Notre Dame 2021-2022

[Orangutan]

Since Notre Dame women's basketball is no longer embarrassing (for now at least!), I've decided to end two seasons of mostly avoiding the Boneyard during WCBB season!

I'd like to write a little bit about each game, so I thought I'd start a dedicated thread. Feel free to use this thread to discuss all things Irish including long-held and newly formed grievances. Please no in-game discussion that will get the thread locked, however. Use the chat instead.

To kick this off, I thought I'd start with posts recapping last season (yuck), analyzing the roster, and summarizing the three games that have happened so far.

Where we've been:
Notre Dame went 10-10 in 2020-2021 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The season began inauspiciously with an 86-85 loss at Ohio and more or less continued horribly from there. Against Ohio, an Irish team rendered shorthand by COVID-19 led 77-70 with 6 minutes to play but faltered down the stretch. Faltering down the stretch would come to define the 2020-2021 ND campaign.

Unlike the 2018 National Championship team that was fond of playing a horrible 2nd quarter and then storming back in the second half to win, last year's Irish regularly built double-digit leads only to squander them in the fourth quarter. ND's own media guide tells the tale of woe:

"At Boston College, Notre Dame was up 60-48 with 3:29 remaining, but lost 64-61. At North Carolina, Notre Dame was up 70-63 with 4:36 left, but dropped a 78-73 decision. The Tar Heels outscored the Irish 24-15 in the fourth. At Syracuse, the Irish once held a 15-point lead and were up 65-58 heading into the fourth. Then the Orange outscored the Irish 23-4 in the fourth to take it 81-69"

The season was not entirely without highlights, most notably a stretch from December 31 to January 21 where Notre Dame won 5 out of 6 games in conference play. However, the Irish were quickly met with a reality check in the form of successive road losses to North Carolina, Syracuse, and Louisville.

ND entered the ACC tournament on the NCAA tournament bubble at 10-9 and likely needing multiple ACC tournament wins to snag one of the final NCAA bids. The Irish opened the ACC tournament against Clemson where once again their propensity for a poor fourth quarter doomed them. Notre Dame entered the final frame with a four-point lead but were outscored 18-9 in the quarter and fell to a season ending 68-63 defeat.

2020-2021 stats leaders:
Points: Westbeld - 304 (15.2 per game), Mabrey - 225 (11.3), Walker - 217 (11.4)
Rebounds: Westbeld - 157 (7.9), Peoples - 119 (6.0), Vaughn - 87 (5.4)
Assists: Mabrey - 63, Westbeld - 49, Walker - 42
Steals: Peoples - 29, Walker - 29, Westbeld - 27
Blocks: Vaughn - 23, Westbeld - 18, Brunelle - 8
3-pointers: Mabrey - 40 (38.5%), Brunelle - 23 (38.3%), Walker - 20 (38.5%)

Team Stats of notes:
ND shots 45.6 compared to 41.1% for opponents and 35.2% from deep compared to 32.8%. However, the Irish were outrebounded (36.3 per game, 37.0 for opponents) and committed more turnovers than opponents (341 to 314).

 

[Orangutan]

Departures from 2020-2021 roster (ordered by points scored in 20-21)
G Destinee Walker (Graduation), 11. 4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 43.0 fg%, 38.5 3fg%
C Mikayla Vaughn (Graduation), 7.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 57.3 fg%
W Alli Campbell (Penn State), 2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 6 games played
PG Alasia Hayes (Mississippi State), 2.0 ppg, 1.2 apg, 12 assists, 13 games played
P Amirah Abdur-Rahim (SMU), 1.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 8 games played
P Danielle Cosgrove (St. John's) - 6 minutes played over 2 games

Analysis:
Walker is clearly the most significant loss, a competent scoring guard with solid scoring efficiency. However, she collected relatively few assists and my observation was that she was inconsistent and streaky.

Vaughn was a serviceable center that would have been a reserve on the Irish final four teams of past years.

Campbell played in the first four games, including 28+ minutes against both Ohio and Miami (OH) when ND was shorthanded due to COVID. After the first four games, she was inexplicably froze out and made only two more extremely brief appearances. Perhaps she didn't perform well in practice but it's hard to imagine how a highly-rated recruit performed so poorly in practice as to not merit even short cameos off the bench. After all, we're not exactly talking about breaking into the lineup of the '27 Yankees.

