SOUTH BEND — A season of magic and memories for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team closed with a heartfelt celebration, as nearly 700 fans turned out to honor the national runner-up Tuesday night at Purcell Pavilion.
In a season that started by honoring the 2001 national championship Irish team and finished with the 2011 Irish nearly capturing another crown, a full range of emotions touched the Irish coaching staff, players and fans at the banquet.
Graduating senior Becca Bruszewski, a product of Wheeler High School in Valparaiso, earned the Notre Dame Monogram Club Most Valuable Player Award voted on by the Irish players. The award was presented by former Irish basketball great Scott Paddock, who is now the president of the Chicagoland Speedway.
South Bend’s Skylar Diggins, a sophomore, received the Woody Miller Player of the Year award, an award selected by the media and named for the longtime Tribune Notre Dame beat writer.
"I think her teammates saw her mental toughness. when adversity hit," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said of why Bruszewski earned the MVP vote. "Hers was the voice they heard. I think she was the one in the huddles during games when games weren’t going well. They saw her come back from injury after injury after injury and be there for them.
"It’s the intangibles that are so important. Becca really grew throughout the year. She was just what this team needed."
Bruszewski gave a touching and emotional farewell during her speech. The 6-foot-1 senior helped the Irish post a 31-8 record. Driven by her leadership, the Irish worked their way through the rankings, breaking into the top 10 in the last week of January, and finished the season by reaching the Final Four for the third time in school history.
Bruszewski was fourth on the team in scoring (8.9 points a game) and tied for second in rebounding (5.3). She finished her career as a 1,000-point scorer.
"This means a lot, especially coming from my teammates," Bruszewski said. "They’re the reason I play as hard as I do, and for them to honor me back with something like this award is absolutely amazing.
"Every time we come to play has been special. Running out of the tunnel, seeing the fans, banquets like this where the fans come out to support you, it’s all been magical and memorable."
Diggins averaged 15.0 points and 4.8 assists. She led the Irish in the NCAA tournament, averaging 19.3 points.
"Skylar has had a sensational year," McGraw said. "All of the accolades were well deserved. She did everything that she could possibly do to help us win a national championship."
McGraw also touched on Diggins’ popularity.
"Skylar had an all-American year," she said. "She led the team in assists, improved her field-goal percentage and rebounding average, was an NCAA regional MVP, first-team all-Big East, and named to the Final Four all-tournament team, not to mention a few marriage proposals and a couple million followers on Twitter."
Diggins was also honored as a 1,000-point scorer.
Other award winners included Brittany Mallory (Defensive Player of the Year), Natalie Novosel (Most Improved), Mary Forr (Spirit Award), and Veronica Badway (Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award).
Forr, Notre Dame’s other graduating senior, thanked McGraw for giving her an opportunity to play as a walk-on.
"Thanks for making my life a fairy tale," Forr said. "You really did make my dream come true."
McGraw beamed about the accomplishments of this team, which lost to Texas A&M, 76-70, in the national championship game.
"I was so proud of this team," McGraw said. "Coming out of the Big East Tournament, I thought we’ve really come a long way. I kept thinking, I want to go back and watch those games in November and see how much better we’ve gotten, because we improved more than any team I’ve coached."
Staff writer Curt Rallo: crallo@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6152
In a season that started by honoring the 2001 national championship Irish team and finished with the 2011 Irish nearly capturing another crown, a full range of emotions touched the Irish coaching staff, players and fans at the banquet.
Graduating senior Becca Bruszewski, a product of Wheeler High School in Valparaiso, earned the Notre Dame Monogram Club Most Valuable Player Award voted on by the Irish players. The award was presented by former Irish basketball great Scott Paddock, who is now the president of the Chicagoland Speedway.
South Bend’s Skylar Diggins, a sophomore, received the Woody Miller Player of the Year award, an award selected by the media and named for the longtime Tribune Notre Dame beat writer.
"I think her teammates saw her mental toughness. when adversity hit," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said of why Bruszewski earned the MVP vote. "Hers was the voice they heard. I think she was the one in the huddles during games when games weren’t going well. They saw her come back from injury after injury after injury and be there for them.
"It’s the intangibles that are so important. Becca really grew throughout the year. She was just what this team needed."
Bruszewski gave a touching and emotional farewell during her speech. The 6-foot-1 senior helped the Irish post a 31-8 record. Driven by her leadership, the Irish worked their way through the rankings, breaking into the top 10 in the last week of January, and finished the season by reaching the Final Four for the third time in school history.
Bruszewski was fourth on the team in scoring (8.9 points a game) and tied for second in rebounding (5.3). She finished her career as a 1,000-point scorer.
"This means a lot, especially coming from my teammates," Bruszewski said. "They’re the reason I play as hard as I do, and for them to honor me back with something like this award is absolutely amazing.
"Every time we come to play has been special. Running out of the tunnel, seeing the fans, banquets like this where the fans come out to support you, it’s all been magical and memorable."
Diggins averaged 15.0 points and 4.8 assists. She led the Irish in the NCAA tournament, averaging 19.3 points.
"Skylar has had a sensational year," McGraw said. "All of the accolades were well deserved. She did everything that she could possibly do to help us win a national championship."
McGraw also touched on Diggins’ popularity.
"Skylar had an all-American year," she said. "She led the team in assists, improved her field-goal percentage and rebounding average, was an NCAA regional MVP, first-team all-Big East, and named to the Final Four all-tournament team, not to mention a few marriage proposals and a couple million followers on Twitter."
Diggins was also honored as a 1,000-point scorer.
Other award winners included Brittany Mallory (Defensive Player of the Year), Natalie Novosel (Most Improved), Mary Forr (Spirit Award), and Veronica Badway (Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award).
Forr, Notre Dame’s other graduating senior, thanked McGraw for giving her an opportunity to play as a walk-on.
"Thanks for making my life a fairy tale," Forr said. "You really did make my dream come true."
McGraw beamed about the accomplishments of this team, which lost to Texas A&M, 76-70, in the national championship game.
"I was so proud of this team," McGraw said. "Coming out of the Big East Tournament, I thought we’ve really come a long way. I kept thinking, I want to go back and watch those games in November and see how much better we’ve gotten, because we improved more than any team I’ve coached."
Staff writer Curt Rallo: crallo@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6152
