Graphic Illustration by Dan Jacobs and Blair Chemidlin

After a rough week on theroad, No. 16 Notre Damereturned home and to victorywith a 66-58 win over No. 25Cincinnati Wednesday. With theBearcats behind them, the Irishhave a shot at redemptionagainst Marquette Saturdaybefore hitting the road again totake on No. 4 PittsburghMonday. In their first matchup, the

Irish (15-4, 3-3 Big East) wereshut down 79-57 by the GoldenEagles (13-6, 4-2), whose hothands from behind the arc putNotre Dame in an early holethat they struggled to recoverfrom. Marquette shot 70.6 per-cent from 3-point range in thatcontest, led by senior guardDwight Buycks, who hit all fiveof his 3-point attempts, and jun-iors Jae Crowder and DariusJohnson-Odom. On the otherend of the court, Marquette shutdown Notre Dame’s scorers, asthe Irish shot just 18.8 percentfrom 3-point range and 39.6percent overall. The offensive woes continued

Sunday as St John’s used a simi-lar man-to-man approachagainst theIrish in a 72-54 win atM a d i s o nS q u a r eGarden thatsent NotreDame homeon its firstlosing streakof the season.The Irish hitjust four fieldgoals in thefirst half andcommitted 20turnovers inthe game. Furthermore, NotreDame continued to strugglefrom downtown, as the Irishmade just three of their 15 3-point attempts. Irish coach Mike Brey said he

thinks his team may havelacked a confidence boost in theearly going of the two road loss-

es.“You need some confidence on

the road, and you know wehaven’t had any of that,” Breysaid. “Just look at us last week— we just haven’t been able tosee a 3-point shot go in, youknow get an and-one, we get tothe line, we miss a free throw,you know, it’s just kind of deflat-ing whereyou’ve [got to]come back andguard all thetime and youhaven’t gottenanything onthat other end.”The absence

of senior for-ward CarletonScott has ham-pered the Irishsomewhat, asNotre Dame hasgone just 2-2without him. However, Brey saidhe believes the Irish will stillface stiff challenges with Scottin the lineup.“He’s a key guy for us, but I

also think you get into leagueplay, it was [going to] be toughwith him, you know winning atSt. John’s or winning atMarquette,” Brey said. “Let’s bevery honest about that. Those

would havebeen toughplaces to geta win.” Despite the

s e t b a c k s ,Brey said hebelieves hisveteran teamwill not fadeas NotreDame entersthe nextphase of itscon f e renceseason.“I don’t

think you have to even use thephrase ‘sense of urgency’ withthem, they know [what’s atstake],” Brey said. No. 4 Pittsburgh has set the

pace in the Big East through thefirst third of the season. ThePanthers (18-1, 6-0) entered theseason as the coaches’ pick to

win the conference title andhanded No. 3 Syracuse its firstloss of the season Monday nightwith a 74-66 win Monday nightat home. In total, the Panthershave notched wins against fiveranked opponents, defeating No.22 Texas, No. 13 Tennessee, No.4 Connecticut and No. 19Georgetown in addition to their

victory overSyracuse. Junior guard

Ashton Gibbsleads thePanthers inscoring with 16points pergame. Seniorcenter GaryMcGhee leadsPittsburgh inr e b o u n d i n gwith 7.7rebounds pergame, and the

6’10, 250-pounder should posea formidable threat in the mid-dle.After St. John’s successfully

duplicated Marquette’s tightdefensive performance, Breyknows his team will face toughdefensive pressure the rest ofthe way when Big East foes playthe Irish, and the Golden Eaglesand Panthers should be noexceptions. “We’re [going to] see a lot of

guys coming at us,” Brey said.“Nobody’s coming to play zone,nobody’s playing zone. The guysin orange [Syracuse] we alreadyplayed, so everybody’s comingat us.“It’s funny how when you get

into the league then ‘the book’on how to defend, ‘the book’ onthat, ‘the book’ — that’s ‘thebook’ on us — come after us,make us uncomfortable, frazzleus, how [are] we going to handleit?”The Irish tip off against

Marquette at 7 p.m. Saturday atthe Purcell Pavilion before trav-eling to face Pittsburgh at thePetersen Events Center inPittsburgh, Pa. Monday onESPN.

The Observer u IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Friday, January 21, 2011

Annual questionsreturn for IrishIt’s that time of year again.

Mid-January: The days ofsyllabus week, laughableamounts of snow and theannual questioning of NotreDame bas-ketball.What

classes willbe the easi-est thissemester?Will the

Irish everwin agame onthe road?When

will thewalk toSouth Dining Hall no longerresult in frostbite?Does Notre Dame have an

offense aside from a 3-pointbarrage?Are there more than seven

players on the Irish roster?Can Mike Brey right the

ship before an excessamount of damage is done tohis team’s resume?If only these questions

hadn’t all been heardbefore. Just like cupcakeclasses and South Bendsnowfalls, doubting NotreDame has become an annualtrend, seemingly withdecades of tradition sup-porting it.The only chance to buck

this habit lies in the veryhands of the doubted, andperhaps this is finally theyear Brey, Ben Hansbrough,Tim Abromaitis and the restof the Irish make a state-ment.Losing on the road in the

