WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY LOU SOMOGYI
O
n Nov. 21, the No. 3-ranked Notre
Dame women traveled to South
Dakota State. Five days later, af-
ter hosting Valparaiso, the Fight-
ing Irish were scheduled to be in Free-
port, Bahamas, for the Junkanoo Jam
over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Talk about going from cold to hot.
It's not unlike the progress McGraw
wants to see from her depth-laden
squad that opened with an 85-54 vic-
tory versus Bucknell Nov. 15, followed
by a 74-39 win over Toledo three days
later.
The first two months of the season
are about building an identity and
comfort level with each other before
heading into January conference play.
It will run hot and cold on occasion.
Against Toledo, for example, the
Irish started cold, shooting 7 of 25 (28.0
percent) from the floor — but then
turned hot, converting 22 of their last
36 (61.1 percent) field goal attempts.
Nine players saw at least 14 minutes
of action.
"We're just going to get better offen-
sively as we work our combinations
and people in the game," McGraw
said. "That's going to be until January.
We have a lot of depth and are trying
to put those pieces together, especially
DEFENSE
RULES EARLY
Finding an identity and chemistry
are the next steps
Sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld led a bal‑
anced attack with 13 points in a 74‑39 win over
Toledo Nov. 18.
PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND
