Notre Dame women's hoops prep for first big test amid signing day

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - While the Notre Dame football team chases a national title, the top-ranked women's basketball team continues to defend theirs with a Top-15 game of their own this weekend.

Notre Dame will travel to Chicago to meet No. 15 DePaul on Saturday in one of many non-conference tests as the Irish look to improve on early wins over Harvard and Penn.

Though DePaul may not have the brand-name power of programs like UConn, head coach Muffet McGraw says her team will have their hands full and could learn a lot about themselves.

“I’m a little worried about this game because I think they’re very difficult to defend," McGraw said of the Blue Demons. "They play five out. We have a lot of post players but guarding on the perimeter is not our strength. We’ve got to be really, really focused. I think we’ve got to be really smart.”

It's also a big week for the future of the program as McGraw welcomed a couple new recruits into the program.

The Class of 2019 brought just two signees, but both of them offering five-star talent.

Anaya Peoples of Danville, Ill. is ranked as one of the five best point guards in the country, while Samantha Brunelle, a forward from Virginia, is rated as the top player in the country at her position.

Despite the small class, McGraw is confident it keeps building momentum for the Irish to continue grabbing some of the nation's best.

“We need people that can come in and play right away, and that’s what we got," she said. "I’m really happy about that. We’re going to have a lot of holes to fill next year, so it’ll be great to have these kids come in that are capable of playing right away.”