A person's handshake can tell you a lot. It's one of those first impression moments people key in on. Simply searching how to give one on Google will churn out 125 million results.
 
In sports, a handshake can mean a lot of different things. Sure, they are used at the end of competition to signal good sportsmanship, but players often create special handshakes with their teammates that sometimes may not even involve actual shaking of hands. Even these handshakes can tell you a lot.
 
For the Notre Dame College women's basketball team, these skilled and multiple-stepped shakes are most prominent during starting lineups, when each player is called out by the announcer. The starting five jog down an aisle created by their teammates to meet Tamia Ridley for their designated and personalized greeting.
 
Ridley serves as the team's hype man, a moniker given to her early in the year when the team saw her dance moves and ability to spark enthusiasm at any moment.
 
"We listen to music during open gym and I would always dance during that time," Ridley said. "They started to say I was the hype man and brought up the idea of me doing handshakes because they knew I had the energy and moves to do it."
 
A true freshman from Massillon, Ohio, Ridley was now tasked with working on creating signature handshakes with each of the starters.
 
#5 Seina Adachi
 
Born in Japan, Adachi first incorporated a bow in her handshake as a tribute to her roots.
 
"I just wanted to be different from everybody else and wanted a chance to represent my culture a little bit," she said.
 
As the season wore on, though, she decided a change needed to be made. Now, the handshake with Ridley is simpler and consists of a circle made by their hands that meet at the top and ends below.
 
"We just wanted to change it because it was a little confusing and a bit long," Adachi said.
 
But that wasn't the only thing the scoring leader for the Falcons felt she needed to make less complicated. Adachi also adjusted her shooting towards the end of the season. With the guidance of head coach Lauren Macer, the 5-foot-7 guard started to focus on taking smarter shots and relying on her team more at the end of games rather than trying to take things over.
 
These things in mind, Adachi has been watching film 'over and over' to figure out what works best for her and the team. Heading into the Mountain East Conference Tournament this week, fresh off her being named First Team All-MEC, the offensive weapon for Notre Dame has figured some things out.
 
Over the last four games, Adachi has averaged 20.5 points and 3.25 assists. Those marks sat at 16.8 and 2.4 prior to the last two weeks. She will likely keep those numbers up in the Falcons first game of the tournament against West Liberty as she has averaged 27 points and five assists in their two games this season.
 
#20 Jessie Stout
 
"My handshake is pretty simple," Stout says. "It's just two hands up and down, then a fist bump. There's not a lot to it, it's just simple and looks cool. I just didn't want to worry about it."
 
The most experienced player on the team, Stout has been at Notre Dame for four years. She's listed as a junior on the roster, however, after sitting out last season due to injury. The veteran for NDC likes to keep most things in her pregame clean and easy.
 
"I'm a person that tries to avoid pregame rituals," she said. "You run into some players that have so many of them and if they forget something then their whole game is gone."
 
Averaging 8.5 points per game, and a team-high 8.2 rebounds, Stout keeps her game relatively simple as well. She scores most of her points in the paint and has a shooting percentage of .538, which is second-best on the team. Always looking to improve, she is also trying to evolve her game.
 
"I'm definitely more comfortable close to the basket. But I have been working on my jump shot more and more this season."
 
Stout not only is making adjustments on her game, but she also might have played a hand in Adachi turning things up lately.
 
"One ritual that a lot of us have is our hair style," Stout said. "Most of us always wear our hair the same way. I always braid Seina's hair, and if she's had a couple down games then she wants to switch it. I just do a braid across the front and right now Seina does two braids that come together."
 
#24 Kyleigh Ramlow
 
As the team's sharp shooter, it's only fitting that Ramlow's handshake features a motion mimicking a pull back to shoot an arrow.
 
"We just wanted something to represent the three pointer," Ramlow said.
 
From beyond the arc, Ramlow has cashed in on 68 shots this season, which ranks fifth in the MEC. And she ranks sixth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage with a mark of .380. Twice this year she has made seven threes in a game, which is tied for second most in a single game in NDC history.
 
