Nov. 14, 2008
Full Notes Package in PDF Format 
2008-09 ND Women’s Basketball: Game #1
State Farm Tip-Off Classic
#16/14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0-0 / 0-0 BIG EAST) vs. #24/22 LSU Lady Tigers (0-0 / 0-0 SEC)
DATE: November 16, 2008
TIME: 1:30 p.m. CT
AT: Baton Rouge, La. – Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,468)
SERIES: LSU leads 2-1
1ST MTG: LSU 72-62 (3/2/92)
LAST MTG: LSU 74-64 (3/15/99)
TV: ESPN2/ESPN360.com (Dave O’Brien, p-b-p / Carolyn Peck, color)
RADIO: Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) (Bob Nagle, p-b-p)
LIVE STATS: UND.com
TICKETS: (800) 960-8587
Storylines
- Notre Dame will open on the road for the first time since 2003, but the 10th time in the Muffet McGraw era. In that time, the Irish are 7-2 when they begin a season away from the Joyce Center.
- The Irish are making their initial appearance in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic, and will have their season opener televised nationally for the first time in program history.
No. 16/14 Irish Open Season Sunday At No. 24/22 LSU In State Farm Tip-Off Classic
Nearly eight months after its latest run to the NCAA Sweet 16, No. 16/14 Notre Dame will look to build on that success when it opens its 32nd season of action at 1:30 p.m. (CT) Sunday at No. 24/22 LSU in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic.
The Irish turned in a sharp effort in their lone exhibition game, defeating Gannon, 96-30 back on Nov. 5 at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame forced the Knights into 46 turnovers (29 on steals) and converted those miscues into 56 points at the other end.
Freshman guard Natalie Novosel came off the bench to lead four Irish players in double figures with 14 points. Four others scored at least eight points for Notre Dame, which shot .468 from the floor.
Rankings
- Notre Dame is ranked 16th in the preseason Associated Press poll and 14th in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
- LSU is ranked 24th in the preseason Associated Press poll and 22nd in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Following two seasons of impressive growth and development, Notre Dame has constructed a firm foundation upon which to build its next championship contender. The Irish enter the 2008-09 season on the heels of a seventh trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and a highly-competitive effort in that regional semifinal that has players, coaches and followers optimistic that even greater success may be on the horizon.
Notre Dame has three starters and seven monogram winners returning this season from a squad that ranked among the top 10 in the country in scoring offense (8th – 76.2 ppg) and scoring margin (10th – +14.6 ppg) a year ago. The Irish also have many of the pieces back from the ’07-08 club that led the BIG EAST in steals for the second consecutive year (school-record 397, 11.68 per game) and forced an opponent-record 737 turnovers.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Notre Dame’s present upward mobility has coincided with the arrival of its current junior class, including guards and co-captains Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner. Barlow earned honorable mention all-BIG EAST status last year and is the team’s top returning scorer (12.1 ppg), while also setting the defensive tone with a team-high 68 steals last season. Meanwhile, Lechlitner (5.5 ppg, 2.6 apg) assumes the mantle of leadership from the point guard position after two consistent years as a reliable understudy to Tulyah Gaines.
The Irish also should benefit from the veteran experience and guidance of senior guard and co-captain Lindsay Schrader, who joined Barlow on last year’s BIG EAST honorable mention squad after logging 10.3 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game. She earned similar status this fall in preseason voting by the conference coaches and gives Notre Dame a unique blend of toughness and determination that has become the common thread running through the team’s recent resurgence.
The Irish sophomore class proved to be an exceptional complement to their predecessors last season, led by forward Devereaux Peters (9.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.0 bpg), who was a BIG EAST All-Freshman Team choice despite missing the final 11 games of the year with a knee injury. Guard Brittany Mallory (6.3 ppg, 34 3FG) joined Peters on the conference’s all-rookie squad, while forward Becca Bruszewski (5.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg) may be the team’s most improved player heading into this season after a scintillating three-game NCAA Tournament performance that included a season-high 16 points against both SMU and Tennessee.
Potent Notables About The Irish
- Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past 12 seasons (1996-97 to present), ranking seventh with 292 victories.
- For the eighth consecutive year, Notre Dame ranked among the nation’s Top 20 in attendance, placing ninth in 2007-08 with an average of 7,016 fans to its 16 home games (including three of the top six crowds in school history and two sellouts). The Irish also have drawn 5,000-or-more fans to 110 of their last 112 home games, including five Joyce Center sellouts of 11,418 (most recently on Jan. 27, 2008 vs. Connecticut).
- The Irish have become a regular fixture in the WNBA Draft in recent years, as seven Notre Dame players have been selected in the past eight seasons. Charel Allen was the most recent Irish player to be chosen, going to the Sacramento Monarchs in the third round (43rd overall pick) of the 2008 WNBA Draft. Allen, Megan Duffy (New York) and Ruth Riley (San Antonio) all were active in the league during the ’08 season, with all three teams making the playoffs (San Antonio made the WNBA Finals, while New York was the Eastern Conference runner-up). Three of Notre Dame’s eight WNBA alums have won a total of four league championships — Riley won a pair of crowns with the Detroit Shock (2003 Finals MVP, 2006), Coquese Washington toiled for the 2000 Houston Comets, while Jacqueline Batteast was Riley’s teammate on the ’06 title-winning squad in Detroit.
- For the third year in a row, the Irish posted a perfect 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to figures released by the NCAA in October 2008. Notre Dame also was one of only four teams with a perfect ’07 GSR to advance to the 2008 NCAA Sweet 16 (joining Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt). Furthermore, since Muffet McGraw became the Irish head coach in 1987, every Notre Dame women’s basketball player that has completed her athletic and academic eligibility at the University has graduated (a 57-for-57 success rate).
A Quick Look At LSU
If ever a team was undergoing the metaphorical “turning of the page,” it would be LSU, as the Lady Tigers have eight new faces (including seven freshmen) on their 12-player roster and no returning starters from last year’s NCAA Final Four squad (the program’s fifth in a row).
LSU posted wins in both of its exhibition games earlier this month, downing Loyola (New Orleans), 68-50 on Nov. 5, and the Houston Jaguars (a touring team), 68-30, on Tuesday night. Junior guard (and preseason all-SEC selection) Allison Hightower averaged 13.0 points in those two preseason games, while freshman forward LaSondra Barrett added 11.5 points per game. Freshman forward Taylor Turnbow looked strong in the win over the Jaguars, posting a double-double with game highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor is in his second season at LSU after leading the Lady Tigers to a 31-6 mark and the SEC regular-season title last year. A former four-time WNBA champion with the Houston Comets and the architect of the 2004 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic Team, Chancellor has a collegiate record of 470-160 (.746) as he begins his 21st season, although in his storied career (which included 19 years at Ole Miss from 1978-79 to 1996-97), he has yet to face Notre Dame.
The Notre Dame-LSU Series
Sunday will mark just the fourth meeting between Notre Dame and LSU, and the first since the 1999 NCAA Tournament. For the third time in the series, the game will be played in Baton Rouge, where the Lady Tigers won each of the previous matchups by 10 points (72-62 in 1992; 74-64 in 1999).
Sandwiched between those games was an 82-80 Irish victory in 1993, played at the Joyce Center as the back end of a home-and-home series between the schools in the early 1990s.
The Last Time Notre Dame And LSU Met
Seemingly on its way to a third consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, Notre Dame’s high-scoring offense stumbled in the final eight minutes of its second-round contest at No. 21 LSU, and the fourth-seeded Lady Tigers took advantage to post a 74-64 win on March 15, 1999, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.
The Irish led 59-51 with 8:32 to play, but would manage just two field goals and a free throw the rest of the way. Meanwhile, LSU closed the game on a 23-5 run to pull out the victory.
