Feb. 23, 2003
* Notre Dame fielded a lineup with three sophomores on the front line — forwards Jacqueline Batteast and Katy Flecky flanking center Teresa Borton. Junior Le’Tania Severe and senior Alicia Ratay comprised the Irish backcourt. Notre Dame is 8-3 this season (2-1 in the BIG EAST) when it puts out this starting lineup. Today also marked Ratay’s 63rd consecutive start and the 121st start of her career, three back of the school record held by Ruth Riley (1997-2001).
* Notre Dame won the rebounding battle with Connecticut, 43-40, becoming just the third team this season to defeat the Huskies on the glass. Virginia Tech and Tennessee are the other clubs that have outrebounded UConn in 2002-03. In addition, the 18 offensive rebounds recorded by the Irish marked their second-highest total of the season (20 vs. Temple on Dec. 14). However, today’s loss was just the second in 14 games this season when Notre Dame outrebounded its opponent (the other was on Feb. 9 at Virginia Tech).
* Sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast plucked a career-high 18 rebounds this afternoon, shattering her previous best of 15 boards vs. Syracuse on Jan. 29, 2002. It was the most rebounds collected by an Irish player in a single game since Ruth Riley had 18 rebounds in a win over No. 6/4 Duke on Nov. 21, 1998.
* Notre Dame had four players score in double figures today, marking the 18th time in 24 games this season that the Irish have had at least THREE double-digit scorers. It’s also the ninth time this year that four Notre Dame players have cracked double figures (ND now is 7-2 in these games).
* Sophomore center Teresa Borton became the sixth different Notre Dame player to score at least 20 points in a game this season when she poured in a career-high 21 points (including a career-best 7-of-7 free throws) this afternoon vs. Connecticut. Notre Dame is one of only two schools in the nation to have six 20-point scorers this year — the other is Wisconsin-Green Bay, which is currently ranked 21st in both polls.
* Despite today’s loss, Notre Dame still has won 12 of its last 17 regular-season games on the road. Three of those losses came to teams that are currently ranked — No. 3 Tennessee, No. 24/22 Boston College and No. 1 Connecticut. The other two came to teams that are receiving votes in the polls — DePaul and Virginia Tech.
* Senior guard Alicia Ratay nailed two three-point field goals today, pulling her within two treys of tying Sheila McMillen’s school record of 249 career triples from 1995-99.
* Notre Dame notched eight blocked shots today, one short of the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion record for blocks by a visiting team (9, St. John’s vs. Providence in BIG EAST tournament, 3/7/92).
— ND —