Hayes showed potential in limited duty as a backup point guard. All in all, I was disappointed for her to leave Notre Dame. She would have made a very nice backup for Olivia Miles. However, playing time would have been scarce this year behind Miles and Dara Mabrey.

Abdur-Rahim had enough athleticism to be a promising developmental post but probably needed another year or two before she'd be ready to earn a rotation spot.

Cosgrove left the team for much of the year due to mental health concerns and then transferred close to home with St. John's. She never found her stride with ND but does have some potential as a post with 3-point shooting ability.

Additions:
PG Olivia Miles (Blairstown, NJ - Blair Academy) - ESPN #8 in 2021
G Sonia Citron (Scarsdale, NY - Ursuline) - ESPN #16 in 2021
P Natalija "Nat" Marshall (Queens, NY - Christ the King) - ESPN #34 in 2020
Maya Dodson (Stanford) - 5.0 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 9 appearances in 2019-2020

Analysis:

Miles provided an instant spark in 6 games as an early enrollee last year but now is having her proper freshman year. She's easily the best pure PG for ND since Lindsay Allen and has more upside than Allen. She has the so-called "passing gene" a la Vandersloot, Bird, Ionescu etc. At this point, her glaring weakness is a jump shot that only extends to about 15 feet. If she can become a serviceable deep shooter, she can develop into one of the best PGs in the nation during her college career.

Citron made a huge statement with the U-19 team this summer earning all-tournament honors at the World Cup and finishing 1st on the team in efficiency rating, 1st in plus/minus, 2nd in points, and 2nd in rebounds. An all-around player and a plus athlete, Citron plays with uncommon discipline and court awareness for a player just a few weeks past her 18th birthday.

Marshall is an academic sophomore but her entire 2020-2021 season was wiped out by recovery from an ACL injury sustained in high school. It turns out that a pandemic that closes rehab facilities is not conducive to a speedy ACL recovery. There are very few young women move as well as Marshall does at 6'5 or that have her shooting skill at 6'5. She's tall, skinny, springy, green and coming off a major injury. This year should be mostly a learning experience but she has the raw tools (emphasis on "raw") to eventually become a starter.

Not being an avid Stanford watcher, I had hoped that Dodson could be a slight upgrade over Mikayla Vaughn. As it turns out, she's been a massive upgrade over Vaughn. In addition to the expected senior leadership, she has been a go-to scorer inside as well as a strong rebounder and rim protector. ND has played small teams so far but Dodson has been as dominant as the Irish could have reasonably hoped.

Overall Analysis:
Notre Dame is bringing on significantly more than they are losing. To be reductive, Dodson is an upgrade on Vaughn and Citron is an upgrade on Walker. None of the other departed players played much though I still believe Campbell and Hayes could be very good players at the Power 5 level. Miles is a huge addition to the backcourt and allows Mabrey to spend more time as an off-guard, which should suit her.

Expected Rotation/Roles:
Starters:
PG - Olivia Miles
G - Dara Mabrey
G - Anaya Peoples
P - Maddy Westbeld
C - Maya Dodson

Rotation:
G Sonia Citron (first guard off the bench, will likely play more minutes than Peoples but Ivey is bringing her off the bench for now)
P Sam Brunelle (first forward off the bench)

Reserves:
G Abby Prohaska
P Nat Marshall
G Katlyn Gilbert

Walk-ons/Human Victory Cigars
G Trinity Cha
G Sarah Cernugel

Orangutan's ND player power rankings (subject to change)
1 - Westbeld
2 - Miles
3 - Dodson
4 - Citron
5 - Brunelle
6 - Mabrey
7 - Peoples
8 - Prohaska
9 - Marshall
10 - Gilbert
11 - Cha
12 - Cernugel

 

[Orangutan]

Game Summaries:

Game One - Notre Dame 105 - Ohio 69
ND opened the season with an impressive home win against the preseason MAC favorites who won the same fixture last year in Athens.

