Tag: Jackie Young

Two former Notre Dame players make WNBA All-Star roster

Congrats, Arike and Kayla!

The final decade or so of [autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag]’s tenure at Notre Dame saw her develop many future WNBA stars. Those stars have their mark on today’s league and have earned the right to display their skills as much as possible.

The WNBA All-Star roster for the annual All-Star Game on July 20 in Phoenix has been announced. That roster will include the Dallas Wings’ [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] and the Minnesota Lynx’s [autotag]Kayla McBride[/autotag], two players who came up with the Irish.

Ogunbowale was named to the team by virtue of being one of the top 10 vote-getters among fans, players and media. McBride was one of eight additional players named after coaches completed the final round of voting. Among those on the final ballot but not making the roster were the Seattle Storm’s [autotag]Skylar Diggins-Smith[/autotag] and the Chicago Sky’s [autotag]Marina Mabrey[/autotag].

The WNBA All-Stars will face the U.S. Olympic team, which includes the Las Vegas Aces’ [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag], who also was one of the top 10 WNBA vote-getters, and the Storm’s [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag].

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Former and current Notre Dame players make Canadian Olympic team

Best of luck representing the Maple Leaf!

The Olympic roster for Canada’s women’s basketball team has been announced, and Notre Dame will have some fine representation. In fact, two names should be very familiar for Irish fans. One might be more surprising than the other depending on how you look at it.

Not surprising is that [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] will play in her fourth straight Olympics, a record for Canada women’s basketball. The other Notre Dame representative will be current Irish guard [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag], who will make her Olympic debut in Paris. She was injured early this past season and didn’t suit up for the Irish again. Hopefully, this experience will give her confidence for the 2024-25 season.

The Irish also will have two former players representing them for the U.S. in [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] and [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag]. Few expect that team not to win gold, so the only real drama for Irish fans here is whether Achonwa and Prosper can help bring Canada its first women’s basketball medal.

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Five former Notre Dame players among top 20 WNBA scorers

These ladies are making Irish fans proud.

Before too long, Notre Dame coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] will be sending players she’s had as head coach to the WNBA. For now though, a few of [autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag]’s former players are tearing the league up through their scoring. But a lot of people might not seem to realize just how much they’re lighting up the scoreboard.

While most fans are focused on the budding rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, just as much focus should be going to the professionals the Irish have developed. If you need more convincing of that, check out this tweet from @trendyhoopstars:

That’s unbelievable. It’s a testament to how great the program has been for a while now but especially during McGraw’s final decade coaching the Irish. It should come as no surprise that these players have blossomed professionally and are giving the development at some other prominent women’s basketball schools a run for their money. UConn and South Carolina aren’t the only two programs worthy of attention.

So who are the former Irish players turning heads through the first month-and-a-half of the WNBA season, and where do they rank among the league’s scoring leaders? It’s these five:

Two former Notre Dame players named to U.S. Olympic team

With so many quality former Notre Dame players thriving in the WNBA, at least one of them had to make the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.

With so many quality former Notre Dame players thriving in the WNBA, at least one of them had to make the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. Now, two of them reportedly have done just that. [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] of the Seattle Storm and [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] of the Las Vegas Aces will be among the 12 players trying to win gold for the U.S. in Paris:

This will be the second straight Olympics for Loyd after taking the gold along with [autotag]Skylar Diggins-Smith[/autotag] during the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Young also won gold at those Olympics but as part of the first-ever 3-on-3 basketball competition.

The U.S. won’t be the only roster to find Notre Dame representation though. [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] will be competing in her fourth straight Olympics for Canada. As she currently is not on a WNBA roster, she can focus her energy on preparing for Paris. Here’s hoping she can bring home a medal, too.

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Two former Notre Dame players reach personal WNBA milestones

What an evening.

It seems like every night, a former Notre Dame player is turning heads in the WNBA. Friday was a night in which multiple players who went through the program shined.

[autotag]Kayla McBride[/autotag] hit a career-high eight 3-pointers, which accounted for all but one of her 25 points that led the Minnesota Lynx.  That’s one more than the seven Caitlin Clark hit in another game during the night to tie the WNBA rookie record.

Despite McBride’s big night, Kahleah Copper hit a last-second 3 of her own to put the Phoenix Mercury in front. McBride fired one last shot from beyond the arc but missed, and the Lynx lost, 81-80.

