Notre Dame's expectations high despite no seniors
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw faces a challenge she's never faced before: a team with no seniors.
Normally she would be worried about such a team because it might lack a sense of urgency "to win it for their senior season," she said.
"But I'm not worried about that at all because of the leadership we have," McGraw said as she begins her 22nd season.
The players she's counting on to provide that urgency are forward Lindsay Schrader (10.3 points, 6.2 rebounds), guard Ashley Barlow (12.1 points, 4.7 rebounds) and Melissa Lechlitner (5.5 points). Schrader would have been a senior if she hadn't missed her sophomore season with a knee injury, while Barlow and Lechlitner are juniors.
"We know we're going to have the same team next year, but our goal is to win now," Barlow said.
The other two likely starters, at least at the start of the season, are expected to be 6-foot-4 center Erica Williamson (6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds) and 6-1 forward Becca Bruszewski (5.0 points), who was playing her best basketball at the end of last season.
McGraw believes that 10 of Notre Dame's 11 players will play regularly and contribute, including freshmen forwards Kellie Watson and Erica Solomon and guard Natalie Novosel.
"I really expect we could have five people in double figures on any given night," McGraw said.
Despite not placing any players on the preseason 11-player All Big East Conference first team, the Fighting Irish enter this season ranked No. 16 and were picked to finish fourth in the league. McGraw, who led the Irish to a 25-9 finish last season, said it is a sign of respect for a program that's made 13 straight NCAA tournament appearances.
McGraw expects to run that string to 14 straight tournaments, but she's aware there are some obstacles the Irish are going to encounter, especially with a young team.
"We still have some growing pains, a lot of things with four freshmen that are going to take some time to get through," she said. "I think this will be a little tougher year."
The biggest question facing the Irish is how do they replace Charel Allen, who averaged 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and took the team's clutch shots.
The three team leaders along with sophomore forward Devereaux Peters, who is still recovering from a knee injury sustained last season, are expected to vie for that role of becoming go-to players, which might turn out to be a good thing, McGraw said.
"Instead of the other team knowing we're going to go to Charel Allen, now they've got to guess which one of those players are going to be the one to take the big shot," she said.
With Tulyah Gaines gone, the Irish will be counting on Lechlitner to run the offense.
"She will definitely be the leader on the floor," McGraw said. "When she has the ball in her hands, everybody on the team feels very confident in her ability to get us going."
When practices started a month ago, one of McGraw's biggest concerns was her team's ability to defend the 3-point line after opponents shot 35.5 percent last year. She's feeling more confident about that now.
"If we can get better defensively, we can have a great year and definitely challenge in the NCAA tournament - deep into the tournament," she said.
The Irish won't have to wait long to be tested, opening the season Sunday at No. 24 LSU, which has made it to five straight Final Fours. McGraw said it's a game that will help the team's RPI as well as giving her an early indication of how good her team is.
"It helps us learn a little bit more about ourselves," she said. "I don't think you get a false sense of confidence when you're playing a good team. You have your weaknesses exposed pretty early, and that's really what we want to do."