Both teams shot over 50% from the field in high scoring first half that saw the Irish take a 47-42 halftime lead behind a balanced scoring attack that saw 6 players score at least 6 points. Ohio countered with 29 from their star duo of Cierra "Cece" Hook (17 pts) and Erica Johnson (12).

Notre Dame blew the game open after halftime by winning the 3rd quarter 34-13. Dodson scored 14 in the 3rd and Brunelle added 10. Citron drew the primary assignment on Hooks and successfully slowed her down to the tune of just 4 3rd quarter points on 2-6 shooting.

Orange Ape Award (Player of the Game): Maya Dodson - 25 points (11-16 FG), 6 rebounds, 4 blocked shots.

Game Two - Notre Dame 76 - Western Illinois 50
After the offensive duel that was the first half against Ohio, Notre Dame engaged in slugfest during the first half against Western Illinois.

Notre Dame jumped out to 12 point lead after one quarter but were outscored 16-15 in the 2nd quarter as ND shot 29.2% from the field and made 0 trips to the free throw line in the quarter.

Western Illinois shaved the Irish lead to as little as 8 points in the 3rd quarter before the Irish regained their offensive footing and took a 59-36 lead after 3. ND coasted home from there. Notably, Citron did not play in the 4th quarter due to a minor lower leg concern (she wore an ankle brace vs. Syracuse)

Orange Ape Award: Olivia Miles - 16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, team leading +24

Game Three - Notre Dame 82 - Syracuse 56
Rather than pull away in the 3rd quarter, Notre Dame left it until the 4th to pull away from Syracuse and attain a scoreline that belies how close the game truly was.

Syracuse shot only 27.8% in the first half but stayed within touching distance at 34-28 thanks to second chance points (12) and three-pointers (4 first-half triples to 1 for ND).

After a relatively even third quarter, Syracuse cut the ND lead to 5 points with 8:06 remaining the game. They would not score again.

The Irish closed the game on 21-0 run, catalyzed by a personal 9-0 run from Maddy Westbeld of two old-fashioned 3-point plays and a one new-fashioned long range effort.

Orange Ape Award: Maddy Westbeld - 19 points, 6 rebounds

 

[Plebe]

 

[Orangutan]

I've earned all of your slings and arrows

I tried being enthusiastic the last two years. I really did, but those teams were painful to watch.

 

[Orangutan]

I plan to do at least a summary for each game whether folks like it or not (I realize many Boneyarders would rather pry their eyes out than read about ND, even on the general forum).

Hopefully, someone gets something out of my long posts but if not I had fun stretching my old amateur sportswriter muscle.

Worst case scenario, this thread turns into a public version of my PMs with @Dillon77

 

[noirwestern]

Is Prohaska coming back from an injury? I remember a big fuss made over her and now she's a lowly eighth on your keen eyed power ranking.

 

[Orangutan]

Is Prohaska coming back from an injury? I remember a big fuss made over her and now she's a lowly eighth on your keen eyed power ranking.

She missed all of 2019-2020 due to blood clots in her lungs. Scary situation. She was back last year, though.

As I remember it, the story is that she was having shortness of breath and chest pain and there was nowhere open for x-rays other than the Emergency Room at that hour. She had the option of going to the ER or toughing it out until morning with the Athletic Trainer strongly advising going to the ER. She acquiesced and went to the ER where they found the blood clots. Had she gone to sleep that night and waited until morning, she may not have woken up in the morning.

She's a decent option of the bench as someone to bring energy and good defense but she's limited offensively and barely even thinks about shooting even when wide open.

 

[rvwsleep]

Welcome back, you big ape.
I've watched the games ND have played so far and there's little doubt that they are much improved over the past 2 years
(Not that that's saying much ! )
I think that they can get as high as somewhere around 15 in the national rankings. They'll have trouble when they can't overpower teams inside, like they have their first 3 games. It would mean that they would have to depend more on outside shooting. That would necessitate playing Mabrey and Brunelle more minutes, which would weaken their defense considerably. Just not enough overall quickness to beat the top teams.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Good to have you back our simian friend.

 

[visitingcock]

I can tell the OP remained a fan throughout the Domer Purgatory period - just a silent one. Kinda like me and SCar football.

Welcome back OP. I look forward to your reports and game summaries. Just waiting for an opponent who picques oops: correction edit) my interest enough to watch a game.

 

[ucbart]

Game Summaries:

Game One - Notre Dame 105 - Ohio 69
ND opened the season with an impressive home win against the preseason MAC favorites who won the same fixture last year in Athens.

Both teams shot over 50% from the field in high scoring first half that saw the Irish take a 47-42 halftime lead behind a balanced scoring attack that saw 6 players score at least 6 points. Ohio countered with 29 from their star duo of Cierra "Cece" Hook (17 pts) and Erica Johnson (12).

Notre Dame blew the game open after halftime by winning the 3rd quarter 34-13. Dodson scored 14 in the 3rd and Brunelle added 10. Citron drew the primary assignment on Hooks and successfully slowed her down to the tune of just 4 3rd quarter points on 2-6 shooting.

Orange Ape Award (Player of the Game): Maya Dodson - 25 points (11-16 FG), 6 rebounds, 4 blocked shots.

Game Two - Notre Dame 76 - Western Illinois 50
After the offensive duel that was the first half against Ohio, Notre Dame engaged in slugfest during the first half against Western Illinois.

Notre Dame jumped out to 12 point lead after one quarter but were outscored 16-15 in the 2nd quarter as ND shot 29.2% from the field and made 0 trips to the free throw line in the quarter.

Western Illinois shaved the Irish lead to as little as 8 points in the 3rd quarter before the Irish regained their offensive footing and took a 59-36 lead after 3. ND coasted home from there. Notably, Citron did not play in the 4th quarter due to a minor lower leg concern (she wore an ankle brace vs. Syracuse)

Orange Ape Award: Olivia Miles - 16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, team leading +24

Game Three - Notre Dame 82 - Syracuse 56
Rather than pull away in the 3rd quarter, Notre Dame left it until the 4th to pull away from Syracuse and attain a scoreline that belies how close the game truly was.

Syracuse shot only 27.8% in the first half but stayed within touching distance at 34-28 thanks to second chance points (12) and three-pointers (4 first-half triples to 1 for ND).

After a relatively even third quarter, Syracuse cut the ND lead to 5 points with 8:06 remaining the game. They would not score again.

The Irish closed the game on 21-0 run, catalyzed by a personal 9-0 run from Maddy Westbeld of two old-fashioned 3-point plays and a one new-fashioned long range effort.

Orange Ape Award: Maddy Westbeld - 19 points, 6 rebounds

I've been saying this all pre-season. Get ND now, because you're not getting them later. I really think they could challenge to be top-3 in the ACC this season. Miles/Citron will be one of the nation's premier backcourts for the next three seasons. If you can get a high quality big, watch out.

 

[Orangutan]

Welcome back, you big ape.
I've watched the games ND have played so far and there's little doubt that they are much improved over the past 2 years
(Not that that's saying much ! )
I think that they can get as high as somewhere around 15 in the national rankings. They'll have trouble when they can't overpower teams inside, like they have their first 3 games. It would mean that they would have to depend more on outside shooting. That would necessitate playing Mabrey and Brunelle more minutes, which would weaken their defense considerably. Just not enough overall quickness to beat the top teams.

Pretty good assessment, though Mabrey is already leading the team in minutes played.

I agree that a lack of quickness and 3-point shooting will make it tough to beat teams that are dominant inside.

As good as Miles and Citron are, neither is a go-to scorer (yet) in the mold of Ogunbowale, Loyd, or Diggins-Smith.

 

[LoTrader]

Looking forward to the ND vs OSU game in November.

 

[cancontent]

I've been high on both Miles and Citron being great additions to this team (@Dillon77 can attest this to as well ).

One thing that seems to get overlooked about Citron which chafes me. She's been a factor on the international stage well before the U19 tournament. She was the MVP for the U16 FIBA Americas in addition to the accolades she's earned this summer.

I don't think she gets enough acknowledgement for that in comparison to others in her class. Granted the Americas is a lot less competitive, having a repeat FIBA all-star on the roster is something ND fans should be proud of.

 

[Dillon77]

I've been high on both Miles and Citron being great additions to this team (@Dillon77 can attest this to as well ).

One thing that seems to get overlooked about Citron which chafes me. She's been a factor on the international stage well before the U19 tournament. She was the MVP for the U16 FIBA Americas in addition to the accolades she's earned this summer.

I don't think she gets enough acknowledgement for that in comparison to others in her class. Granted the Americas is a lot less competitive, having a repeat FIBA all-star on the roster is something ND fans should be proud of.

Citron is not the shiniest of the chips in one's casino arsenal, just the one that keeps winning.
I remember that U16 team very well, particularly the backcourt:

• Citron
• Olivia Miles
• Peyton Verhulst
• Saylor Poffenbarger
• KK Rice
• KK Bransford
• Londynn Jones

Verhulst, like Citron, was chosen for the U-19 team. (BTW, pretty sure Verhulst was MVP in Chile, but Sonia was on the all-star team, along with Ms. Betts).
and
two forwards that also played on the U-19 team:

• Lauren Betts
• Amari DeBerry

@CocoHusky and I are both of the belief that Sonia's ability to be around the ball is one her many positive traits. When that happens, a coach doesn't have to worry about them that much because he/she will make her own play.
She'll help the team and others in subtle ways (rebounds, 50/50's, putbacks). When she gets a bit more "selfish," I think we'll see her score more. Right now, she'll defer to the Westbelds, Brunelles and Mabreys of the team. I think that will shift as time goes on.

BTW, ND will have three guards from that U-16 team in 2022, when KK Bransford joins Citron and Miles.
(UCLA will have two of them in Jones and Rice, while UConn had both Saylor and DeBerry. Azzi Fudd of the U-19 team is obviously now with DeBerry now in Storrs.)

That's a lot of talent on those teams. It's not lost on The Bench that Citron has played on both of those u-16 and u-19 teams . And it's certainly not lost on me just how much she's helping her team at the collegiate level already as a freshman. That's what Citron does: make her team better.

 

[cancontent]

Citron is not the shiniest of the chips in one's casino arsenal, just the one that keeps winning.
I remember that U16 team very well, particularly the backcourt:

• Citron
• Olivia Miles
• Peyton Verhulst
• Saylor Poffenbarger
• KK Rice
• KK Bransford
• Londynn Jones

Verhulst, like Citron, was chosen for the U-19 team. (BTW, pretty sure Verhulst was MVP in Chile, but Sonia was on the all-star team, along with Ms. Betts).
and
two forwards that also played on the U-19 team:

• Lauren Betts
• Amari DeBerry

@CocoHusky and I are both of the belief that Sonia's ability to be around the ball is one her many positive traits. When that happens, a coach doesn't have to worry about them that much because he/she will make her own play.
She'll help the team and others in subtle ways (rebounds, 50/50's, putbacks). When she gets a bit more "selfish," I think we'll see her score more. Right now, she'll defer to the Westbelds, Brunelles and Mabreys of the team. I think that will shift as time goes on.

BTW, ND will have three guards from that U-16 team in 2022, when KK Bransford joins Citron and Miles.
(UCLA will have two of them in Jones and Rice, while UConn had both Saylor and DeBerry. Azzi Fudd of the U-19 team is obviously now with DeBerry now in Storrs.)

That's a lot of talent on those teams. It's not lost on The Bench that Citron has played on both of those u-16 and u-19 teams . And it's certainly not lost on me just how much she's helping her team at the collegiate level already as a freshman. That's what Citron does: make her team better.

Apologies for mixing up the MVP for U16 (especially to any Louisville fans who have read this thread - honest mistake).

I just think she deserves a bit more credit than what she gets, however we're all aware of how social media and certain players will attract more attention than others. I'm looking forward to seeing how her play develops by the end of the season.

 

[Dillon77]

Apologies for mixing up the MVP for U16 (especially to any Louisville fans who have read this thread - honest mistake).

I just think she deserves a bit more credit than what she gets, however we're all aware of how social media and certain players will attract more attention than others. I'm looking forward to seeing how her play develops by the end of the season.

I play in a Sunday morning group with 15-20 players overall and when we get together, we pick up different teams every week. Sonia's the type of player that would get chosen early because she'll balance the team between shooters and defenders, solo artists and passers. We know coaches see her value. Players do, too. Just a matter of time for folks who look at points scored first and only before they see how Citron delivers value...