There was a happier outcome for [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag], who scored her 5,000th career points en route to her own 25-point game in the Seattle Storm’s 78-65 victory over the Las Vegas Aces. Supporting Loyd was [autotag]Skylar Diggins-Smith[/autotag], who had 21 points and a game-high seven assists.

[autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] made only one 3-pointer on 12 field-goal attempts for the Aces.

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Notre Dame alumnus Jackie Young extends contract with Las Vegas Aces

Nicely earned, Jackie.

Life couldn’t be better right now for Notre Dame alumnus and Las Vegas Aces guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag]. Not only has she been an All-Star the past two seasons, but she has won WNBA championships in both of those seasons. Plus, she’s gotten better with each passing year, and the Aces seem to agree that she will continue to play at a high level.

The Aces have signed Young to a contract extension. Here’s the official statements from general manager Natalie Williams:

“Jackie Young is a force to be reckoned with in the WNBA and one of the most dynamic shooting guards in the world. Signing Jackie to an extension through 2025 was absolutely a priority for us. Watching Jackie’s growth, I believe she could be vying for that MVP title this season.”

Young is coming off a season in which she averaged 17.6 points a game and was named Second Team All-WNBA. Aces fans will be eager to see how she can build off that both this season and next.

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Top 10 3-point shooters in Notre Dame women’s basketball history

Who has most hit from downtown in Irish history?

Several months back, former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] advanced to the finals of the annual WNBA 3-Point Contest. But nobody was going to beat Sabrina Ionescu, whose final-round score of 37 was higher than even the highest score ever recorded in the NBA version of the contest. Almost immediately, many wondered how Ionescu would favor in a shootout with NBA 3-point king Stephen Curry.

This past NBA All-Star Weekend, fans got their wish. It was the highlight of the weekend with Curry needing the final rack to beat Ionescu, 29-26. There are hopes that something like this can continue next year and beyond, especially with women’s basketball increasing in popularity.

While we contemplate the future of women’s basketball and only can guess what it holds, we know who’s helped lay the groundwork for that future. Among them are the top 3-point shooters in Notre Dame history. Since 3-pointers are the latest thing to bring male and female basketball players together, let’s see who rounds out the top 10 for the Irish:

Three former Notre Dame players on U.S. team training camp roster

Keep a lookout for this year’s Olympic roster.

With the 2024 Olympics in Paris only months away, now is the time for USA Basketball to plan its teams. That includes a women’s 5-on-5 team that can keep the gold medal in the U.S. Sure, the U.S. has won nine of the past 10 golds, but one never can be too certain.

Out of the 18 players on the U.S. training camp roster, 12 will be selected for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. It should be noted that the U.S. is participating in the tournament despite automatically qualifying for the Paris Olympics by virtue of taking the gold in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics. The next few weeks will serve as player evaluation more than anything else.

Three players on the roster will be familiar to Notre Dame fans because they all played for the Irish. While none of these names are surprises, it still is nice to see them have this opportunity. Here they are:

Two former Notre Dame players named to All-WNBA Second Team

Congrats, Jackie and Jewell!

We’re getting close to Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team’s defense of its ACC regular-season title. First, we need to acknowledge two former Irish who had fantastic seasons in the WNBA. In fact, they were recognized for those seasons by being named Second Team All-WNBA.

Statistically, [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] of the Seattle Storm had the better season. She won the league’s scoring title with 24.7 points a game, the second-highest scoring average in league history. She also was named MVP of the WNBA All-Star Game by setting event records in points (31) and 3-pointers (10). However, her standout season was not nearly enough to keep the Storm from having the league’s second-worst record at 11-29.

[autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag]’s Las Vegas Aces are one win away from the WNBA championship. She is largely responsible for the season the Aces have had, averaging a career-high 17.6 points a game and shooting 44.9% from 3-point range, the second-best such shooting percentage in the league. She also was voted to start in the All-Star Game.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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WNBA playoffs predictions: Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back?

For basketball heads everywhere, the WNBA playoffs are an out-of-body experience.

The WNBA playoffs are here. This is when regular season records mean nothing, and wins mean everything. It’s buzzer beaters, emphatically blocked shots, “what did I just see?” moments and scoring so good you’ll need a pulse check.

For basketball heads everywhere, this is an out-of-body experience. The level of play is elevated, and so are the expectations.

Will the Lynx fly too close to the Sun? (See what I did there?) Will the Liberty crush the Aces’ chances of winning back-to-back titles?

Who wins? Who’s out?

These are your 2023 WNBA playoff predictions: