Notre Dame adjusts without Turner

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw concedes that adjusting mentally to losing forward Brianna Turner took some doing before Irish figured out how to adapt on the court without her.

Turner, a junior, tore the left anterior cruciate ligament in the first half of Monday’s second-round overtime win over Purdue and will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament. The past few days of practice have helped the Irish (32-2) make the adjustment heading into Friday night’s Sweet 16 game matchup against No. 5 seed Ohio State (28-6).

“Seeing her go down kind of shocked us all and we were just worried for her as one of our best players,” Irish sophomore guard Marina Mabrey said Thursday. “But coach (Muffet McGraw) really put it in perspective that we’re OK. It’s unfortunate to see her go down, but we’re OK and have the same goals.”

Same goals, but a different strategy.

ROBERT FRANKLIN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner reacts to a knee injury against Purdue on Sunday.