Big East, or againstKentucky in Kentucky, is farfrom preferable, but thereare darker black marks tohave against you. Syracuse(with only one loss),Marquette and St. John’s areall likely NCAA tournamentteams. They should beexpected to defend theirrespective home courts.Notre Dame briefly ascendedto the top-10 by doing justthat, beating likely MarchMadness participants inGonzaga, Georgetown,Connecticut, Cincinnati andSt. John’s. At some point theIrish will find their stride onthe road. It is nearlyinevitable, especially with atrip to DePaul coming up onFeb. 3.As for the Irishman’s pho-

bia of an offense that sooften goes three points at atime, take a deep breath fora should-be-common-sensefactoid. Teams that shoot 3sand make them are morelikely to win; teams thatshoot 3s and miss them areless likely to win. It is notthat Notre Dame lives anddies by the 3pointer, butrather a poor shooting per-centage on any given nightis a tough hurdle to over-

come in general. Any teamcan go cold. Irish fans sim-ply need to hope that fatedoes not befall Notre Damein crunch time, say, inMarch, as it didn’t in 2003,when Brey’s squad rode 13three-pointers, on only 24attempts, to a Sweet 16berth, the first in school his-tory since 1987.As for that lack of depth

troubling the Irish, aWednesday surprise mayhave changed Notre Dame’sfortunes heading into thiscrucial weekend againstMarquette and at Pittsburgh.Senior forward CarletonScott injured his hamstringduring Notre Dame’s 70-58loss at Syracuse on Jan. 1.The Irish have sorely missedtheir jack-of-all-tradesthroughout Scott’s absenceover the last three weeks,but in the victory over No.25 Cincinnati on Wednesday,he played 15 minutes, hit-ting both of his field goalattempts — both 3-pointers— for six points.His return lengthens the

portion of the bench Brey iscomfortable with by a signif-icant amount, consideringwithout Scott, Brey onlyused two players off hisbench consistently — sopho-more guard Joey Brooks andsophomore forward JackCooley. Once Scott returns tofull health, the Irish startingfive should no longerabsolutely need to play morethan 30 minutes apiece.Scott’s return, along with

an eventual — albeit stillhopeful — traveling break-through will answer some ofthose annual questions.Notre Dame faced a toughnon-conference slate,including wins over Georgia,California and Wisconsin inthe span of four days at theOld Spice Classic in Orlandoover Thanksgiving weekend,and with 15 wins to date,nobody should be truly con-cerned about Notre Dame’sBig Dance chances.At that point, the Irish can

legitimately, finally silencetheir critics — includingmyself — with a strong run,completely contrary to lastseason’s disappointingfinale.This squad, in Brey’s 11th

season, could be the one toaccomplish just that. Butuntil they do, those ques-tions will continue to linger,just like syllabus weekremains a joke in most stu-dents’ eyes and Texasnatives — such as Scott —will still find Midwesternwinters a nuisance.

The views expressed inthis column are those of theauthor and not necessarilythose of The Observer.Contact Douglas Farmer at

dfarmer1@nd.edu

ND to face Marquette, Pittsburgh

DAN JACOBS/The Observer

Irish senior forward Tyrone Nash drives to the basket during Notre Dame’s 69-55 home victoryover then-No. 9 Georgetown on Dec. 29.

Douglas Farmer

Sports Editor

By MIKE GOTIMERSports Writer

Contact Mike Gotimer mgotimer@nd.edu

“I don’t think you haveto even use the phrase‘sense of urgency’ with

them, they know[what’s at stake].”

Mike BreyIrish coach

“You need some confidenceon the road, and you knowwe haven’t had any of that.Just look at us last week —we just haven’t been able

to see a three-point shot go in.”

Mike BreyIrish coach

Follow The ObserverSports on Twitter@NDObsSports

Receiv ing contr ibut ionsfrom transfer students is not ararity for the Notre Dame bas-ketball program. In fact, twocurrent Irish starters did notstart their career in SouthBend. But senior guard BenHansbrough does more thanjust contribute for the Irish —he has become the de factoleader of the 2010-11 NotreDame squad, both on and offthe court.“Being a captain, obviously

you have to be a leader,”Hansbrough said. “My overallrole is just to continue to getthis teamgoing, and pro-vide my spiritand work ethicfor the team,and I just hopei t rubs of f oneverybody.”Hansbrough

is leading theIrish in scoring,assists, stealsand 3-pointp e r c e n t a g e ,and is secondin minutesplayed. Thismul t i - face tedoffensive approach is some-thing that he said he strivesfor. His 15.7 points per gameis good enough for eighth inthe Big East, and he ranksf i f th in the Big East in 3-pointers made. Irish coachMike Brey has repeatedlytalked about how wel lHansbrough has let the gamecome to him this year, insteadof searching for shots.“I need to just go out there

and play, attacking and get-ting other people open andscoring at the same time,”Hansbrough said.Defensively, Hansbrough has

been excellent for the Irish aswell. He often guards the best

player on the opposing squad,and held Connecticut juniorguard Kemba Walker, theleading scorer in the Big Eastand then-leading scorer in theNCAA at more than 25 pointsper game, to just 19 pointsand 0-5 shooting from beyondthe arc.“I l ike set t ing the tone

defensively, p laying toughdefense,” Hansbrough said.“On defense, I am just tryingto get everybody going, and Ilike to take the best playerand try to hide his strengths alittle bit.”But being a leader is not

just about s tat is t ics , andHansbrough has embraced hisrole as the emotional leader

of the Ir ishsquad as well,something helearned fromthe NotreDame veteranswhen hearrived in2008.“Three years

