Skylar Diggins welcomes the challenge. Give her the ball at the point and Notre Dame's star sophomore will gladly take charge of running the team.
Diggins, who was the first freshman in 17 years to lead the Irish in scoring (13.8 per game) a season ago, will have the ball in her hands even more after the departure of point guard Melissa Lechlitner.
''It will just be a new challenge coming from me, but I played the point in high school and last year a little bit. It will just be a matter of how much more I will be playing it,'' a confident Diggins said.
''I love it. I like calling the shots. I am kind of bossy. I just like having the ball in my hands. You get to call the plays. You get to call the shots.''
And for the No. 12 Irish to succeed this season, Diggins will have to take a large share of the shots herself. She put up 100 3-pointers last season, making 35.
Diggins and Becca Bruszewski are the two returning starters from last year's 29-6 team that made the school's 15th straight NCAA tournament appearance. The Irish advanced to the regional semifinals, losing in the final seconds of overtime to Oklahoma.
The Irish also lost their second- and third-leading scorers from last year in Lindsay Schrader and Ashley Barlow.
''It's going to be who will replace the leadership from Lech (Melissa Lechlitner), (Ashley) Barlow, (Lindsay) Schrader and Erica (Williamson), and I think Skylar will have the ball in her hands and she'll be the leader on the floor,'' said Muffett McGraw, entering her 24th season as head coach. ''I think we are definitely going to miss the maturity, poise and the leadership that we lost with last year's senior class.''
Diggins sees the up-tempo and full-court play as a way to make up for the loss of personnel.
''We lost a lot of experience, but what we gained was a lot of speed and energy. We are definitely going to be a full court team, pressing up and down, in your face, man to man,'' Diggins said. ''We are trying to get 90 possessions a game, maybe 100 possessions a game, so every time we have a chance to run, we are going to do that ... I am definitely going to be pushing everybody and I know that they are going to be ready to run with me.''
Bruszewski, a 6-1 forward, 5-10 guard Brittany Mallory and 5-11 guard Natalie Novosel have experience. And Kaila Turner and Mallory can spell Diggins at point.
Inside, the Irish are looking for strong play from 6-2 Devereaux Peters, who averaged nearly seven points last season and whose career has been hampered by knee problems.
''I am going to go out there and have fun this year. This will hopefully be my first full season and I am going to take advantage of this year,'' Peters said. ''I would like to get out there and do all of the things I haven't been able to do in the past.''
Notre Dame opens Friday night at home against New Hampshire.