Notre Dame shot 55.3 percent from the field in the loss, but was hampered by troubles at the foul line (.600) and 27 turnovers.
The Irish trailed 38-28 late in the first half, but fashioned a 14-0 run that crossed over halftime and was capped by Ruth Riley’s basket with 15:28 left. LSU guard Latasha Dorsey, who scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, knotted the score at 45-45 on a three-pointer from straight away at the 13:34 mark, one of Dorsey’s five treys in the game.
Notre Dame made one more push, using a 14-5 spurt, including seven points from Riley, to rebuild an eight-point lead with less than nine minutes to go. However, that’s when the Irish went cold from the floor and LSU took command with its late rally.
Riley posted a double-double for Notre Dame, ending up with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Danielle Green added 19 points and Kelley Siemon chipped in with 10 points for the Irish, who were playing without starting point guard (and current assistant coach) Niele Ivey after she suffered a torn ACL in her left knee three games earlier in a BIG EAST Championship semifinal victory at Rutgers.
Other Notre Dame-LSU Series Tidbits
- All three games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less.
- Notre Dame has played in the state of Louisiana just six times previously, and not since that 1999 NCAA tournament game at LSU. The Irish are 2-4 (.333) all-time when playing in the Pelican State, having earned a pair of neutral-site wins — in the third-place game of the 1996 Preseason WNIT at Louisiana Tech’s Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La. (64-53 over North Carolina State), and in the first round of the 1999 NCAA Championship at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center (61-57 over Saint Mary’s-Calif., setting up the most recent entanglement with the host Lady Tigers).
- The all-time Notre Dame women’s basketball roster (including this year’s freshman class) features 139 players who hail from 36 different states, but not one Irish women’s basketball player has ever come from the state of Louisiana (nor neighboring Mississippi and Arkansas, for that matter).
- Among the members of the gold medal-winning 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, coached by LSU’s Van Chancellor, was former Notre Dame All-America center and 2001 consensus national player of the year Ruth Riley. Riley’s participation in Athens made her one of just seven players in women’s basketball history to couple NCAA and WNBA titles with Olympic gold (others are: Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Diana Taurasi and Kara Wolters).
- Notre Dame freshman forward Erica Solomon and LSU senior forward Kristen Morris both are graduates of Detroit Country Day School, which also has produced such notables as NBA greats Chris Webber and Shane Battier. However, Solomon and Morris never played together, since Solomon transferred to the school before her sophomore year (after Morris had graduated) when Saint Martin de Porres High School closed in 2004.
- It’s purely coincidence, but in the wake of a Chicago resident being elected President, the Windy City will have a sizeable contingent playing in Sunday’s game. Notre Dame senior guard Lindsay Schrader (Bartlett/Bartlett HS) and sophomore forward Devereaux Peters (Chicago/Fenwick HS) will be joined by LSU sophomore guard Latear Eason (Chicago/John Hope Academy) in representing America’s third-largest city. The Irish will add a third Chicagoan to their roster next season, after receiving a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday from guard Kaila Turner (Joliet/Marian Catholic HS).
Notre Dame vs. The Southeastern Conference
Notre Dame is 6-30 (.167) all-time against the Southeastern Conference, although it should be noted that 20 of those losses have come to one team (Tennessee). The Irish also have earned half of their six wins over SEC schools in their last 10 meetings with that conference. The most recent Notre Dame win over an SEC opponent came on Nov. 14, 2003, at the WBCA Classic in Boulder, Colo., when the Irish opened the season by defeating No. 22/25 Auburn, 77-64.
Although Notre Dame technically has never beaten an SEC school on its home floor, the Irish did win twice in an SEC arena at the 1997 NCAA East Regional (played at South Carolina’s old Frank McGuire Center). That weekend, Notre Dame downed Alabama, 87-71, and George Washington, 62-52, to advance to the program’s first NCAA Final Four.
