NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The preseason accolades continue to pour in for the No. 1 ranked Notre Dame women’s basketball squad. The Irish placed all five projected starters in Arike Ogunbowale, Marina Mabrey, Jackie Young, Jessica Shepard and Brianna Turner on the Preseason Wooden Award Watch List.
Keep in mind, no other team in the country had more than three players on the watch list. Other teams with multiple players included: UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson, Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield; Mississippi State’s Teaira McCowan and Anriel Howard; Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard; Baylor’s Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox; and Stanford’s Alanna Smith and Kiana Williams.
The Irish accomplished a similar feat already this preseason when all five starters were named to the ‘Naismith Starting Five’ watch lists, while no other team landed more than three.
Furthermore, the Irish also outnumbered the remaining ACC players (four) on the Wooden list with them: Louisville’s Asia Durr, North Carolina’s Paris Kea, Duke’s Leaonna Odom and Syracuse’s Tiana Mangakahia.
Rounding out the Wooden watch list were Cal’s Kristine Anigwe, Iowa State’s Bridget Carleton, Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter, Maryland’s Kaila Charles, Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham, Tennessee’s Rennia Davis, Iowa’s Megan Gustafson, South Florida’s Katija Laksa, Georgia’s Caliya Robinson and Oregon State’s Destiny Slocum.
The Irish open their season at home with back-to-back Ivy League opponents in Harvard on Friday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m., followed by Penn on Monday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. The Irish will officially drop their championship banner in the second game vs Penn. For tickets, please visit, und.com/buytickets.
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