Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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90 PRESEASON 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BY LOU SOMOGYI T wenty years ago while lead- ing the Notre Dame women's basketball to its first Final Four, head coach Muffet McGraw had seven scholarship players avail- able during that dramatic run in the tournament. The situation became so dire to- ward the end that she had student manager Christy Grady suit up and appear in four games (while still per- forming the managerial duties). Just having seven to practice with was a blessing for McGraw this summer. Seniors Kathryn Westbeld and Mychal Johnson both were sidelined through August, after undergoing surgery this spring and needing four months apiece of convalescence. Westbeld underwent ankle surgery to repair some tendons, and McGraw is still amazed how the 6-2 starting forward played most of the second half of last season at about "60 per- cent" strength. A bad shoulder and sprained ankle forced Johnson to sit out 10 games during the conference stretch last year, and shoulder surgery eventually was performed following the season. There have been no setbacks in their recovery, leaving McGraw cau- tiously optimistic. For now, West- beld can shoot without jumping, and Johnson is involved mainly in sta- tionary handling of the ball. "They haven't been cleared yet, so that's usually when the setbacks come, once you start doing more," McGraw said. "The timetable for re- covery was going to be four months." Junior guard Marina Mabrey — who led last year's ACC champs and 33-4 team in threes (75), was second in assists (92) and third in scoring (14.6 points per game) — was injured just prior to summer school. "She's been out all summer," Mc- Graw lamented. "She had an ankle injury that turned into a bone bruise. It's still bothering her. She had the MRI, and the doctors shut her down for the summer." Continued rest has been the recom- mendation. Most notably, All-American 6-3 senior forward Brianna Turner 's status for the 2017-18 campaign re- mains unsettled. Turner tore her ACL March 29 during the victory versus Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and underwent surgery April 12. "Maybe October we'll know for sure," McGraw said on whether Turner will sit out this season. "It's one of those things where you have to get to a certain point before you decide. We're clearly planning that she won't be ready for the start of the season [in November], so I don't think it will change too much. "It would be a bonus if she played." The Irish head coach has remained consistent in her stance that it's either play at 100 percent or take a medical redshirt for Turner, and she would rather not have her play a half season even if cleared for action in January, because then there's still the matter of basketball stamina, getting back into a rhythm, clearing mental hurdles, etc. RECOVERY PERIOD Bouncing back from injuries has been a focal point of this summer for the Irish Junior guard Marina Mabrey — the team's most prolific long-distance shooter (75 made threes) and third-leading scorer (14.6 points per game) in 2016-17 — was shut down until the fall after suffering an ankle injury just prior to summer school. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND