#8/9 Irish Welcome Syracuse To Town Tuesday Night

Jan. 31, 2011

Full Notes Package in PDF Format

2010-11 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 23

#8/9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-4 / 7-1 BIG EAST) vs. Syracuse Orange (16-4 / 4-3 BIG EAST)

DATE: February 1, 2011
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. – Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
SERIES: ND leads 23-2
1ST MTG: ND 81-64 (1/16/88)
LAST MTG: ND 74-73 (1/30/10)
WEBCAST: UND.com (live)
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Storylines

• The last three games between Notre Dame and Syracuse have been decided by an average of just 8.0 points per game.
• The Fighting Irish are 49-5 (.907) all-time against New York schools (26-0 at home).

No. 8/9 Irish Open Second Half Of BIG EAST Season Tuesday Night
As the calendar flips over to the month of February, No. 8 Notre Dame makes the turn down the stretch in the BIG EAST Conference season, beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) Tuesday when it plays host to Syracuse at Purcell Pavilion. The game tips off a stretch that will see the Fighting Irish play three of their next four conference contests at home.

Notre Dame (18-4, 7-1 BIG EAST) is coming off its traditional grinder at Villanova, earning a 58-43 win over the Wildcats last Saturday night. The Fighting Irish were held to a season-low point total (due in large part to VU’s deliberate pace of play), but also held the three-point dependent Wildcats to a season-low two treys.

Senior forward Devereaux Peters led a balanced Notre Dame attack with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Skylar Diggins had 13 points and senior forward Becca Bruszewski picked up her second double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll and was No. 9 in last week’s ESPN/USA Today poll.
• Syracuse is receiving votes in the latest Associated Press poll, as well as last week’s ESPN/USA Today poll.

Quick Hitters

• With its season-high No. 8 ranking in the Jan. 31 Associated Press poll, Notre Dame now has appeared in the AP poll for a school-record 71 consecutive weeks, extending the program standard that began with the 2007-08 preseason poll.
• The Fighting Irish have posted a school-record eight wins this season by at least 35 points, topping the old program standard of four 35-point victories set in 2008-09.
• Notre Dame has scored at least 90 points in eight games this season, surpassing the school record of seven set in three separate seasons (1996-97, 1998-99 and 2007-08).
• Notre Dame has won 11 games by 30 points or more, eclipsing the school record of 10 30-point victories established in 2000-01.
• The Fighting Irish are 2-4 against ranked opponents this season, with those four losses (the only defeats for Notre Dame to date) coming by an average of just 5.5 points per game, and none by more than 11 points. Two of those setbacks came to the nation’s top two squads (76-65 at current No. 1 Baylor on Dec. 1; 79-76 vs. No. 2 Connecticut on Jan. 8), with the latter contest being one of three Top 25 defeats in which Notre Dame led or had a chance to tie in the final 30 seconds of regulation (also 86-83 double-OT loss to No. 15 UCLA and 81-76 loss at No. 9/10 Kentucky).
• The Fighting Irish rank among the top 10 in the country in eight statistical categories, according to the Jan. 31 NCAA statistics report. Notre Dame is third in the nation in field goal percentage (.488), scoring margin (+28.5 ppg.) and steals (14.5 spg.), fifth in scoring offense (81.7 ppg.), sixth in three-point defense (.238), seventh in assists (19.0 apg.) and turnover margin (+7.18), and eighth in rebounding margin (+10.4 rpg.). These rankings are ironic for a Fighting Irish team that has no player ranking higher than 64th in any individual category.
• Notre Dame became the 32nd NCAA Division I program to record 700 wins, earning the landmark victory (91-47) against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 30 at the State Farm Holiday Hoops Classic in Seattle. The Fighting Irish are 707-306 (.698) in 34 seasons of varsity competition.
• Notre Dame celebrated another program milestone on Dec. 5 with its 1,000th all-time game (a 72-51 win over Purdue at Purcell Pavilion).
• Part of Notre Dame’s success thus far can be traced to the improvement in two of its veterans, both of whom have exceeded her scoring output from last season by at least 50 percent. Junior guard Natalie Novosel (5.0 to 14.9) and senior forward Devereaux Peters (6.7 to 11.3) also are currently logging career-high scoring averages this year.

