Notre Dame’s fingerprints have been all over the WNBA in recent years. It appears that won’t change any time soon.
On Friday, the WNBA opened up its season with six games between the 12 teams. There were nine performances between Friday and Saturday of 20+ points, and three of those — Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale (27), Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (23) and Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd (22)— belonged to former Irish stars. No other school had more than one player on that list.
Unsurprisingly, Ogunbowale got off to a red-hot start for the Wings on Saturday, putting up 20 first-half points against the Atlanta Dream in Dallas. The Wings won, 85-78. Ogunbowale’s 19.7 points per game last season was tied for third in the WNBA with former Irish guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who is currently with the Phoenix Mercury.
Young tied Kelsey Plum for the point title for the Aces on Saturday, as Las Vegas dominated a new-look Storm team, 105-64. The former No. 1 overall pick was the league’s Most Improved Player last year and helped lead the Aces to the franchise’s first championship.
In Seattle, the keys to the 2023 car are in Loyd’s hands. The 29-year-old veteran is now tasked with running a Storm offense devoid of Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Loyd averaged 16.3 points per game last season, which ranked 10th in the W. Look for that mark to increase over the course of this year.
In addition to Ogunbowale, Young and Loyd, seven other former Notre Dame players made opening day rosters at the next level. Only UConn has put more women on active WNBA squads. The Minnesota Lynx have become “Notre Dame West” with four of those seven: Natalie Achonwa, Lindsey Allen, Kayla McBride and Jessica Shepard. McBride had 12 points, and Shepard had a league-leading 7 assists in a loss to Chicago, 77-66. Marina Mabrey was on the winning side of that matchup, posting 5 points with her new team in the Windy City.