The other Irish win over an SEC opponent away from home came on March 26, 2001, when Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt, 72-64, in the NCAA Midwest Regional final at Denver’s Pepsi Center. The Irish and Commodores will meet for the first time since that game on Dec. 30 in Nashville, closing out Notre Dame’s non-conference schedule.
Blowing The Lid Off
Notre Dame is 23-8 (.742) all-time in season openers and carries a 13-game winning streak into Sunday’s game at LSU. The Irish also are 18-3 (.857) in season openers during the Muffet McGraw era (since 1987-88), with their last season-opening loss coming on Nov. 26, 1994 (65-60 in overtime at No. 25 Seton Hall). Last season, Notre Dame opened its season with a 98-50 win over Miami (Ohio) at the Joyce Center in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
In addition, the Irish are 16-15 (.516) all-time in road openers, with a 13-8 (.619) mark under McGraw, following a 94-41 win at Central Michigan last season.
Always Up For A Challenge
For the first time in five years, Notre Dame will tip off its season against a ranked opponent when it visits No. 24/22 LSU on Sunday. The last time the Irish began with a Top 25 foe was Nov. 14, 2003, at the WBCA Classic in Boulder, Colo., when they downed No. 22/25 Auburn, 77-64.
Prior to that ’03 victory, Notre Dame was 1-4 when beginning the season against a ranked opponent, with a 1998 win over No. 6 UCLA (99-82 at home), and losses in 1994 (at No. 25 Seton Hall, 65-60 in OT), 1991 (home vs. No. 3 Penn State, 86-70), 1986 (home vs. No. 6 Rutgers, 71-50) and 1984 (at No. 14 Tennessee, 62-57).
Tournament Tested
Notre Dame has felt right at home in tournament situations during the past 12 years. Starting with the 1996-97 season, the Irish have won 21 of their last 26 regular-season tournament games, including a four-game run to the 2004 Preseason WNIT Championship.
The only Notre Dame losses during this current stretch were: a 72-59 defeat at the hands of No. 3/2 Tennessee in the 1996 Preseason WNIT semifinals (Nov. 19, 1996 at Ruston, La.); a 78-63 loss to No. 16/17 Michigan in the 2001 Women’s College Basketball Showcase (Dec. 2, 2001 at Grand Rapids, Mich.); a 67-63 overtime setback at No. 20 Colorado in the finals of the 2003 WBCA Classic (Nov. 15, 2003) after the Buffs sank a desperation 30-footer at the end of regulation to force OT; a 76-63 loss at No. 7/8 Purdue in the 2004 BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge (Jan. 4, 2004); and a 75-59 loss at No. 3 Maryland in last year’s Preseason WNIT semifinals (Nov. 16, 2007).
Making A Good First Impression
With four freshmen on the 11-player Notre Dame roster, chances are good that one or more of the Irish rookies will see significant action in Sunday’s season opener at LSU.
In recent years, Notre Dame’s freshmen have wasted little time in making their presence felt. The best example came on Nov. 18, 2005, when current senior guard Lindsay Schrader rolled up a double-double (10 points, 14 rebounds) in a 55-45 victory over Michigan at the Joyce Center. Schrader is one of only two players in program history to register a double-double in her college debut — Shari Matvey also did so against Marion on Nov. 30, 1979 (at the Taylor Invitational in Upland, Ind.), when the Irish were still playing at the AIAW Division III level.
Polling Station
Notre Dame is ranked 16th in the preseason Associated Press poll, down one spot from where the Irish ended last season. It’s the 21st consecutive AP poll appearance for Notre Dame, which opened last season at No. 24 and rose as high as ninth on March 3, marking the eight time in the past 12 seasons (1996-97 through 2007-08) that the Irish have reached the AP Top 10.
Notre Dame also has been ranked in the AP poll for 160 weeks during the program’s 32-year history, with every one of those appearances coming in the Muffet McGraw era (since 1987-88). McGraw ranks 13th among all active NCAA Division I head coaches for weeks in the AP poll, and also stands 25th all-time in that category.