Other Notre Dame Notables

• Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past 15 seasons (1996-97 to present), ranking sixth with 361 victories.
• Notre Dame has ranked among the top 20 in the nation in attendance each of the past 10 seasons. This year, the program is fifth in the NCAA attendance rankings with 8,557 fans per game, currently topping last year’s single-season school attendance record of 8,377. The Fighting Irish also have drawn 5,000-or-more fans to 154 of their last 156 home games, logging 15 Purcell Pavilion sellouts (most recently on Jan. 23 vs. St. John’s).
• The Fighting Irish have become a regular fixture in the WNBA Draft in recent years, as seven Notre Dame players have been selected in the past decade. Charel Allen was the most recent Fighting Irish player to be chosen, going to the Sacramento Monarchs in the third round (43rd overall pick) of the 2008 WNBA Draft. Ruth Riley (San Antonio) was active in the league during the ’10 season, helping the Silver Stars return to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. 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 2006 WNBA title-winning squad in Detroit.
• For the fifth year in a row, the Fighting Irish posted a perfect 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to figures released by the NCAA in October. What’s more, since Muffet McGraw became head coach in 1987, every Notre Dame women’s basketball player who has completed her athletic and academic eligibility at the University has earned her bachelor’s degree (a 62-for-62 success rate), with all four members of this year’s senior class on target to earn their diplomas.

A Quick Look At Syracuse
Syracuse offers a solid mix of veteran experience and youthful talent this season, as the Orange look to build on a 25-win resume and run to the WNIT quarterfinals a year ago.

SU (16-4, 4-3 BIG EAST), which is on the doorstep of this week’s AP poll after moving as high as 23rd in the media survey earlier this season, comes to town riding a three-game winning streak. The Orange last played on Saturday afternoon, downing South Florida, 78-57, at the Carrier Dome behind 17 points from sophomore center Kayla Alexander and 12 points and nine rebounds from junior guard Iasia Hemingway.

Alexander leads Syracuse in scoring (14.2 ppg.), rebounding (7.7 rpg.), blocks (3.1 bpg. – best in BIG EAST) and field goal percentage (.580). Sophomore guard Elashier Hall is second in scoring (12.5 ppg.) and is shooting a league-leading .511 from the three-point line (.625 in BIG EAST play), while Hemingway adds 11.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per night and senior guard Erica Morrow contribues 11.2 points and 3.9 assists per game.

Head coach Quentin Hillsman is in his fifth season at Syracuse with an 89-59 (.601) record, including an 0-4 ledger against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Syracuse Series
Tuesday night will mark the 26th meeting between Notre Dame and Syracuse, with the Fighting Irish holding a 23-2 edge in the series, including an active 10-game winning streak. Notre Dame also is 11-0 all-time against the Orange at Purcell Pavilion.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Syracuse Met
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw winced when Ashley Barlow launched from beyond the arc in the final minute and the third-ranked Fighting Irish trailed Syracuse by a basket.

But Barlow, who had missed her previous four three-point attempts, was true from the right wing with 34.2 seconds left and Notre Dame escaped with a 74-73 victory on Jan. 30, 2010, at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

The Fighting Irish finished 2 of 12 in the period from beyond the arc against the fired-up Orange zone, which was victimized for eight threes in the first half.

Juanita Ward’s three-point play had given the Orange a 73-71 lead with a minute left, but Barlow got open on the wing and saved Notre Dame.

The Orange’s aggressive defense limited Notre Dame to 25 percent shooting (7 of 28) in the second half and they repeatedly drove the ball inside, outscoring the Fighting Irish 22-6 in the paint in the period (38-20 overall).

Syracuse also outrebounded Notre Dame 49-34, but was undone by 25 turnovers and 14 missed free throws.

After the Fighting Irish’s Lindsay Schrader missed the front end of a 1-and-1, a held ball gave Syracuse one final possession with less than a second left. Tasha Harris’ inbounds pass to Kayla Alexander in the lane was deflected away.

Skylar Diggins led all scorers with 21 points for Notre Dame, while Barlow added 19 and Brittany Mallory came off the bench to score 11 points.

Ward led Syracuse with 16 points, Erica Morrow had 14, Vionca Murray 12 and Nicole Michael 11 before fouling out in the final minute.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Syracuse Met At Purcell Pavilion
Lindsay Schrader had 23 points and eight rebounds, Becca Bruszewski added 20 points and No. 23/22 Notre Dame raced out to a 17-point lead in the first half on the way to beating Syracuse 90-79 on Feb. 24, 2009, at Purcell Pavilion.

Erica Williamson added 18 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Fighting Irish. Ashley Barlow had 13 and fellow guard Melissa Lechlitner 12.

Nicole Michael led the Orange with 17 points and Chandrea Jones had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Fighting Irish looked like they were going to win in a blowout, opening a 24-7 lead early. But a 13-0 run by the Orange late in the half, highlighted by a four-point play by Tasha Harris, tied the score at 36.

Notre Dame led 38-36 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 5-0 spurt. The Fighting Irish took control with a 12-4 run, opening a 57-45 lead when they made four free throws as Juanita Ward was called for a foul and a technical.

Other Notre Dame-Syracuse Series Tidbits

• Notre Dame has scored at least 70 points in 20 of the 25 series games with Syracuse (including six of the past seven), while the Orange have topped that mark four times in the series (including the last two matchups).
• Last year’s one-point Fighting Irish win was the closest victory for Notre Dame in the 25-game series and the second single-digit margin among its 23 series wins (71-66 on Dec. 8, 1990, at Purcell Pavilion).
• Syracuse is one of 10 programs against whom Notre Dame has at least 20 series wins; the others are Marquette (30), Georgetown/Valparaiso (24), Dayton/Detroit (22), Loyola-Chicago (21) and Butler/St. John’s/Xavier (20).
• In six of the past seven games vs. Syracuse, Notre Dame has had at least one player set (at the time) a new career scoring high — Breona Gray (17 on Jan. 5, 2005), Charel Allen (17 on Jan. 19, 2005), Lindsay Schrader (24 on Jan. 31, 2006), Melissa Lechlitner (18 on Jan. 20, 2007), Becca Bruszewski (20 on Feb. 24, 2009) and Skylar Diggins (21 on Jan. 30, 2010). Each player eclipsed those point totals later in their careers.
• Notre Dame senior forward Devereaux Peters and Syracuse senior guard Erica Morrow both played in the 2007 McDonald’s High School All-America Game in Louisville. Peters had one point, five rebounds and two blocks as a reserve for the West squad, while Morrow came off the bench to tally four points, three rebounds and three steals for the East team in a 105-76 victory.
• Notre Dame freshman forward Natalie Achonwa and Syracuse sophomore center Kayla Alexander are two of the rising young stars in the Canada Basketball program. Achonwa and Alexander were teammates (and the top two scorers) on Canada’s 2009 Junior National Team that posted the best finish in their nation’s history (fourth) at the FIBA U19 World Championships in Thailand (a tournament won by the United States, piloted by head coach/current Notre Dame associate coach Carol Owens and team co-captain/Notre Dame sophomore guard Skylar Diggins). Alexander led Canada in scoring (11.3 ppg.) and rebounding (11.3 rpg.), while Achonwa was second in scoring (10.3 ppg.), third in rebounding (6.1 rpg.) and tops in steals (1.4 spg.).

Empire (State) Records
Notre Dame is 49-5 (.907) all-time against New York-based teams, including a 26-0 record when playing at Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish are facing the second of two New York schools this season, having toppled No. RV/23 St. John’s, 69-36, on Jan. 23 at Purcell Pavilion.

Coincidentally, St. John’s and Syracuse account for all five New York wins over Notre Dame (three for the Red Storm, two for the Orange — four road, one neutral site).

Peaking When It Counts
When the regular season enters its stretch run in the month of February, Notre Dame historically seems to raise its level of play. Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, the Fighting Irish are 87-25 (.777) in February games, including a 49-5 (.907) mark at home.

In the 24-year Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), the Fighting Irish are 135-40 (.771) in the month of February, including a 71-11 (.866) home record. In that time, Notre Dame has not had a losing February, and only once did the Fighting Irish end the month at .500 (4-4 in 1988-89, McGraw’s second season in South Bend).

The Rare Air Up There
For the first time since Dec. 9, 2002, both Notre Dame basketball teams are ranked in the top 10 of their respective Associated Press polls. The Fighting Irish women are ranked eighth this week, while Mike Brey’s men check in at No. 9.

Notre Dame is one of three schools in the country with matching top-10 basketball programs, along with Connecticut (No. 2 women/No. 6 men) and Duke (No. 3 women/No. 5 men).

If you want to go one further, this marks the first time in Notre Dame athletics history that both Fighting Irish basketball teams AND the Notre Dame hockey team are ranked in the top 10 at the same time (the Fighting Irish icers currently stand 10th in the nation).

The Five-Finger Discount
Notre Dame comes into Tuesday’s game ranked third in the nation in steals with 14.5 thefts per game. The Fighting Irish also have recorded double-digit steals in 17 of 22 games this season, including four contests with 20-plus steals.

Highlighting this year’s takeaway brigade for Notre Dame was a school-record 36-steal performance in the season-opening victory against New Hampshire on Nov. 12 at Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish followed that up three days later with 26 thefts in a win over Morehead State, and also logged 24 steals at Valparaiso (Dec. 2) and 23 steals against IUPUI (Nov. 26).

Prior to this season, Notre Dame had posted 23 steals in a game just seven times in the first 33 years of the Fighting Irish women’s basketball program (and only three games with 25-plus steals in that time, none since a then-record tying 29 steals at Saint Louis on Jan. 31, 1991).

Individually, Notre Dame has 10 different players with double-digit steals this season (five with at least 30 thefts), led by senior guard Brittany Mallory, who has collected a team-high 2.4 steals per game (sixth in the BIG EAST).

Helping Hands
Notre Dame also enters Tuesday’s game ranked seventh in the country in assists (19.0 apg.), having dished out at least 20 assists in 12 games this season.

Further illustrating the Fighting Irish giving spirit, Notre Dame has assisted on 62.4 percent of its baskets this season, with 419 assists on 672 field goals.

At the head of the Fighting Irish assist company is sophomore Skylar Diggins, who has adapted well to her role as Notre Dame’s primary point guard, ranking fifth in the BIG EAST Conference at 4.7 assists per game, and 13th in the league with a 1.36 assist/turnover ratio. She also has handed out at least five assists in 14 games this season, after tallying seven five-assist games during her entire freshman campaign.

Sharp Shooters
Notre Dame also ranks third in the nation with a .488 field goal percentage, shooting 50 percent or better from the floor in 12 games this season, and at least 45 percent in 18 outings.

Notre Dame also has seen a recent rise in its three-point shooting numbers. During the past 13 games, the Fighting Irish are connecting at a 38.9 percent clip (49-of-126) from beyond the arc. Compare that with the first nine contests of the season, when Notre Dame had a .269 (29-of-108) three-point percentage.

National Leaders
Notre Dame ranks among the top 10 in the nation in eight categories according to Monday’s NCAA statistics report — third in scoring margin (+28.5 ppg.), field goal percentage (.488) and steals (14.5 spg.); fifth in scoring offense (81.7 ppg.); sixth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.238); seventh in assists (19.0 apg.) and turnover margin (+7.18) and eighth in rebounding margin (+10.4 rpg.).

In addition, Notre Dame ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in 11 of a possible 17 categories (not counting won-loss percentage), adding in assist/turnover ratio (12th, 1.11), scoring defense (15th, 53.3 ppg.) and field goal percentage defense (19th, .346).

Yet for all of these high team statistical marks, no Fighting Irish individual ranks higher than No. 64 in any single category — sophomore guard Skylar Diggins is 64th in the nation in assists (4.7 apg.).

High Octane Offense
Behind one of the nation’s top 10 scoring offenses (81.7 ppg., fifth as of Monday), Notre Dame is moving into uncharted territory in the school’s record books.

The Fighting Irish have scored 90 points in a game in eight contests this season, setting a new school record for 90-point games in a season (the previous mark was seven, set on three occasions – 1996-97, 1998-99 and 2007-08).

Notre Dame also has set a new school record with eight wins by at least 35 points, doubling the previous program standard of four 35-point victories set in 2008-09.

What’s more, the Fighting Irish have won 11 games by at least 30 points, topping the school record of 10 30-point victories, which was set during the program’s 2000-01 national championship season.

Last year, Notre Dame averaged 77.2 points per game, the fifth-highest single-season scoring average in school history, and best since the Fighting Irish logged a school-record 81.0 ppg. mark in 1998-99.

Glass Houses
One of Notre Dame’s greatest areas of improvement this season has been in the rebounding column, where the Fighting Irish are averaging 42.5 caroms per game, up nearly two rebounds from last year’s total at this time (40.7 rpg.) and good enough for fourth in the BIG EAST.

Notre Dame also is giving up just 32.1 rebounds per game, nearly four caroms better than last year at this time (36.0 rpg.) and tied for third in the conference.

With a +10.4 rpg. margin this season, the Fighting Irish rank third in the BIG EAST and eighth in the country as of Monday.

What’s more, Notre Dame has outrebounded its opponent by double digits in 11 games this season, including seven games in which the Fighting Irish posted rebound margins of +15 or better, topped by a season-high +42 mark (66-24) on Jan. 2 against Southeast Missouri State at Purcell Pavilion.

Everyone Gets Into The Act
The Fighting Irish have spread the wealth so far this season, with six different players leading the team in scoring in at least one game thus far, with four different 20-point scorers along the way.

Notre Dame also has seen no fewer than seven different players claim team-high rebounding and assist honors this season.

Missed It By That Much
Notre Dame may hold a 18-4 record coming into Tuesday’s game, but the Fighting Irish are oh-so-close to owning a much better mark, with all four losses coming to top-15 opponents by an average margin of just 5.5 points per game (three by single digits and the fourth by 11 points).

What’s more, Notre Dame led inside the final 30 seconds of regulation in two of those losses (#15 UCLA, also at the end of the first overtime; #2 Connecticut), and the Fighting Irish also had a possession to tie the game in the final 30 seconds at #9/10 Kentucky.

The fourth loss (at #2/3 Baylor) saw Notre Dame battle to within six points (65-59) with five minutes remaining and have a look at a three-pointer to halve the margin further on their next possession, but the shot rattled out and the Lady Bears managed to put the game away with nine free throws (despite making only one field goal during the final 8:23).

Novosel Is Just Plain Nasty
Nicknamed “Nasty” for her playmaking abilities, junior guard Natalie Novosel is rapidly making a strong case as one of the most improved players in the BIG EAST Conference, if not the entire country.

The Lexington, Ky., native currently leads the Fighting Irish (and ranks ninth in the league) in scoring at 14.9 points per game, nearly tripling her offensive output from a season ago. She also has scored at least 20 points in a game four times this year (after coming into the campaign with a career single-game high of 19 points) and has scored in double figures 19 times after doing so a total of 14 times in her first two seasons combined at Notre Dame.

In addition, Novosel added some hardware to her personal trophy case as well, taking home Most Valuable Player honors at the WBCA Classic, earning a spot on the State Farm Holiday Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team and also garnering a place on the Nov. 29 BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.

Thus, it’s no surprise that ESPN.com’s Graham Hays tweeted the following comment after Novosel’s career-high 27 points (8-11 FG, 2-2 3FG, 9-9 FT) vs. Gonzaga in a 70-61 Fighting Irish win on Dec. 29 in Seattle:

“Is Natalie Novosel the most improved player in the nation? Gotta be on the short list.”

Peters Showing Her Own Dev-elopment
If Novosel is among the nation’s most improved players, senior forward Devereaux Peters can’t be far behind. The veteran frontliner is playing some of the best basketball of her career this season, putting a pair of knee injuries and three surgeries well in the rearview mirror.

A three-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selection, Peters currently is averaging career highs of 11.3 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game (10th in the BIG EAST), along with a .579 field goal percentage (fourth), 1.7 blocks per game (sixth), 1.9 steals per game (tied-12th) and a career-high .841 field goal percentage.

In fact, Peters may not only be challenging Novosel as the BIG EAST’s Most Improved Player, but she also is staking a hefty claim as the conference’s top defensive player, as she currently is one of just two players (along with Connecticut’s Maya Moore) to rank among the top 15 in the BIG EAST in the three major defensive statistical categories (rebounds, steals and blocks).

Peters’ numbers in BIG EAST play are even more eye-popping, as she leads the league in field goal percentage (.613) and blocks (2.3 bpg.), while ranking fourth in rebounding (8.3 rpg.) and is tied for 14th in scoring (13.8 ppg.). She also is tied for the BIG EAST lead with three double-doubles in eight conference games to date.

