SOUTH BEND − New college basketball season, old college basketball issues for the No. 5 Notre Dame women.
Those would be the injury issues. Health issues. Availability issues. As in, who’s in uniform and available and who’s on the sideline in a team-issued sweatsuit and may be back sometime in the future?
The latest ― 40 minutes prior to Monday’s season opener against Mercyhurst ― was transfer forward Liza Karlen and guard Sonia Citron. Both were not in uniform or going through the usual pre-game stretch routine.
That left Notre Dame with seven available scholarship players. The roster maximum in Division I is 15. At one point during warmups, the Irish had seven players on the court and five seated on the home bench.
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Notre Dame won its exhibition game last week by 60 points despite having only seven players available. That included Karlen, a transfer from Marquette, who played 14-plus minutes before limping off with an apparent left foot/ankle issue.
Karlen was wearing a gray walking boot on her left foot and dribbling a basketball while seated courtside during warmups.
Citron and Emma Risch were held out of the exhibition for precautionary health reasons. Risch played in seven games last season before undergoing season-ending hip surgery. She was in uniform on Monday.
The Irish already are without KK Bransford (lower leg), Kylee Watson (Knee) and Maddy Westbeld (left foot) because of injuries. Bransford is not expected to play this season. Watson may not play this season (a return date from offseason surgery from the knee surgery suffered in March has not been established), while Westbeld hopes to be back for the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play, which ramps up in early January.
Monday started a stretch of four games over the first 14 days of the regular season for Notre Dame. The Irish will then get five days off before their first marquee matchup of non-conference play, a Nov. 23 game at No. 3 USC.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: How many players were available for Notre Dame women’s basketball opener?