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Miles was very impressive last year. My wife typically is lukewarm to ND WBB, but was, as I say, impressed and a bit of a fan of hers.

 

[JellyBean]

Happy to see Coach Ivey got the Notre Dame team playing like we all knew she could and would. Congrats, Coach and Notre Dame.

 

[Bertg]

Departures from 2020-2021 roster (ordered by points scored in 20-21)
G Destinee Walker (Graduation), 11. 4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 43.0 fg%, 38.5 3fg%
C Mikayla Vaughn (Graduation), 7.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 57.3 fg%
W Alli Campbell (Penn State), 2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 6 games played
PG Alasia Hayes (Mississippi State), 2.0 ppg, 1.2 apg, 12 assists, 13 games played
P Amirah Abdur-Rahim (SMU), 1.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 8 games played
P Danielle Cosgrove (St. John's) - 6 minutes played over 2 games

Analysis:
Walker is clearly the most significant loss, a competent scoring guard with solid scoring efficiency. However, she collected relatively few assists and my observation was that she was inconsistent and streaky.

Vaughn was a serviceable center that would have been a reserve on the Irish final four teams of past years.

Campbell played in the first four games, including 28+ minutes against both Ohio and Miami (OH) when ND was shorthanded due to COVID. After the first four games, she was inexplicably froze out and made only two more extremely brief appearances. Perhaps she didn't perform well in practice but it's hard to imagine how a highly-rated recruit performed so poorly in practice as to not merit even short cameos off the bench. After all, we're not exactly talking about breaking into the lineup of the '27 Yankees.

Hayes showed potential in limited duty as a backup point guard. All in all, I was disappointed for her to leave Notre Dame. She would have made a very nice backup for Olivia Miles. However, playing time would have been scarce this year behind Miles and Dara Mabrey.

Abdur-Rahim had enough athleticism to be a promising developmental post but probably needed another year or two before she'd be ready to earn a rotation spot.

Cosgrove left the team for much of the year due to mental health concerns and then transferred close to home with St. John's. She never found her stride with ND but does have some potential as a post with 3-point shooting ability.

Additions:
PG Olivia Miles (Blairstown, NJ - Blair Academy) - ESPN #8 in 2021
G Sonia Citron (Scarsdale, NY - Ursuline) - ESPN #16 in 2021
P Natalija "Nat" Marshall (Queens, NY - Christ the King) - ESPN #34 in 2020
Maya Dodson (Stanford) - 5.0 ppg and 3.7 rpg in 9 appearances in 2019-2020

Analysis:

Miles provided an instant spark in 6 games as an early enrollee last year but now is having her proper freshman year. She's easily the best pure PG for ND since Lindsay Allen and has more upside than Allen. She has the so-called "passing gene" a la Vandersloot, Bird, Ionescu etc. At this point, her glaring weakness is a jump shot that only extends to about 15 feet. If she can become a serviceable deep shooter, she can develop into one of the best PGs in the nation during her college career.

Citron made a huge statement with the U-19 team this summer earning all-tournament honors at the World Cup and finishing 1st on the team in efficiency rating, 1st in plus/minus, 2nd in points, and 2nd in rebounds. An all-around player and a plus athlete, Citron plays with uncommon discipline and court awareness for a player just a few weeks past her 18th birthday.

Marshall is an academic sophomore but her entire 2020-2021 season was wiped out by recovery from an ACL injury sustained in high school. It turns out that a pandemic that closes rehab facilities is not conducive to a speedy ACL recovery. There are very few young women move as well as Marshall does at 6'5 or that have her shooting skill at 6'5. She's tall, skinny, springy, green and coming off a major injury. This year should be mostly a learning experience but she has the raw tools (emphasis on "raw") to eventually become a starter.

Not being an avid Stanford watcher, I had hoped that Dodson could be a slight upgrade over Mikayla Vaughn. As it turns out, she's been a massive upgrade over Vaughn. In addition to the expected senior leadership, she has been a go-to scorer inside as well as a strong rebounder and rim protector. ND has played small teams so far but Dodson has been as dominant as the Irish could have reasonably hoped.