ago when Icame here,[ former Ir ishplayers] ZachH i l l e s l a n d ,K y l eM c A l a r n e y ,Ryan Ayers

and Luke Zellar were on theteam, and it helped just beingaround those guys and watch-ing how they carried them-selves,” Hansbrough said. “Itreal ly was l ike a learningprocess for me. And then onceyou become a senior, i t ’salmost like you’ve watchedthese guys and how hardthey’ve worked and you try toembrace it and set an exam-ple for the younger guys andthen how we do things here.Hopefully they can enjoy theNotre Dame experience at thesame time.”Hansbrough began his

career at Mississippi StateUniversity, and played two

seasons with the Bulldogs. Heaveraged 8.8 points overthose two years, but when itcame to deciding on a newschool, he knew that NotreDame would offer him exactlywhat he was looking for.“Obviously you get the best

of both worlds here — aca-demically and with sports,”Hansbrough said.“Basketball’s in the best con-ference in America, andyou’re constant ly get t ingnat ional exposure. At thesame time, you’re graduatingfrom an excellent academicinstitution.”Hansbrough thrives on his

confidence, and it’s that confi-dence that allows him to playat a high level. And once hestarts hi t t ing shots , i tbecomes very difficult to stophim. Hansbrough scored 19points in the first half againstKentucky, including threestraight 3-pointers and 11points in a row.“It’s kind of weird, because

me and the guy that reboundsfor me, Pat Holmes, Jr., hecan kind of tell when I go ontothat zone,” Hansbrough said.“It’s just hoping you can get tothat zone, and constant lyworking every day, training onyour game. Once you get outthere on the court and youstart to see a couple shots goin, it’s almost like you’re rem-iniscing from these workoutswhen you get hot and youcan’t wait to touch it againand get another shot up there.Also, my teammates havebeen doing a great job of find-ing me when I get into thezone, so it’s partly to theircredit also.”Hansbrough claims his con-

fidence was instilled in himfrom competing against hisolder brothers Greg and for-mer North Carolina standoutand current Indiana Pacersforward Tyler.“I think a lot of the confi-

dence comes with the family I

was raised in,” Hansbroughsaid. “I have two very compet-itive older brothers, and mebeing the youngest , youalmost have to learn how toplay with an edge just to com-pete with those guys. Tylerbeing 2 1/2 years older thanme and Greg being 4 1/2 yearsolder than me, at such ayoung age you have to kind oflearn how you’re going tocompete, and I think you pickup an edge, and that edgemay reflect confidence. I justthink i t ’s inst i l led in mealmost, being the littlest of thethree.”In addition to the confidence

he learned, Hansbrough saidthat some of his determina-t ion came from watchingTyler’s achievements — 2008National Player of the Year,2009 Nat ional Champion,2009 NBA Draft lottery pick.“My brother’s had a lot of

success,” he said. “I would saythat I took a lot of his workethic. Seeing the success he’shad and just watching andlearning how he got there,you kind of learn how he wassuccessful with his work ethicand his game on and off thecourt. You just can kind oflearn from it, and it’s beenreally good for me to learnfrom that and see the successhe’s had from his hard work.You just try to adapt it, andit’s worked for me also.”Because they went to the

same high school ,Hansbrough was able to wit-ness his brother’s work ethicup-close — sometimes tooclose.“We played on the same

high school team, and wenever played against eachother, so the only rivalries we

had would be in open gym atschool, and those were prettybad. There were some lostteeth a couple times. It hap-pens,” he said.When asked which of the

two lost their teeth,Hansbrough answered point-edly.“Umm … me,” he said,

laughing.Hansbrough said he

embraces any opportunity toget better, and he was alloweda unique opportunity thissummer. He played in pickupgames at Chapel Hi l l , N.C.against professional and col-lege athletes, including NewYork Knicks point guardRaymond Felton.“I t was great for me,

because as an athlete, youalways want to try to trainagainst the best competitionout there,” Hansbrough said.“I was able to train withRaymond Felton, and it wasgreat to go out and play withsomebody who’s at that leveland compete against. Thatwas really good for my game.“It brought my confidence

up to a new level , and i tbrought my game up to a newlevel too. Going around thoseguys and seeing how theytreat the game and how theydedicate themselves to thegame. It was just good for me.Watching how he was a pointguard at a professional level,and watching how he goteverybody involved, and histempo, speed and work ethicreally surprised me, and I’vejust been trying to translatesome of that s tuf f into mygame.”

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, January 21, 2011 page 3

Transfer takes charge

Contact Eric Prister ateprister@nd.edu

After making switch to Notre Dame, senior guard Ben Hansbrough has embraced a leadership role

By ERIC PRISTERAssociate Sports Editor

DAN JACOBS/The Observer

Senior guard Ben Hansbrough pulls up for a jumper in Notre Dame’sJan. 4 win over Connecticut.

DAN JACOBS/The Observer

Senior guard Ben Hansbrough snags a loose ball in Notre Dame’s Dec. 29 win over Georgetown.Hansbrough leads the Irish in points, assists, steals and 3-point percentage.

“Being a captain, obviously, you have tobe a leader. My overallrole is just to continueto get th is team going,and provide my spiritand work ethic for the

team.”

Ben HansbroughIrish guard

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Friday, January 21, 2011

Men’s: Notre Dame vs. MarquetteNotre DameRecord: 15-4 (4-3 BIG EAST)

AP: 16 Coaches: 16

Nov. 12

Nov. 14

Nov. 17

Nov. 22

Nov. 25

Nov. 26

Nov. 28

Nov. 30

Dec. 8

Dec. 11

Dec. 19

Dec. 22

Dec. 29

Jan. 1

Jan. 4

Jan. 8

Jan. 10

Jan. 16

Jan. 19

Jan. 22

Jan. 24

Feb. 3

Feb. 6

Feb. 9

Feb. 12

Feb. 19

Feb. 23

Feb. 26

Feb. 28

March 5

Georgia Southern — W

Liberty — W

Chicago State — W

Maine — W

Georgia — W (2OT)

California — W

Wisconsin — W

Indiana State — W

Kentucky — L

Gonazaga — W

Stony Brook — W

UMBC — W

Georgetown — W

@ Syracuse — L

Connecticut — W

St. John’s — W

@ Marquette — L

@ St. John’s — L

Cincinnati — W

Marquette

@ Pittsburgh

@ DePaul

Rutgers

Louisville

@ South Florida

@ West Virginia

@ Providence

Seton Hall

Villanova

@ Connecticut

2010-11 Schedule

ERIC ATKINS: 7.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.6 apgDWIGHT BUYCKS: 10.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.1 apg

Buycks, a senior, will likely continue Atkins’ introduction into the world of BigEast point guard play. The Irish freshman has performed admirably thus faragainst ranked foes such as Georgetown and Connecticut. While senior forwardCarelton Scott takes it easy on an injured hamstring, Atkins has handled hisnew starter’s role with relative ease. He ranks second in the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio, averaging 2.7 assists per turnover, and recorded zeroturnovers in his first Big East start against Connecticut Jan. 19. The GoldenEagles veteran will push Atkins on all fronts, including his defense, but theMaryland native has shown saavy so far, and should continue doing so.

EDGE: ATKINS

BEN HANSBROUGH: 15.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.8 apgDARIUS JOHNSON-ODOM: 15.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.8 apg

Each team’s leading scorer will likely draw his counterpart for a defensiveassignment, which could inhibit their usual points-production. Hansbroughhas proven to be a complete player for the Irish this season, including show-ing abundant amounts of emotion on the court. Furthermore, his defensiveperformance against Connecticut’s Kemba Walker cemented his status ascompletely necessary. Johnson-Odom has not faced as stiff a challenge asWalker — currently the nation’s second-most prolific scorer — and thus willlikely struggle more slowing Hansbrough than Hansbrough will slowing theGolden Eagles’ leader.

EDGE: HANSBROUGH

TYRONE NASH: 9.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 apgCHRIS OTULE: 5.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.2 apg

Nash has received consistent playing time for four years now, so he is nostranger to the physical style of play in the Big East. Otule, a sophomore, hasnot fully adjusted to that not-always-desireable aspect yet. Thus, Nash shouldbe able to negotiate his way past Otule’s three-inch height advantage and 30-pound weight difference and hold his own down in the post. If Nash can keepOtule from ruling the boards, most likely with the help of Abromaitis, Martin,senior forward Carleton Scott and sophomore forward Jack Cooley, theGolden Eagles will have difficulty gaining offensive momentum consistently, afactor that could make all the difference Saturday.

EDGE: NASH

SCOTT MARTIN: 9.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apgJIMMY BUTLER: 15.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.1 apg

Martin, a Purdue transfer, came to Notre Dame with much promise before an ACLinjury sidelined him all of last season. After two years spent on the bench, it has takenhim some time to readjust to game speed, though with each game he has slipped moreinto a groove, including an 11-point performance Wednesday during Notre Dame’s 66-58 victory over No. 25 Cincinnati. His natural quickness will be needed againstMarquette in order to slow down the likes of Butler, who pours in his 15.4 points pergame while remaining below the radar. If Butler gets going Saturday night, Martin willlikely face a quick leash from Irish coach Mike Brey in favor of a more physical defend-er such as sophomore guard Joey Brooks, a move that would limit the Irish offensively.

EDGE: BUTLER

TIM ABROMAITIS: 15.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.1 apgJAE CROWDER: 13.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.5 apg

Crowder is quickly moving into the national spotlight as an increasingly dif-ficult matchup. The combination of a body size of some college football line-backers and the ability to drop back and hit a jump shot creates a dilemmafor any defender. Abromaitis, solidly built himself, should be up for the chal-lenge, but if Crowder gains any momentum against the Irish forward, he willbe difficult to slow down before the final buzzer. Contrarily, Abromaitis’offensive repertoire hinges on his 3-point shooting and ability to slip behindthe defensive for backdoor lay-ups. In all of reality, both of those skills areeasier to slow down than Crowder’s pure physicality is.