Like Adachi, Ramlow has performed well over the last two weeks heading into the tournament. Her scoring average was 18.75 over the last four games, up from 10.9 in the first 24 games.
 
To keep in line with her fellow players, she is also making changes to her style of play.
 
"Obviously teams know that I'm a shooter," Ramlow said. "Because they have that going into games, I've been getting a lot of defensive pressure on me so I've been trying to develop more parts of my game like a pull up shot or driving more. Being a shooter is definitely part of my identity, but I am trying to evolve my game a little bit."
 
#25 Julie Kemp
 
Kemp's first start this season came after an adjustment in the second game of a road swing. Based on her team's matchup against Fairmont State, Coach Macer decided Kemp would be a good piece to add to her starting lineup. Since that first start on January 19, the sophomore has kept her spot.
 
"She's done well in that spot and has earned her role on the team," Macer said.
 
Because of the quick turnaround, Kemp and Ridley decided on a shoulder bump rather than a handshake, where the two players jump into each other at the end of the lane.
 
"It's more of a team thing," Kemp said. "A bunch of the posts used to chest bump or shoulder bump randomly in practice as a joke. So it was something quick that we thought of."
 
Notre Dame does not have any players who eclipse six-feet, so at 5-foot-11, Kemp is a true post player.
 
"I'm definitely more comfortable inside than I am shooting threes or mid-range," she said.
 
Kemp has added length to the Falcon's lineup, something that will be much needed when the team plays West Liberty in the tournament. Because with WLU comes Marissa Brown, the MEC Player of the Year.
 
Brown stands at 6-foot-3 and has led the MEC in scoring for the past two seasons. This year, she's averaging 24.3 points. Her 13.0 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game rank second and fifth in the nation. Matching up against a player like that is going to be difficult, but patience down low may be the key to playing against her.
 
"We're just going to have to play big and long," Kemp said. "[Brown] is going to get hers, but we have to try and limit her as much as we can."
 
#33 Katie Karalic
 
Without much inspiration of her own, Karalic left her handshake up to Ridley. After the freshman got some inspiration from watching videos of basketball handshakes online, Karalic ended up with a salute when her name was called.
 
You could tie the salute to the fact that Karalic is often the floor general when she's on the court, bringing the ball up for Notre Dame. Her 102 assists and 1.42 assist to turnover ratio both rank sixth in the Mountain East. But the better connection, would be to give Karalic the title of drill sergeant, a position the Army says is 'an expert in all warrior tasks.'
 
One of the top defenders in the conference, Karalic is often tasked with guarding the best player on other teams. Her quick moves and destructive presence on that end of the court often spell disaster for ball handlers. Karalic's 56 steals ranks sixth in the conference and her 18 blocks puts her in the top 20. She is one of just four guards who rank in the top 20 in blocks and one of two who stand under 5'9".
 
"My role is definitely on the defensive end," Karalic said. "Jessie and I tend to be put on the best players. I've been playing point guard some this season, but I would say out of anything my role is being the person on the defensive end who can get a stop when we need one."
 
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Outside of this starting five, Notre Dame has one of the deepest benches in the country. Multiple times this season, there have been more than 15 Falcons playing in a single game. But their presence is needed just as much when they are off the court as it is when they are on it.
 
Macer has praised her team's ability to have each other's backs and keep the energy high throughout this season. Cheering teammates on from the bench has given NDC a spark on many occasions.
 
"We want to bring as much energy as we can to every game," Ridley said "Our bench is so phenomenal and we always stay together and try to incorporate different cheers for the offense and defense.
 
"Going to the tournament is very exciting. It's my first time, but I've watched them play and it's very competitive. I'm just going to take it to the next level and try to think of new dance moves to get us going."
 
Notre Dame will need every one of their players during the tournament if the team is going to make a run. Before play begins you can catch Ridley meeting her starters during the lineup read performing these handshakes. And watch carefully, because a handshake can tell you a lot.