2 THE OBSERVER | THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM INSIDER JODI LO | The Observer JODI LO | The Observer Notre Dame sophomore forward Taya Reimer looks for a pass down low in a 68-52 Irish Irish freshman forward Brianna Turner, guarded by Baylor junior guard Niya Johnson, victory over Louisville on Feb. 23 at Purcell Pavilion. decides her next move during Notre Dame’s 77-68 win over the Lady Bears on Sunday. By MARY GREEN don’t think you go into the five. They settled on one a week after they had topped along with South Carolina. Assistant Managing Editor season thinking, ‘This is lineup for the season opener then-No. 15 Maryland — both Notre Dame trailed the our national championship and have stuck to it in near- of which join Notre Dame in Blue Demons for most of that At the beginning of the sea- team,’” McGraw said in a ly every game since: Loyd, the Final Four this weekend, matchup in Chicago before son, Irish head coach Muffet teleconference Wednesday. Allen, junior guard Michaela McGraw seemed to slip one Those two first-round picks Mabrey, sophomore forward particular phrase into every in last year’s WNBA Draft, Taya Reimer and freshman one of her press conferences. guard Kayla McBride and for- forward Brianna Turner — “Take some lumps” — that’s ward Natalie Achonwa, aver- with the latter three combin- how she described her expec- aged a combined 32.5 points ing for seven career starts in tations for Notre Dame’s up- and 13.0 rebounds per game a Notre Dame uniform. coming season. in their senior year. With such a young and in- The Irish had advanced to Even more so, they and experienced group, McGraw four straight Final Fours, but classmate Ariel Braker rep- questioned her team’s tough- McGraw wasn’t about to book resented experience in the ness in early contests. her team’s tickets to Tampa, starting five — each played But after a sweep of the Florida, just yet. There were significant minutes for the ACC regular season and too many question marks Irish, with McBride (29.4 tournament titles, the head and unsettled areas. minutes per game) leading coach said her expectations “We’re going to take some the way, followed by Achonwa had been met. lumps early, and we’re going (25.4) and Braker (17.0). “I think they’ve definite- to have a lot of games that The other two starters, ju- ly reached that level and could go either way, and we’ll nior guard Jewell Loyd and then some,” McGraw said see what happens,” McGraw sophomore guard Lindsay last Saturday. “I think we’ve said Nov. 12. “We over- Allen, returned, but Loyd, seen that in a lot of games in achieved last year. This year, a 2014 second-team AP All- the ACC. We saw that in our I really mean it: We’re gonna American, was about the DePaul game up in Chicago, take some lumps early. only surefire thing on the which was shortly after the “I mean, we really are roster. first loss of the season. So I young. We’re so different Allen’s role at point guard think they really showed a lot from last year. We just don’t during her freshman year of resilience, but particularly know what’s gonna happen centered primarily on han- in the posts. late in a game, when adver- dling the ball, dishing it out “I think our guards are sity hits, when we get down, to teammates and keeping pretty tough. They’ve been when we get in foul trouble, her turnovers down. This tough all year long, but I when things start to spiral in year, McGraw said she asked think the post was where we the wrong direction.” Allen to do more to fill in for were questioning it, and they For one, the starting lineup the graduated players. definitely have come along looked a little different than “Coming into the season, and come a long way.” it had the year before, when we talked to Lindsay and McGraw pointed to two the Irish finished the regular told her she’s going to have games in particular that season undefeated and suf- to score a little bit more,” served as the season’s turn- fered their only loss of the McGraw said Wednesday. ing points. The first came year in the national champi- “This year, she’s got to score against DePaul on Dec. 10, onship game. more and be more vocal, and just four days after the Irish “When you lose two first- she’s been able to do that.” had suffered their first defeat WEI LIN | The Observer round draft picks, three start- Irish coaches then had to of the season at the hands of Irish head coach Muffet McGraw observes her team’s offense during ers and a ton of experience, I fill out the rest of the starting then-No. 3 Connecticut and Notre Dame’s win over DePaul in the NCAA tournament March 22. INSIDER NDSMCOBSERVER.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 | THE OBSERVER 3 WEI LIN | The Observer SARAH OLSON | The Observer Notre Dame junior guard Michaela Mabrey pulls up just past midcourt in the 79-67 Irish junior guard Jewell Loyd sidesteps a Duke defender during Notre Dame’s 63-50 Irish win over DePaul in the second round of the NCAA tournament on March 22. victory against the Blue Devils on Feb. 16 at Purcell Pavilion. forcing overtime and es- left for the tie and the win. Irish didn’t fall in a second on the season in the other lost so much from last year, caping with the 94-93 victory, The junior scorched the straight game. matchup McGraw called a and we’ve lost really good solidified by two free throws DePaul defense for a career- However, Notre Dame did tipping point. In a 78-63 loss players throughout the years, from Loyd with 5.3 seconds high 41 points to ensure the end up falling a second time to unranked Miami (Fla.) but last year’s experience on Jan. 8, the Irish scrapped and not having any senior PI A D ADVERTISEMENT together a lackluster perfor- starters, you know, you just mance on both sides of the didn’t know how the season floor and never seemed to was going to unfold. get in a rhythm against the “We had so many tough Hurricanes. games. I think we played “We played about as poorly the toughest schedule in the as we could possibly play,” country, so we learned a lot McGraw said Wednesday of throughout it. I thought they the Miami loss. “Worst game came into practice every day of the year — shot about 25 ready to learn, but I still felt percent from the field and we were going to take some didn’t defend, and so many lumps at some point, so when things wentwrong in that we kept on winning, it just game. So I think to come really built our confidence.” back from that debacle and Now that her team has ex- win out the rest of the year, I ceeded its early-season ex- think that shows that we did pectations, McGraw said it get a lot tougher.” will keep trying to reach its Since that point, there has goals for one final weekend. been no looking back for the “I think we go into the Irish squad, which is cur- Final Four with an attitude rently riding a 21-game win of, we’re going to do what streak. we do,” she said Wednesday. Notre Dame cruised “We’re going to work hard. through the ACC tourna- We have an attitude that ment, with an average mar- we think we can win. At the gin of victory of nearly 12 end, we have four of the best points, and has looked just teams in the country. We’ve as dominant in the NCAA had some really close games. tournament, in which it has We’ve lost some heartbreak- bested No. 16 seed Montana, ers. We’ve had some success No. 9 seed DePaul, No. 4 in the semifinals. seed Stanford and No. 2 seed “But I don’t think we go Baylor. in thinking we’ve got to win After the win over Baylor this one. We’re just going in on Sunday to advance to a and playing our game.” fifth-straight Final Four, So far, playing their game McGraw said she had never has worked out for the Irish experienced a run quite like — whether that success was this one. expected or not. “We had to work the hard- est to get to this one,” she Contact Mary Green at said Sunday. “I thought we [email protected] 4 THE OBSERVER | THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2015 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM INSIDER Multiplayer attack fuels Irish offense By SAMANTHA ZUBA first-team All-America honors 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio” as S enior Sports Writer from the Associated Press (AP), a first-year point guard,M cGraw United States Basketball Writers said. Her role has expanded this The No. 1 seed Irish have made Association and John R. Wooden season as she was recognized the Final Four for the fifth straight Award. But the Irish (35-2, 15-1 Tuesday with honorable mention year. But Notre Dame looks a little ACC) proved their depth over All-America honors from the AP. different this season. the course of the season — four “She’s looking to score more This team is younger.