In addition, the Irish earned their 21st consecutive ranking in the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches’ poll, placing 14th in the preseason balloting. Notre Dame ended last year at No. 13, its highest ranking of the 2007-08 season, and currently has appeared in the coaches’ poll for 152 weeks during its history (all coming during McGraw’s tenure).
More Polling Data
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is one of 23 people in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history who have both played for and coached a team that has appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Besides her 160 AP poll appearances while coaching at Notre Dame, McGraw was the starting point guard at Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) as a senior in 1977, helping the Hawks rise to No. 3 in the nation. Of the 23 people on this list, 11 currently are NCAA Division I head coaches (see accompanying chart in PDF version of notes).
Exhibition Game #1 Recap: Gannon
Freshman guard Natalie Novosel came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points and pace four Notre Dame players in double figures as the No. 16/14 Irish cruised to a 96-30 exhibition win over Gannon on Nov. 5 before a crowd of 5,428 at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame forced the Knights into a whopping 46 turnovers (with 29 coming on Irish steals), and parlayed those takeaways into 56 points while registering its largest exhibition victory in 16 years and improving to 29-1 in preseason play since 1993-94, including an active 24-game exhibition winning streak.
Junior guard Melissa Lechlitner tossed in 13 points, all in the second half, while senior guard Lindsay Schrader and sophomore forward Becca Bruszewski added 12 points apiece. Four other Irish players had at least eight points, while all 10 players in uniform scoring at least five points.
The Irish jumped out to an 8-0 lead 3:26 into the game on the strength of three steals and four Gannon turnovers. However, Lechlitner picked up her second foul moments later and would be relegated to the bench for the rest of the half. Meanwhile, the Knights battled back and got as close as three points on two occasions, the second at 10-7 on Kristina Freeman’s layup with 13:51 remaining in the first half.
From there, Notre Dame slammed its foot on the accelerator and didn’t let up, with Novosel’s fast-break layup igniting a 27-2 run covering the next 8:44 that blew the game wide open. Bruszewski had steals on four out of five Gannon possessions early in the surge, while nine different Irish players (all but Lechlitner) scored during the run and none of them had more than five points. The Knights managed to stem the tide for the remainder of the first half, but still found themselves looking up at a 45-16 deficit going to the locker room.
Things didn’t get much better for the visitors in the second half, as Notre Dame continued to rotate in fresh bodies — every player saw between 13 and 27 minutes of action on the night. A Schrader layup in the first minute of the period hiked the Irish lead over 30 points, while a massive 34-8 run during the middle stages of the half quashed any hopes for a Gannon comeback.
Irish Fourth In BIG EAST Preseason Poll
The Notre Dame women’s basketball team has been projected to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Conference this season, according to a preseason vote of the league’s 16 head coaches that was announced during the 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Media Day on Oct. 23 at the ESPN Zone in New York City.
The Irish collected 182 points, with Connecticut (14 first-place votes, 224 points), Rutgers (one first-place vote, 201 points) and Louisville (one first-place vote, 200 points) joining Notre Dame in the top four.
In addition, senior guard Lindsay Schrader was chosen as a Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection, one of 14 players to garner preseason all-conference status. Schrader averaged 10.3 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game last season while scoring in double figures 21 times.
A 2008 honorable mention all-BIG EAST selection, Schrader is one of three starters and seven monogram winners back for the Irish from last year’s 25-9 club that finished fourth in the BIG EAST and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the past 12 seasons.
Half And Half
During the past eight seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Irish are 146-14 (.913) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 74 of their last 82 such contests. Last year, Notre Dame led at the half 24 times and went on to win 22 times, although both losses came in the postseason — against Pittsburgh in the BIG EAST Conference Championship quarterfinals after leading 22-21; and against Tennessee in the NCAA Oklahoma City Regional Semifinals after leading 33-31, the first time the Irish were up at the break on the Lady Vols in 20 series games.
The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 13 seasons, Notre Dame has discovered that a solid defensive effort can almost certainly guarantee a victory. In fact, since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference), the Irish have an amazing 184-12 (.939) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game.
Notre Dame went 16-2 last year when keeping the opposition below 60 points, only losing road games at nationally-ranked West Virginia (56-50) and Rutgers (57-51).
…But Sometimes You Have To Score If You Want To Win
Not resting solely on its defensive laurels, Notre Dame also seemingly has found the magic mark when it comes to outscoring its opponents. During the past 13 seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 114-4 (.966) when they score at least 80 points in a game. The only blemishes on that record are a pair of overtime losses to Texas A&M (88-84) and Michigan State (87-83) in 1995, a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in 1998, and an 81-80 loss to DePaul in 2008. Notre Dame won 14 of 15 games last season when it reached the 80-point mark.
Now That’s A Home Court Advantage
One of the hallmarks of Notre Dame’s success has been its stellar play at home. In fact, the Irish have been virtually untouchable at home in recent years, winning 162 of their last 183 games (.885) at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 93-15 (.861) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the Joyce Center, sporting a 31-game league winning streak at home before it ended with a 48-45 loss to Villanova in the ’02 home finale.
The Irish have been particularly strong when it comes to non-conference games at home, winning 71 of their last 77 non-BIG EAST contests (.922) at the Joyce Center, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Four of the losses in that span came at the hands of Big Ten Conference opponents — Wisconsin in 1996 (81-69), Purdue in 2003 (71-54), Michigan State in 2004 (82-73 OT) and Indiana in 2006 (54-51) — with the other two defeats coming to Tennessee in 2005 (62-51) and 2008 (87-63). The Purdue loss also snapped a 33-game non-conference home winning streak which began after the UW setback.
Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the Joyce Center, posting a 312-82 (.792) record at the venerable facility. Three times (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Irish went a perfect 15-0 at home, setting a school record for home wins in a season.
Irish Have New Home On The Dial
On Aug. 27, 2008, the Notre Dame athletics department announced it had partnered with the LeSEA Broadcasting Network, making Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) the new radio home of Notre Dame women’s basketball in the South Bend market.
LeSEA will originate all Notre Dame women’s basketball games, with those events carried on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1), marking the first time since the 1998-99 season that the Irish will be heard on an FM station. Combined, these two stations blanket the nation’s No. 89 media market (South Bend-Elkhart), covering a 21-county area in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan that contains more than 1.35 million listeners (better than 800,000 in the greater South Bend area alone). All told, Notre Dame’s new women’s basketball network will stretch from Kalamazoo, Mich., to the north, North Judson, Ind., to the west, Macy, Ind., (home of former Irish All-America center Ruth Riley) to the south, and LaGrange, Ind., to the east.
Women’s basketball game broadcasts also will continue to be streamed live and free of charge on Notre Dame’s official athletics Web site (UND.com) through the Fighting Irish All-Access multimedia package.
The agreement also includes extensive Notre Dame athletics promotion aired on a combination of the LeSEA stations.
Bob Nagle, the voice of Notre Dame women’s basketball from 1996-97 through 1998-99 (including the program’s first NCAA Final Four berth in 1997), returns as the play-by-play voice of the Irish this season.
Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame will at least 19 regular-season games televised during the upcoming 2008-09 season. Highlighting this year’s broadcast schedule are eight nationally-televised Irish women’s basketball contests, including four games on the ESPN family of networks (starting with Sunday’s State Farm Tip-Off Classic game at LSU, which will air on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com) and three others on CBS College Sports.
In addition, Notre Dame continues to expand its broadcast reach globally on the Internet. All 11 Irish regular-season home games that have not been selected for commercial TV coverage will air live on the official Notre Dame athletics web site, UND.com, via the site’s free multimedia package, Fighting Irish All-Access.
This year’s TV slate continues a recent trend that has seen the Irish become a regular fixture on television. Beginning with the NCAA championship season of 2000-01 and continuing through this year (not counting Sunday’s game), Notre Dame has played in 115 televised games, including 65 that were broadcast nationally.
Oh Captain, My Captain
Senior guard Lindsay Schrader and junior guards Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner are team captains for the 2008-09 season. All three players are serving as captains for the first time in their careers, and each received the captain’s honor following a vote of their teammates prior to the season.
Irish In The Pink (Zone) All Season Long
Notre Dame is proud to be a participant in the second annual Pink Zone initiative, created by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in order to heighten breast cancer awareness and raise money for research towards finding a cure for the disease.
Throughout the 2008-09 season, the Irish will take part in several activities centered around the Pink Zone initiative, including:
- Open Practice/Tip-Off Luncheon – On Oct. 19, the Irish open the doors to one of their preseason practice sessions and allowed approximately 600 season ticket holders to watch the team prepare for the upcoming season. A luncheon with the team followed and a total of $3,311 was raised.
- Three-Point Pledge – Fans can pledge an amount to donate for every three-pointer the Irish make this season. Pledge cards are available at the Joyce Center Gate 10 marketing table prior to each home game.
- Beanie Bears/Calendars – The Irish are collecting a $5 donation for every special-edition Notre Dame women’s basketball beanie bear and team calendar sold during the season.
- T-Shirt Sales – Specially-commissioned “Irish Believe” pink t-shirts are on sale in the Hammes Bookstore and Varsity Shop on the Notre Dame campus. Proceeds from the sales of the t-shirt will go to breast cancer awareness and research.
- Brittany and Becca’s Class – Sophomores Brittany Mallory and Becca Bruszewski currently are taking a management class in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business under the guidance of Chuck Lennon, an Irish women’s basketball season ticket holder, as well as Associate Vice President for University Relations and Executive Director of the Notre Dame Alumni Association. This class has been focusing on ways to help promote and enhance the Pink Zone initiative on the Notre Dame campus and will debut their ideas at the Purdue game on Dec. 7.
- Pink Zone Challenge – The Irish women’s basketball program has challenged some of the other top-drawing teams in the country to a friendly fund-raising competition to see which school can raise the most money for breast cancer awareness and research during the WBCA’s designated Pink Zone games (Feb. 13-22, 2009). A total of 15 schools from among the top 20 in last year’s final NCAA attendance rankings have committed for this inaugural challenge — Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, LSU, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri State, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. The school raising the most money during their specific Pink Zone game will earn the first-ever Pink Zone Challenge Trophy, to be commissioned by Notre Dame and awarded during the WBCA National Convention, to be held April 3-7, 2009, at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in St. Louis.
- Game Day (Feb. 8 vs. DePaul) – The Irish have selected their Feb. 8 home game against DePaul as Notre Dame’s Pink Zone game, presented by Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center. The Irish will take the court in white, pink and navy uniforms, specially-designed by the school’s official athletics apparel provider, adidas. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a free pink Irish t-shirt, compliments of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, and pink pom-poms, balloons and posters will fill the crowd. In addition, breast cancer survivors will be recognized on the court during a special halftime ceremony. What’s more, should Notre Dame sell out this game, the Irish will donate an additional $10,000 to the Pink Zone initiative.
Proceeds from all of Notre Dame’s Pink Zone events this season will go to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, as well as three local charities — Women’s Task Force, Young Survivors Group and Secret Sisters Society. For more information on the WBCA’s Pink Zone initiative, log on to the WBCA’s official web site at www.wbca.org.
ND To Host NCAA Tourney Games in 2009
Notre Dame’s Joyce Center will serve as one of 16 host sites for first- and second-round games in this year’s NCAA Championship. The two opening-round contests will be played on Sunday, March 22, while the second-round game will take place on Tuesday, March 24.
All-session tickets for this year’s NCAA Championship games at the Joyce Center are available by contacting the Notre Dame athletics ticket office (574-631-7356).
