Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Notre Dame has lost only one league game in two years, and the Irish are fa- vored to capture a third straight crown. Let a new puzzle party begin. ✦ Three-Point Play 1. Balanced Perspective — This might become head coach Muffet McGraw's most balanced scoring team in her 28 years at Notre Dame. Through the 11-1 non-conference slate, the Irish were led by fifth-year senior guard Madison Cable (15.8 points per game), followed by fresh- man guards Marina Mabrey (13.4) and Arike Ogunbowale (11.4), sophomores Brianna Turner (11.2) and Kathryn West- beld (10.2) up front, and then star junior point guard Lindsay Allen (9.9) and senior captain Michaela Mabrey (7.4). The 1976-77 Irish men's team, the year before its Final Four, was the only one at the school to have five players average double figures — and a sixth averaged 9.6. 2. Hustling Huffman — With Cable go- ing from complementary glue figure to clutch go-to shooter/scorer, 5-9 senior Hannah Huffman has taken on a role as a vital glue figure off the bench. Maybe the fastest player for the Irish from end to end, she has made her mark on defense, ranks second in steals and third in offen- sive rebounds despite playing only about 13 minutes per game (with three starts). Her converted jumper at the buzzer to end the first half proved crucial in the 62-61 win over No. 10 Oregon State Dec. 28. 3. Taya Reimer's Uncertain Basketball Future — Junior forward and team captain Taya Reimer's depar- ture from the squad for the rest of the season due to personal reasons does not necessarily mean she will be leaving school. Plagued by an Achilles injury since the summer, Reimer posted on her Twitter account that she finished with a 3.6 grade-point average her first semester (on a 4.0 scale). According to McGraw, Reimer has told her that she plans to remain at Notre Dame for the second se- mester of her junior year and has signed up for her classes. When asked if Reimer (who also briefly left as a sophomore) has an open invitation to return for the 2016-17 campaign, McGraw paused for a few seconds before responding, "We'll decide that after the year." — Lou Somogyi Head coach Muffett McGraw was noncommittal on whether junior forward Taya Reimer will return to the program in 2016- 17 after announcing in December she will not play for the rest of this year. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND