Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WOMEN'S SOCCER 25 points (▼ 75) ended a disappointing year by bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2011. The Irish (10-8-3) lost a 1-0 game at No. 16 Illinois to end their season one week after losing in the Big East semifinals. Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum at- The defending national champions the best point guard in the country. Diggins led the team in points, steals and assists. She also had help from fifth-year senior Deveraux Peters down low and senior Nat- alie Novosel in the backcourt. Peters and Novosel were both first-round picks in the WNBA Draft in April. Notre Dame didn't hang any champion- tributed his team's struggles to an inability to play a complete 90-minute game. The squad frequently had short lapses in close games that cost them dearly. Last season's leading scorer and player of the year finalist, Melissa Henderson, scored 18 goals in her senior season, while the rest of the team struggled to find sec- ondary sources of offense. The next leading scorers for the Irish — sophomore Adriana Leon, freshman Lauren Bohaboy and se- nior Jessica Schuveiller — finished with six goals each. Winter Sports 397.5 points (▲ 41.5) WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 90 points (Even) Dame dominated the majority of women's basketball before falling one game short of a national title. Two of the team's four losses, including a lopsided 80-61 setback in the national championship game, came against Baylor and its 6-8 junior phemon Brittney Griner. The Irish had their own junior superstar For the second year in a row, Notre in point guard Skylar Diggins. The home- town hero was a consensus All-American and won the Nancy Lieberman Award as ship banners this season — Connecticut beat the Irish in the Big East championship game before they repaid the favor at the Final Four — but the team did celebrate head coach Muffet McGraw's 25th year in South Bend. She signed on for at least 10 more this summer. FENCING 85 points (▼ 15) the collegiate fencing elite with a top three finish at the NCAA Championships for the fifth consecutive year. After winning a na- tional title a year ago, the Irish fell slightly behind Ohio State and Princeton to end the year in third place. Senior Enzo Castellani was the team's Notre Dame continued its run among lone first-team All-American. He finished third in the men's foil during the NCAA competition, falling to eventual champion Zain Shaito from Ohio State. Seven other Irish fencers earned second-team honors during the tournament, including junior Grace Hartman (fifth in the women's foil) and freshman Ashley Severson (fifth in the women's epee). MEN'S BASKETBALL 25 points (▼ 25) Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey proved once again that very few people do AUGUST 2012 101