbeld and guard Mychal Johnson) or sophomores (point guard Lindsay Allen and forward Taya Reimer, both starters). • Among the top nine, the lone se- nior was swingman Madison Cable off the bench, and she has been approved to return for a fifth season in 2015- 16 because of a medical redshirt her freshman year. Even Irish head coach Muffet Mc- Graw admitted her surprise that this edition posted a 36-2 record and a 22-game winning streak prior to the NCAA title game versus UConn, in- cluding vanquishing the teams that finished Nos. 3-8 in the final Associ- ated Press regular-season poll. "Of all those five [straight Final Fours], this team has improved the most," McGraw said. "For them to get it together, it's been really fun to watch." Notre Dame put up a better battle against UConn this season in the championship game, narrowing the Huskies' winning margin from 79-58 Reloading Time … again Early departure of Jewell Loyd leaves Irish in familiar role