Even at the climax of the NCAA Tournament, women’s college basketball isn’t usually the topic of conversation on SportsCenter or the market that’s producing the biggest headlines.
It’s often looked over and certainly finds itself taking the back seat to the highly touted NCAA men’s basketball tournament. And considering the results in the bracket on the women’s side were as expected, there hasn’t been much talk.
That being said, this Final Four of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament should be full of headline-worthy drama.
The outcome of the Final Four, made up of No. 1 University of Connecticut, Stanford University, University of Maryland and University of Notre Dame is not going to be so easy to predict. The Maryland-Notre Dame matchup is going to be an exciting battle and earning the win is going to be a challenge for the Irish, whose starting center Natalie Achonwa will be out with a season-ending torn ACL that happened during the team's win against Baylor University in the Elite Eight.
An undefeated underdog seems like an oxymoron, but it what best describes the Irish squad headed into the semifinal against Maryland. The 36-0 Irish should by no means been considered an underdog, but losing Achonwa is a big blow to its hopes of winning a national championship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_33u2Y6WBg
Achonwa was third on the team, racking up 14.9 points per game and led the team in rebounding with 7.7 per game. Her shoes are going to be hard to fill as a player and a leader on the court, but it’s not one player that makes a team successful. The Irish have one of the deepest benches in the country and every player that steps onto the court is going to have to step up.
Much like the daunting task of replacing Irish star Skylar Diggins and matching the productivity she brought, this is going to be a team effort. One player isn’t going to supply what Natalie brought to the court and Taya Reimer, who’s replacing her in the starting lineup, isn’t expected to get a double-double. A player of that caliber is simply irreplaceable, especially on an individual level. In order to be successful and continue its perfect season, the Irish need to see little improvements from each player that steps on the court. This Notre Dame team has played as just that all season with a deep bench and they rely on more than just the first five.
The goal to win a national championship is still in sight. Sure, it’s going to be a battle and it isn’t the one the Irish were expecting, but they are the best-equipped team to take on this task and move on to the next one will all pistons firing.