Notre Dame Women’s Basketball is Loaded for Another Title Run

Notre Dame Women’s Basketball has been a cornerstone of the sport. No matter how you look at it, the Irish have had an immense amount of success. Yet, Muffet McGraw’s program is only coming off of its second National Championship in 17 years.

Notre Dame Women’s basketball is one of a handful of elite programs nationally. That said, a championship in 2000-01 thanks to Naismith College Player of the Year Ruth Riley and last season’s title  — highlighted by Arike Ogunbowale’s clutch shots — are the only two banners the Irish have hanging in the rafters during Muffet McGraw’s tenure.

Of course, many teams would kill to have those two national championships — and many more would love to have seen the other accolades that the Irish have claimed on the court.

Since the 2011-12 season, Notre Dame has had seven Elite Eight appearances, six in the Final Four and have been NCAA Tournament runners-up three times.

The Irish fell victim to some great teams during that span. From Texas A&M’s run in the 2011 tournament to Brittney Griner’s Baylor years and numerous UConn squads, many great teams stood in the way of the Notre Dame women’s basketball programs from winning more titles.

That said, it feels like this could be Notre Dame’s time. For starters, last season was not supposed to end the way it did.

Brianna Turner missed the entire season with a knee injury. The Irish watched their entire season hanging in the balance, with many injuries threatening to derail their success.

Mychal Johnson, Mikayla Vaughn and Lili Thompson all sustained season-ending ACL tears. It was as much adversity as a team could face before the New Year.

As you now know, McGraw’s club handled it all with the heart of a champion.

Now healthy, the Irish are ready to defend that championship. Not only is Notre Dame returning a healthy roster, but they also have vastly more depth than last season, especially with the additions of freshmen Danielle Cosgrove, Katlyn Gilbert, Abby Prohaska and Jordan Nixon.

Outside of those additions, it’s even scarier when you recognize what the team is returning from a scoring standpoint:

Arike Ogunbowale – 20.8 ppg
Jessica Shepard – 15.6 ppg
Brianna Turner – 15.3 ppg (16-17 season)
Jackie Young – 14.5 ppg
Marina Mabrey – 14.4 ppg

Notre Dame comes into the new season as ACC favorites. The Blue Ribbon Panel also listed Ogunbowale as preseason player of the year. The senior leader joins Mabrey, Shepard and Turner on the preseason All-ACC team. Nixon also earned accolades, with her name appearing on the ACC Newcomer Watch List.

Winning isn’t easy, but for now, everything is in place for Notre Dame to defend their championship beginning November 9th against Harvard.