EDGE: CROWDER

BENCH PERFORMANCE/INTANGIBLES

Marquette went seven-players deep against Notre Dame during its 79-57victory over the Irish on Jan. 10. For the past few weeks, Notre Dame hasonly been able to go seven-players deep itself, but with the progressive returnof senior forward Carleton Scott, currently coming off the bench, suddenlythe Irish have eight players to rotate on the hardwood. Sophomore forwardJack Cooley provides a big body when the Irish need that presence.Meanwhile Marquette’s Vander Blue is a dangerous weapon hidden on the

bench. Golden Eagles coach Buzz Williams tries to use Blue as a change ofpace, but in their previous meeting, the Irish held Blue to only two points in20 minutes.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, January 21, 2011 page 5

Women’s: Notre Dame vs. St. John’s Notre DameRecord: 16-4 (5-1 BIG EAST)

AP: 11 Coaches: 10

Nov. 12

Nov. 15

Nov. 18

Nov. 21

Nov. 26

Nov. 27

Nov. 28

Dec. 1

Dec. 5

Dec. 8

Dec. 11

Dec. 20

Dec. 29

Dec. 30

Jan. 2

Jan. 5

Jan. 8

Jan. 12

Jan. 15

Jan. 18

Jan. 23

Jan. 29

Feb. 1

Feb. 5

Feb. 8

Feb. 12

Feb. 19

Feb. 22

Feb. 26

Feb. 28

New Hampshire — W

Morehead State — W

UCLA — L (2OT)

@ Kentucky — L

IUPUI — W

Wake Forest — W

Butler — W

@ Baylor — L

Purdue — W

@ Providence — W

Creighton — W

@ Valparaiso — W

Gonzaga — W

Loyola Marymount — W

SE Missouri State — W

@ Marquette — W

Connecticut — L

Louisville — W

@ Pittsburgh — W

Georgetown — W

St. John’s

@ Villanova

Syracuse

@ South Florida

Seton Hall

Rutgers

@ Connecticut

@ West Virginia

Cincinnati

@ DePaul

2010-11 Schedule

SKYLAR DIGGINS: 14.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.7 apgSKY LINDSAY: 6.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg

Despite taking a back seat to Novosel in scoring, Diggins is still NotreDame’s most dangerous player on both sides of the ball. While her scoringaverage is on line with last season’s pace, Diggins has become a better dis-tributor as McGraw’s offense runs through her. She ranks sixth in the confer-ence with 4.7 assists per game, and her defense has also improved. Lindsayshould have a difficult time creating her own shot, but will not be asked tohandle the scoring duties. The veteran guard will still play a valuable role forSt. John’s as a ball handler. In the end, Diggins should outperform Lindsay, iffor no other reason than her advantage amid their similar first names.

EDGE: DIGGINS

NATALIE NOVOSEL: 15.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.3 apgNADIRAH McKENITH: 7.2 pg, 4.3 rpg, 3.2 apg

Novosel has taken her game to another level this season, especially on theoffensive side of the ball. Leading the Irish in scoring and is the eighth-lead-ing scorer in the Big East, Novosel, who is McGraw’s most consistent playerand a factor in the game plan of opposing coaches. She is also comfortabletaking the final shot of the game. McKenith is a bit of an unknown in her sec-ond season for the Red Storm. She is a good ball handler with enough skill toget to the hoop, but will face a greater challenge in keeping Novosel in frontof her while providing Lindsay a bit of support in keeping Diggins out of thelane.

EDGE: NOVOSEL

DEVERAUX PETERS: 10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.9 apgDa’SHENA STEVENS: 12.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.4 apg

This will be the matchup of the night. Peters is coming off her third consec-utive Big East Honor Roll appearance, and has improved every aspect of hergame. After being plagued by injuries in her first two seasons, the senior hasresponded to addition playing time with her best numbers in her career. Moreimportantly, she’s staying out of foul trouble. But Stevens is St. John’s secondlegitimate scoring option after Smith, and blew through the Irish for 21points and 11 rebounds last season. The junior forward is a serious threat onoffense and will be physical with Peters under the boards. If Bruszewski isnot able to help out Peters down low, Stevens could lead to headaches.

EDGE: STEVENS

BRITTANY MALLORY: 6.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.3 apgSHENNEIKA SMITH: 14.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.9 apg

Mallory has struggled to find a rhythm since injuring her ankle during thethird game of the season during a loss against Kentucky. The senior guard isone of the lone Irish threats from beyond the arc, shooting 43.4 percent fromdeep, and can bring the ball up the court, but she is not a serious scoringthreat near the basket at this point in her career. On the other hand, Smith isone of the conference’s emerging stars and a natural scorer. McGraw said sheis one of three sophomores who made a serious impact last season. Smithposted 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Irish in a Red Storm victory in2010, and has the potential to erupt again.

EDGE: SMITH

BECCA BRUSZEWSKI: 8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apgCENTHYA HART: 8.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.9 apg

Bruszewski has had a solid season for the Irish thus far and has stepped upin a number of big games. While the senior forward’s scoring average hasfallen from last season, her rebounding and minutes played are both up, nowplaying more than 23 minutes per game. She has become a legitimate postdefender for the Irish and adds a veteran presence on the floor. Also a seniorforward, Hart is a nice complement to Da’Shena Stevens in the post and canscore if needed. Hart can still hurt the Irish if she continues to grab offensiverebounds, as she has 56 on the season thus far and ranks in the top-10 in theconference.

