Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 26, 2016 49 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI W ith eight McDonald's All-Amer- icans on its 2016-17 roster, Notre Dame women's basketball is used to star power. Yet it has never quite seen a visit weekend like the one it will host Sept. 24. The nation's No. 1 and No. 2 prospects in the class of 2017 — wing Megan Walker and guard Evina Westbrook, respectively — as ranked by ESPN Hoop- Gurlz and Prospects Na- tion, are both scheduled to make their official visits to the Fighting Irish campus. The 6-1 Walker attends Monacan High in the Richmond, Va., area and is making Notre Dame her third and final official visit. She was at Texas the weekend of Sept. 10 and Connecticut the weekend of Sept. 17. She guided Monacan to its second straight state title in 2015-16. Westbrook, a 6-0 guard from Salem, Ore., has led her South Salem squad to back-to-back titles as well. She has already been to USC (Sept. 10) and Tennessee (Sept. 17), and after Notre Dame she still plans on making of- ficial visits to Maryland (Oct. 1) and South Carolina (Oct. 8), with nearby Oregon State also in the running. Landing at least one of the two to join 6-3 Penn- sylvania forward Mikayla Vaughn — who committed this summer — would be a coup, but head coach Muf- fet McGraw's program is also seeking a second front- court player in this class. Among the candidates on ESPN HoopGurlz the Irish have been ardently pursuing and are trying to set up official visits with are Georgia's 6-3 Maya Dod- son (No. 11 on HoopGurlz), Texas' 6-4 Jade Williams (No. 13), New York's 6-3 Danielle Patterson (No. 30) and Flor- ida's 6-2 LaDazhia Williams (No. 47). Meanwhile, the Irish secured their first commitment from the 2018 class in 5-11 Katlyn Gilbert from India- napolis Heritage Christian. Ranked No. 14 in her class by Pros- pects Nation and No. 24 in Hoops- Gurlz, Gilbert averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds last season as a sophomore to help 26-4 Heritage Christian to a Class 3A state title for the third straight year. Among the schools recruiting her were UConn, South Carolina and Vanderbilt na- tionally, along with Big Ten schools such as Purdue, Iowa and Michigan. Gilbert committed shortly after an in-home visit from McGraw. ✦ 2016-17 NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE After hosting reigning four-time national champ Connecticut Dec. 7, Notre Dame will embark on its longest road tour in school history with six games in a row from Dec. 10 through Jan. 2 — plus four of the next six as well. This includes a Dec. 20 meeting at Michigan State where former Irish forward Taya Reimer (2011-14) now plays. Notre Dame will play an exhibition contest against Roberts Wesleyan Nov. 3 before opening its season in the Preseason WNIT against Central Michigan Nov. 11. The Irish will play each round of the WNIT at home in the friendly confines of Purcell Pavilion, with a potential title game matchup with 2016 Final Four participant Washington Nov. 20. Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Nov. 3 Roberts Wesleyan# 7 p.m. Nov. 11 Central Michigan! 7 p.m. Nov. 14 Fordham or Furman! 7 p.m. Nov. 17 WNIT Semifinals^ 7 p.m. Nov. 20 WNIT Final% (CBSSN) 3 p.m. Nov. 22 vs. Louisiana Lafayette& 8 p.m. Nov. 26 TCU 1 p.m. Nov. 30 at Iowa@ TBA Dec. 4 Valparaiso 1 p.m. Dec. 7 Connecticut (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at DePaul TBA Dec. 18 at Toledo 2 p.m. Dec. 20 at Michigan State TBA Dec. 27 at Chattanooga TBA Dec. 29 at North Carolina State* 7 p.m. Jan. 2 at Georgia Tech* 7 p.m. Jan. 5 Wake Forest* 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Miami* (ESPN flex) 3 p.m. Jan. 12 Pittsburgh* 7 p.m. Jan. 16 at Tennessee (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at Boston College* 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at North Carolina* (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Jan. 26 Duke* 7 p.m. Jan. 29 Virginia* (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Feb. 2 at Virginia Tech* 7 p.m. Feb. 6 Louisville* (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 12 Georgia Tech* 1 p.m. Feb. 16 at Clemson* 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at Syracuse* (ESPN2) 5 p.m. Feb. 23 Boston College* 7 p.m. Feb. 26 Florida State* (ESPN2) 1 p.m. # Exhibition; ! Preseason WNIT; ^ would face Elon, Green Bay, Little Rock or North Texas; % would face Abilene Chris- tian, Colorado State, Eastern Washington, Missouri, Ne- braska, Omaha, UT Rio Grande Valley or Washington; CBSSN — CBS Sports Network; & at the Campbell Center in Houston; @ ACC-Big Ten Challenge; * ACC game; dates and a venue for the ACC Tournament will be announced at a later time P r o s p e c t s N a t i o n r a n k s Gilbert, a 5-10 guard from I n d i a n a p o l i s H e r i t a g e Christian, as the No. 14 junior nationally. PHOTO COURTESY USA BASKETBALL MEMORABILIA Vintage Notre Dame Memorabilia Augie's Locker Room ND Stadium Items, Jerseys, Helmets, Autographs and One of a Kind Rockne Items. COME IN THE STORE AND MENTION BLUE & GOLD AND GET A FREE $20 GIFT! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY!! Voted Best Notre Dame Collectables in the Country! 1811 South Bend Ave. South Bend , I n 46637 574-277-NDND (6363) www.augieslockerroom.com FACEBOOK.COM/AUGIESLOCKERROOM NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAMES on VHS or DVD for sale, from 1928 to present. Contact Peter Rahas at 7700 Golden Filly St., Las Vegas, NV 89131 or call 1-702-395-2974 ACCOMMODATIONS M A R K E T P L A C E Stay Next to ND! 3 Bedroom House, 1/2 mile from stadium $750/night rental. Tickets also available! Call Tim @ 574-335-9450 or email tmbsullivan@yahoo.com Top Two Seniors To Visit; Katlyn Gilbert Commits Call 877-630-8768 to advertise in BGI!