Overall Analysis:
Notre Dame is bringing on significantly more than they are losing. To be reductive, Dodson is an upgrade on Vaughn and Citron is an upgrade on Walker. None of the other departed players played much though I still believe Campbell and Hayes could be very good players at the Power 5 level. Miles is a huge addition to the backcourt and allows Mabrey to spend more time as an off-guard, which should suit her.

Expected Rotation/Roles:
Starters:
PG - Olivia Miles
G - Dara Mabrey
G - Anaya Peoples
P - Maddy Westbeld
C - Maya Dodson

Rotation:
G Sonia Citron (first guard off the bench, will likely play more minutes than Peoples but Ivey is bringing her off the bench for now)
P Sam Brunelle (first forward off the bench)

Reserves:
G Abby Prohaska
P Nat Marshall
G Katlyn Gilbert

Walk-ons/Human Victory Cigars
G Trinity Cha
G Sarah Cernugel

Orangutan's ND player power rankings (subject to change)
1 - Westbeld
2 - Miles
3 - Dodson
4 - Citron
5 - Brunelle
6 - Mabrey
7 - Peoples
8 - Prohaska
9 - Marshall
10 - Gilbert
11 - Cha
12 - Cernugel

Greetings. First time poster and Penn State Lady Lions follower. I thought you might be interested in a report on Alli Campbell. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to play in any of Penn State's three games due to injury. No idea as to the nature or severity of her injury. Penn State is notoriously close-mouthed on injuries. I'll try to post any new information if and when I can.

 

[Jmsdawg]

I plan to do at least a summary for each game whether folks like it or not (I realize many Boneyarders would rather pry their eyes out than read about ND, even on the general forum).

Hopefully, someone gets something out of my long posts but if not I had fun stretching my old amateur sportswriter muscle.

Worst case scenario, this thread turns into a public version of my PMs with @Dillon77

I understand your pain, last year was a disaster for my team MSST and I have hope this year will be better!

 

[Dillon77]

Greetings. First time poster and Penn State Lady Lions follower. I thought you might be interested in a report on Alli Campbell. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to play in any of Penn State's three games due to injury. No idea as to the nature or severity of her injury. Penn State is notoriously close-mouthed on injuries. I'll try to post any new information if and when I can.

Thanks and welcome aboard. If you've read The Boneyard (or McGraw's Bench), you'll know I'm a long-time Alli follower and fan (who was not pleased at how things transpired last year).

I, too, checked out how Alli was doing and found a blurb in a western Pa. local paper that said Alli had a lower leg injury but was making good progress and had quotes from the coaching staff on how supportive and spirted she was.

Look forward to seeing Alli get better and get on the court. And doing well.

 

[Bertg]

Thanks and welcome aboard. If you've read The Boneyard (or McGraw's Bench), you'll know I'm a long-time Alli follower and fan (who was not pleased at how things transpired last year).

I, too, checked out how Alli was doing and found a blurb in a western Pa. local paper that said Alli had a lower leg injury but was making good progress and had quotes from the coaching staff on how supportive and spirted she was.

Look forward to seeing Alli get better and get on the court. And doing well.

Thanks for your response. I may have found the article you mentioned in a local paper called the Altoona Mirror. Altoona is Alli's hometown as you may know. If you can find it, there was an interview with her on a Penn State site called nittanysportsnow.com/2021/04 dated April 8, 2021. She was politely critical of her lack of playing time and what she saw as the lack of communication from Notre Dame coaches as to the reason.

I do spend time on the Boneyard and the McGraw's Bench site, so perhaps we will communicate more in the future.

 

[Dillon77]

Thanks for your response. I may have found the article you mentioned in a local paper called the Altoona Mirror. Altoona is Alli's hometown as you may know. If you can find it, there was an interview with her on a Penn State site called nittanysportsnow.com/2021/04 dated April 8, 2021. She was politely critical of her lack of playing time and what she saw as the lack of communication from Notre Dame coaches as to the reason.

I do spend time on the Boneyard and the McGraw's Bench site, so perhaps we will communicate more in the future.

Look forward to your posts on either site. Hope not to have to relive the "lack of communication" issues with players again....