EDGE: BRUSZEWSKI

BENCH PERFORMANCE/INTANGIBLES

Notre Dame has one of the deepest benches in the league, and it’s only get-ting better as the season progresses. Not every team can bring a 6-foot-3freshman off the bench, but McGraw has that luxury in Natalie Achonwa, whoaverages 8.1 points and 5.8 boards in just 18 minutes per game.Freshman Kayla McBride ranks fourth on the team in scoring, but has a

knack for getting to the hoop and leading the fast break. Kaila Turner andFraderica Miller also add speed and solid defense in limited minutes.The Red Storm only have one serious threat off the bench in Eugenia

McPherson, but she’s more than capable of providing the lift. The sophomoreguard ranks third on the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Graphic Illustrations by Blair Chemidlin

Analysis by Douglas Farmer and Chris Masoud

Critics of the Irish team thisseason have said Notre Dame istoo young to be good, with amajor weakness in the post.Senior forward DevereauxPeters is making sure those crit-ics know that they’re wrong.And she manages to do so whilesitting out for up to 15 minutesper half.“A lot of people were talking

about how we’re low in the postthis year and how we don’t havea post game and that was goingto be our weakness. And theposts we’re kind of like, ‘Oh,OK, that’s our weakness, huh?’”Peters said. “We took that as ashot at us, so ever since thenwe’ve been fighting back. Inpractice, we’re running if wemiss them so it’s reallyingrained it our heads this yearthat we have to box out and geton the boards, especiallybecause we’re not as big asmost people. They really lit thatfire under us early.”Standing at 6-foot-2, Peters

knows she is not one of thetallest players at her position,but that hasn’t stopped her frommaking the Big East Honor Rollfor three consecutive weeks.Peters makes sure to bring herall to the court each game, lead-ing her squad in rebounds (6.5per game), blocked shots (1.5)and field goal percentage (.570),while placing third in scoringwith an average of 11.1 pointsper game. Peters also ranksamong the top players in theconference in field goal percent-age (fourth) and blocked shots(eighth).Helping keep Peters on her

game is the very youth forwhich many have criticizedNotre Dame.“You can never take a play

off,” Peters said. “We’re quickpaced, we push it, you can’treally take a break at any timebecause we’re always moving,

we’re always trying to push itand get it in transition. So youcan’t really sleep at any timebecause we’re always moving,always pushing. It’s not like youhave any time to really thinkabout everything and take it allin, you have to go, go, go.“We may be a young team,

but we still work hard. We takepride in that we’re ready everygame, no matter who it is, we’realways ready and we want towork past that point, to get tothe point where people say,‘they’re a good team,’ and youdon’t have to put in the youngfactor. I think that everybodythinks about that every daybecause yes we are a youngteam, but we’re still playingteams that have grown andhave a lot more upperclassmen.So I think there’s a lot of pres-sure there.”Most of the pressure Peters

feels doesn’t come from the out-side, but rather from withinherself. A constant perfectioniston the court, Peters does herbest to make sure she getseverything right the first time.“I’m somewhat of a perfec-

tionist on the court,” she said. “Ihate being wrong and I hate let-ting other people down. If Imake a mistake, I’m really onmyself. I hate making mistakes.My teammates I think are waymore forgiving of me than I amof myself.” Peters doesn’t see pushing for

perfection as being a negativeaspect all the time, however, asshe feels it helped her bring herperformance to where it needsto be this season after a roughstart. “I think I started out really

slow and I was getting reallyfrustrated with how I was play-ing. I wasn’t playing well in thebig games, I felt like I wasn’treally coming through,” shesaid. “So I tried to pick it upmore in practice, my teammateswere pushing me more. Iexpected more of myself, and Ithink it’s starting to come out

now. But once I finally had areally good game where I start-ed to pick the pace back up andstarted to finish and do thethings I used to do, it was justuphill from there and once Istarted playing better I got thatconfidence back.”Peters wasn’t worried about

her playing meeting her ownexpectations as much as shewas concerned about doing thebest for her team. She couldsense a trend coming out in herperformances earlier this sea-son, a trend that wasn’t gettingher anywhere and almost losther spot on the court.“I saw how I was playing was

affecting the team as a whole,”Peters said. “My play had down-graded a lot from last year andlast season, even though I didn’tplay the whole season, I reallywasn’t performing at all, I was-n’t doing much of anything. Itwas getting to the point thatthey [her teammates] were like,‘I don’t know if we’re going tohave to take your spot or what’sgoing to have to happen tomake you turn it around.’ Sothat kind of woke me up. Ithought ok, I have to pick it up,I’m not really doing much ofanything. “I don’t want to let the team

down and I don’t want to sit onthe bench either. So I think thatreally motivated me to pick it upand really get back to playinghow I used to.”The Peters on the court this

season sports knee braces onboth knees after tearing herACL earlier in her career, andstruggled with tendonitis earlyon, but has turned her playaround to become one of themost explosive players on theIrish squad. And her effortshave not gone unnoticed. “This is really the best that

she’s played,” Irish coach MuffetMcGraw said. “She had a pre-season this year — she was ableto work out this summer andthen the preseason, and so shereally came into the season

ready. But she’s been on the all-Big East honor roll three weeksin a row. She’s really been play-ing well really all season, butcertainly since we got into BigEast play.”Coming into the season ready

gave Peters not only a chance towork on her own strengths andweaknesses but to also matureas a player and to see whereshe can most help her team. “The biggest thing she’s doing

is she’s staying in the game,”McGraw said. “Foul troubleplagued her early. She’s beenreally smart, she’s really matur-ing, and she’s finding ways toscore, in addition to the greatjob she’s doing on the boardsand on the defensive end. Reallypleased with the way she’s play-ing right now — she’s definitelybecome a force inside.”McGraw wasn’t ready to let

