With 4 starters back, Irish shoot for NCAA title

Notre Dame knocked off perennial powers Tennessee and Connecticut on its way to the NCAA championship game last season. The Irish don't want to fall short this time around.

Notre Dame lost the title game to Texas A&M, a disappointment that still lingers. But with star guard Skylar Diggins and three other starters returning, coach Muffet McGraw enters her 25th season with a team capable of making another deep run and winning the program's first title since 2001.

''I think that when we look at the last game, we decided then that we had to get ready for the next year,'' McGraw said. ''We've got some unfinished business is the way we're looking at it. It's a different type of chip on our shoulder. For the younger players, you come in as a freshman and make it to the final game, but they don't understand how hard that was for us to get there and what we put into the program for years before that.''

There is no hiding what the Irish are expecting from this season.

''I think you look at what we have, and obviously we want to compete for a national championship. That's got to be our goal,'' McGraw said.

Driving the team will be Diggins, the Big East preseason player of the year. With Deveraux Peters (11.9 points, 7.5 rebounds per game) and last year's leading scorer Natalie Novosel (15.1 ppg) returning, Notre Dame is also the preseason pick to win the league. Brittany Mallory, another starter from the 31-8 team, is also back.

''We're in uncharted territory this year,'' McGraw said. ''This is the first time we've had a very successful season, and we returned quite a few of our players. In 2001, we had a big senior class that graduated, so I'm interested to see how this team handles it. ... We know where we want to go, and there is a lot of intensity, but there is a big target on our backs that we have not had to handle too much in the past.''

Guard Kayla McBride, who started four games last season, forward Natalie Achonwa and guard Kaila Turner, both of whom appeared in every game last season, will be part of the rotation. After losing Becca Bruszewski, a physical team leader, the Irish are looking for a lift from freshman post player Markisa Wright.

''She is really going to need to be strong and physical and she likes that kind of game,'' McGraw said. ''You'll probably see her coming into the lineup a little quicker than the other freshmen.''

The Irish will go only as far as Diggins can take them. She averaged 15 points and nearly five assists and was dazzling in the NCAA tournament. And then she, Novosel and Peters were part of the USA team that won the gold medal at the World University Games in China this summer.

They're not used to losing.

''I think that when me, Devereaux and Natalie went to play USA ball in China that we brought back with us so much intensity,'' Diggins said. ''It gave us incentive because there was no way we were losing a gold medal. So I think we want to bring that feeling of winning a gold medal and sharing it with our teammates here.''

Notre Dame opens the regular season Nov. 11 at home against Akron.