Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI W hen Notre Dame freshman guards Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey were growing up, "Family Feud" to them was not merely a popular game show on television. It was a way of life at home while try- ing to gain one-upmanship. Ogunbowale insisted on competing with a couple of older brothers — Dare is currently a senior running back at Wisconsin — and numerous other gifted cousins such as Diamond Stone (current freshman star for the top-five ranked Maryland men's team) or Ryan Evans (All-Big Ten honorable mention for Wisconsin basketball in 2013). Her mother Yolanda was the 1985 North Star Conference Offensive MVP at DePaul in softball while also being a top pitcher, and father Gregory, a former member of the Nigerian Army, played soccer and rugby. No slack was cut to Ogunbowale when she insisted on playing tackle football, soccer or basketball with the boys while growing up. "I had a lot of cuts and a lot of bruises. They treated me like one of them," recalled the Milwaukee, Wis., native. "Anything we did was super competitive, whether it was cards or anything else. It really toughened me up. I wasn't going to let them beat me just because I was a girl. I tried to get just as physical as they were with me. "I cried a couple of times when I was younger when they got rough, and my parents were like, 'You're playing with your brothers, that's your choice.' I then wanted to beat them, and that's what I looked forward to. "My father is from an African cul- ture that just expects excellence. My brothers and parents gave me high standards to go after." Belmar, N.J., native Mabrey likewise grew up competing against talented and older siblings. Brother Roy started all 114 games at Division II St. Anselm College, where he tallied 1,864 career points from 2011-15, while sister Mi- chaela is a senior captain and two-year starter for the Fighting Irish. "It made me really mad when I lost to her in one-on-one," recalled the Fearless Frosh Family backgrounds allow newcomers Arike Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey to quickly provide the Irish aggression and energy