Peters’ fouls be an excuse formaking a lesser impact on thecourt, and she let her know it. “I think at first, with me foul-

ing so much, Coach still expect-ed me to get the numbers. Shetold me at the beginning of theyear that she wanted me toaverage a double-double,”Peters said. “And she stillexpected that from me eventhough I was fouling. After yoursecond foul in the first half, yousit out. So I was sitting out forabout 15 minutes, but she wasstill expecting me to get 10 and10. “It really pushed me to work

harder even if I wasn’t gettingas many minutes because shewas still expecting a certainstandard out of me. I was reallypushing to work hard in thoseminutes that I was in because Iknew I wasn’t going to get asmuch. Now that I’m gettingthem [minutes] more, I’m

already trying to get my aver-age, so it’s just a bonus to havethat extra time.”And Peters has been workingtoward that double-double eachgame. Peters has secured fourof them, most recently atPittsburgh Jan. 15 where shehad 15 points and a game-high10 rebounds, as well as twoblocks, two steals and fourassists. Peters snared her fifthdouble-digit rebounding gameon Tuesday night againstGeorgetown when she made agame-high 12 rebounds, outdo-ing her previous performancesthis season. It was the seventhdouble-digit rebounding effortof her career and is exactly thekind of play Peters expects outof herself. Not for her own statsbut for her team. “Everybody’s really working

on getting the rebounds inbecause if you out-rebound ateam, you are most likely goingto win the game,” she said. “Ijust want to do my part. I don’tnecessarily need to be makingthe great plays. Sometimes it’snot for me to make the bigplays. Sometimes it’s for me toguard a certain person or tomake sure I box out or do thelittle things like come high whenI’m supposed to. So I reallywant to make sure I do my rolein every game, whatever itmight be, and not necessarilymake sure to be the big timeperson, even if it’s not gettingnoticed, I just want to do what-ever they need me to do to winthat game.” She may not need the atten-

tion, but Peters has definitelybecome a firework on the courtfor Notre Dame this year.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 6 Friday, January 21, 2011

Post presence

Contact Meaghan Veselik atmvesel01@saintmarys.edu

After a slow start to the season, senior forward Devereaux Peters is making her mark down low for ND

By MEAGHAN VESELIKSports Writer

JAMES DOAN/The Observer

Senior forward Devereaux Peters drives to the basket in NotreDame’s Nov. 3 exhibition game against Michigan Tech.

SUZANNA PRATT/The Observer

Senior forward Devereaux Peters blocks a shot in Notre Dame’s 79-76 loss to Connecticut onJan. 8. Peters leads the Irish in blocks with 1.5 per game.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, January 21, 2011 page 7

New confidencegives new hopeThe look on Becca

Bruszewski’s face in thefirst five minutes of NotreDame’s 80-58 win overGeorgetown Tuesday was allanyoneneeded tosee. The sen-

ior forwardscored fourof her 10points inthe open-ing min-utes ofthe game.Twice, shebarreledthroughseveral defenders on herway to the basket, her eyesfiercely inquiring why theHoyas were trying to messwith her team. The concentration on

Skylar Diggins face in thefirst half Tuesday wasanother tell. The sophomoreguard hit five of eight shotsand five of five free throwsfor a total of 17 first-halfpoints, enough to bury thecountry’s No. 16 team byhalftime. That attitude of over-

whelming confidence hasspread to the rest of theteam, and has become obvi-ous to those watching. “Now I think top to bottom

we have that. I think every-body’s getting that now,”Irish coach Muffet McGrawsaid. “We’re feeding off ofBecca, and we’re feeding offof Skylar. When you look attwo people like that who areout there battling all thetime, it makes you want towork hard too.”That Georgetown was

ranked didn’t matter to theIrish, who were clearlyready to fight. It was Notre Dame’s first

win over a ranked team thisseason after several closelosses, none more heart-breaking than its narrowdefeat at the hands ofConnecticut on Jan. 8. But rankings didn’t matter

in that game, either. TheIrish approached the gamelike any other, startedstrong and led or kept closethroughout the game, untila few missed opportunitiesat the end allowed theHuskies to take the ultimate79-76 lead. “Notre Dame outplayed us

in every way today,”Huskies coach GenoAuriemma admitted afterthe game. In January 2010, the No. 3

Irish fell to No. 1Connecticut by 24 points.Motivated by the loss, theywon eight straight beforelosing twice in a row — toSt. John’s and Georgetown.They went on to lose twicemore to Connecticut, by 25

and 12 points, respectively. This season is already

radically different from lastin personnel and results.But now, it is also differentin the team’s toughness andpoise, and that will makethe difference going for-ward. Since losing by nine points

at No. 2 Baylor inDecember, the Irish havewon 11 of 12 and havedeveloped the awarenessthat they can play with any-one in the country. They’llneed to keep that idea intheir minds to make itthrough the rest of the BigEast season — and there’sno indication they won’t. This year’s Connecticut

game, which easily couldhave gone in the otherdirection, was the firstexample. The intimidationfactor that played a signifi-cant role in the three gamesthe Irish and Huskies playedlast year was gone. Nolonger was it McGrawadmitting that Notre Damewould have to be at its bestand Connecticut at its worstfor there to be a chance atan upset. Instead, it was theIrish players knowing therewas a chance, andAuriemma realizing his ownluck. “Somehow we won the

game in the last four min-utes,” he said. “That is kindof how basketball goessometimes.” Three games later came

the victory overGeorgetown, Notre Dame’sbiggest win over a rankedopponent since a 93-58 winover No. 23 Miami in 2004.Each player did her job onoffense and defense. TheIrish shot 53.8 percent fromthe field, with four playersscoring points in double fig-ures. They out-reboundedthe Hoyas 36-30 and tookadvantage of 21 Georgetownturnovers for 31 points. “When we’re playing like

that, we’re a dangerousteam,” Diggins said. Next on the list will be St.