Notre Dame has played in the NCAA Championship on its home floor five times before, most recently defeating Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) and Middle Tennessee in 2004 to make the program’s sixth NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. All told, the Irish are 6-1 in NCAA tourney play at the Joyce Center, winning six in a row since an 81-76 first-round loss to Minnesota in 1994.
Irish Fans Crave Another Big Mac Attack
After a wildly-successful debut last season, Notre Dame is bringing back its “Big Mac” promotion for 2008-09, offering fans a coupon for a free Big Mac from South Bend-area McDonald’s restaurants if the Irish score at least 88 points in a game.
It didn’t take long for the burger watch to fire back up again, as Notre Dame topped the 88-point mark in its lone exhibition game this year with a 96-30 win over Gannon on Nov. 5.
Last year, the Irish reached the magic number eight times, doing so in both exhibition wins, along with regular-season victories over Miami (Ohio), Boston College, Canisius, Valparaiso, Marquette and South Florida.
It should come as no surprise that in the short history of the promotion, the Notre Dame player with the most “Big Mac” baskets shares the same initials with the tasty burger — sophomore guard Brittany Mallory, who was sent the crowd home happy (and presumably with full bellies) four times.
Joyce Center Arena Renovation Underway
On Sept. 13, 2008, groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Purcell Pavilion, including the Joyce Center arena addition and renovation, were held to kick off the first phase of the two-year project to upgrade the home for Notre Dame basketball and volleyball.
The first phase of the project, that began in September 2008, involves construction of a new three-story structure at the south end of the arena. That structure will include a new three-story lobby, the Notre Dame ticket operations (approximately 4,500 square feet) and a varsity shop to sell apparel and souvenirs (approximately 3,000 square feet), in addition to a new club seating and hospitality area.
Replacement of the existing Joyce Center arena seating, including installation of chair-back seating throughout the arena, is expected to take place after the University’s Commencement Exercises in May 2009. The entire project is scheduled for completion in January 2010. The arena is expected to re-open by mid-October 2009, in time for the start of the basketball season and the end of the volleyball season.
The University announced in October 2007 that this $26.3 million project had received a $12.5 million leadership gift from Notre Dame alumnus and Trustee Philip J. Purcell III, the retired chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley.
Exterior changes to the Joyce Center that began taking shape in September include a new, three-story addition on the south end of the current structure. The third floor area will include the stadium club/hospitality area. The first-floor addition will include almost 4,500 square feet for ticket offices (including four exterior and 10 interior tickets windows), 3,000 square feet for the varsity shop, as well as a completely new main entrance and lobby situated between Gates 8 and 10. The new entrance will feature graphics and theming that highlight Notre Dame’s competing athletic programs.
Changes to the interior of the Joyce Center arena include:
- New, blue chair-back seating from top to bottom of the arena, including all-new upper-arena sections. All seating will be replaced in the lower bowl (including platform seats), and the wooden bleachers in the upper bowl will be removed and replaced with treads and risers and permanent arena seats. The exchange of the bleacher sections for chair back seats will change the capacity from the current 11,418 to approximately 9,800.
- A stadium club/hospitality area (approximately 16,500 square feet) in the south end of the arena, with a separate, private entry and with premium club seating for nearly 800 fans (that figure is part of the projected 9,800 capacity). Included in this area will be food service and restroom facilities.
- New fixed concession areas, increased numbers of women’s restrooms and increased handicapped seating options.
- The interior seating changes provide an opportunity to consider new options for student seating. Students currently sit in both lower- and upper-arena sections behind the basket on the east end of the arena.
Next Game: Evansville
Notre Dame tips off its home schedule Wednesday with a 7 p.m. (ET) game against Evansville at the Joyce Center. It’s not only the first matchup since 1994 for the former conference mates, but also will offer a unique sibling subplot, as Notre Dame freshman guard Natalie Novosel will face off with her older sister, UE senior forward Shannon Novosel.
The Purple Aces return three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s 21-12 club that shared the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and advanced to the second round of the postseason WNIT. Evansville plays host to East Tennessee State Saturday before heading to Notre Dame next week.
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