John’s on Sunday, and theIrish are ready to avengeanother of last year’s losses.The Red Storm come in witha two-game winning streakand a chance to break intothe top-25 with a qualitywin. But it seems unlikely that

Bruszewski, Diggins and therest of the Irish will allowthat to happen. If anything, Notre Dame

will be the ones intimidatingthe Red Storm.

The views expressed inthis column are those of theauthor and not necessarilythose of The Observer.Contact Laura Myers at

lmyers2@nd.edu

Red Storm next up for Irish

Heading into the heart of theBig East season, No. 11 NotreDame looks to keep paceamong the conference leadersas it hosts St. John’s Sunday.The Irish fell to the Red Stormlast season 76-71 on the road,snapping aneight-game winstreak.Despite the

additional moti-vation ofreturning thefavor, Irishcoach MuffetMcGraw saidher team issimply focusedon racking upanother confer-ence victory.“They’re a

ranked oppo-nent, so it ’sanother oppor-tunity for us toimprove our RPI,” McGrawsaid. “They’ve got a good RPI,and of course just beating a BigEast team every game is reallyimportant for us. We’ve got totake care of the home court.”Notre Dame (16-4, 5-1 Big

East) is riding a three-gamewin streak and is currentlyranked fourth in the confer-ence standings. While St.John’s (14-5, 3-3) has yet toseparate itself from the pack,the Red Storm feature a num-ber of talented players whohave risen to the occasionagainst the Irish.Averaging 14.5 points per

game, sophomore guardShenneika Smith shredded theIrish for 23 points and 10rebounds in the Red Storm’svictory last season.“Last year, there were three

really good freshmen in theleague — Skylar [Diggins],Sugar Rodgers fromGeorgetown and Shenneika,”McGraw said. “She’s a greatathlete, she can shoot over you,she’s got great elevation on herjumper, she can shoot threes —

she’s really a dangerous playerand a very difficult matchup forus.”In addition to Smith, junior

forward Da’Shena Stevens is adual threat for St. John’s whoalso had a big game duringNotre Dame’s previous loss tothe Red Storm. Stevens finishedwith 21 points and 11 reboundsin the contest, and currently

averages 6.8rebounds pergame.“That’s going

to be a goodm a t c h u p , ”McGraw said.“Da’Shena’s areally goodplayer for St.John’s. It ’sgoing to be abattle on theboards becauseshe’s an excel-lent reboundertoo. I think thatwas how theybeat us at St.John’s last year

— she really played well, shescored a lot inside, and got alot of rebounds. That’s a keymatchup.”The Irish will rely on the post

presence of jun-ior forwardD e v e r e a u xPeters andfreshman for-ward NatalieAchonwa tokeep Stevens incheck. Peterswas named tothe Big EastHonor Roll forthe third con-secutive weekon Mondayafter averaging14.5 point and 6.5 rebounds intwo games last week.Achonwa has opened a num-

ber of eyes in her first Big Eastcampaign, averaging 8.1 pointsand 5.8 rebounds in just 18minutes per game. The 18-year-old Canadian has been alift off the bench for McGraw,who has started to graduallyincrease her playing time as

she incorporates a larger line-up in conference play.“I think that freshman

Natalie Achonwa has reallycontributed a lot the entireseason, and now she’s getting alitt le more playing time,”McGraw said. “I think that allthe posts are getting a littlemore playing time and it’s beenreally good. But rebounding isone of Natalie’s strengths, andthat is something that she’spretty much done all year. Andnow Devereaux is getting somedouble-figure reboundinggames as well.”Although the Irish are poised

to finish the conference seasonwith one of the top seeds head-ing into the Big EastChampionships, a number ofteams have emerged as legiti-mate contenders. WhileConnecticut remains thefavorite to win a Big East title,six teams in the conference,including St. John’s, are rankedin the top-25 of the USA TodayCoaches Poll.Along with the Huskies (17-1,

6-0), Rutgers (11-6, 4-0) andDePaul (17-2, 5-0) remainunbeaten in conference play.

“It’s a great league. Top-to-bottom, it’s just so difficult,”

McGraw said.“There’s proba-bly nine teamswith a shot atthe NCAA tour-nament. DePaulis probably oneof the surprisesin the leaguethis year withthe way they’vestarted out.”The Blue

Demons are offto the best startin program his-

tory and will face the Irish inthe final conference game ofthe regular season. Until then,Notre Dame will continue toplow through its conferenceschedule, beginning Sunday at2 p.m. against St. John’s at thePurcell Pavilion.

DAN JACOBS/The Observer

Irish sophomore guard Skylar Diggins plays defense in Notre Dame’s Jan. 8 loss to conferencerival Connecticut. Diggins leads the Irish in assists with 4.7 per game.

Laura Myers

Sports Writer

By CHRIS MASOUDSports Writer

Contact Chris Masoud cmasoud@nd.edu

“They’re a rankedopponent, so it’s

another opportunityfor us to improve ourRPI. They’ve got agood RPI, and of

course just beating aBig East team every

game is really important for us.”

Muffet McGrawIrish coach

“It’s a great league.Top-to-bottom, it’s justso difficult. There’sprobably nine teamswith a shot at theNCAA tournament.”

Muffet McGrawIrish coach

Please recycle TheObserver.

Graphic Illustration by Dan Jacobs and Blair Chemidlin