Like Novosel, Peters regularly has been pulling in accolades this season, earning a spot on the WBCA Classic All-Tournament Team and garnering MVP honors at the State Farm Holiday Hoops Classic in Seattle. During the latter tournament on Dec. 29-30, she averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game with a .684 field goal percentage (13-of-19) in wins over Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount.

That tournament effort has been the cornerstone of Peters’ post-Christmas surge. In the past 10 games, the Chicago native is averaging 13.9 points and 9.2 rebounds with five double-doubles with a .616 field goal percentage (61-of-99).

Peters Adds Griner To SWAT Team
Senior forward Devereaux Peters has made a living as a shot blocking presence in the paint for Notre Dame throughout her career, with her 6-foot-2 frame and 77-inch wingspan. However, on Dec. 1 at No. 2/3 Baylor, she added another notch to her belt in historic fashion.

At the 10:22 mark of the second half, the Lady Bears threw an entry pass in to their 6-foot-8 sophomore All-America center Brittney Griner, but as she turned to shoot, Peters rotated perfectly from the weak side and rejected Griner’s shot out of bounds. It was one of the highlights in a 17-2 Fighting Irish run that pulled Notre Dame within six points of Baylor with five minutes left.

It’s believed to be the first time in Griner’s two-year college career that she has had a shot blocked. A video clip of Peters’ block has been posted on the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball YouTube channel (search for “notredameirishhoops” or click the link through the sidebar on the women’s basketball page at www.UND.com).

Bruszewski Set To Join 1,000-Point Club
Senior forward/co-captain Becca Bruszewski is just five points shy of becoming the 27th Notre Dame women’s basketball player to score 1,000 points in her career.

When she reaches that milestone, Bruszewski will become the fifth player from Notre Dame’s 2007-08 NCAA Sweet 16 team to hit the 1,000-point mark, joining Charel Allen (1,566 from 2004-08), Ashley Barlow (1,492 from 2006-10), Lindsay Schrader (1,429 from 2005-10) and Melissa Lechlitner (1,005 from 2006-10) in that group.

Five other teams in Fighting Irish women’s basketball history have featured at least five current or future 1,000-point scorers on the same roster — from 1995-96 through 1999-2000, every Notre Dame squad had five or more players who had reached or would reach the 1,000-point plateau during their careers (including a school-record six on the 1996-97 and 1997-98 squads).

Aside from head coach Muffet McGraw and current associate coach Carol Owens, the one common link between those teams was guard Danielle Green, who scored 1,106 points from 1995-2000, missing the 1996-97 Final Four season with a preseason Achilles injury and coming back for a fifth year of eligibility in 1999-2000.

Diggins Makes Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 Candidate List
Sophomore guard Skylar Diggins is among a group of 20 women’s basketball players who have been chosen as midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, it was announced Jan. 11 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The Wooden Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top player, compiled its midseason candidates based upon individual performance and team results, with the current list of student-athletes comprising the frontrunners for this year’s award.

A consensus preseason All-America selection and candidate for every major national player of the year award, Diggins is one of three BIG EAST players on the Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 List, joined by Connecticut’s Maya Moore and Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers. Diggins also is one of just three sophomores on the Wooden Award candidate rundown, along with Rodgers and Baylor’s Brittney Griner.

Game #22 Recap: Villanova
Not only has Notre Dame been winning, but the high-scoring Fighting Irish have been blowing opponents out.

It wasn’t quite as easy on Saturday night, but the result was the same as Devereaux Peters scored 20 points to lead No. 9 Notre Dame to a 58-43 victory at Villanova.

Skylar Diggins added 13 points, Natalie Novosel had 11 and Becca Bruszewski contributed a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) for Notre Dame (18-4, 7-1 BIG EAST), which has won five straight and 13 of its past 14. The Fighting Irish won despite scoring a season low in points — nearly 25 points under their average (82.9 ppg).

Laura Sweeney scored 14 points to pace Villanova (8-12, 0-7), which has lost four in a row.

Villanova twice sliced Notre Dame’s 12-point halftime lead in half early in the second half, but the Wildcats never could get closer than six.

Villanova led by five points early, but the Fighting Irish took control midway through the first half and led 32-20 at the break.

Noting The Villanova Game

• For the seventh time in its 16-year membership in the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame is off to a 7-1 start in conference play, having also done so in 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and most recently last season.
• While Notre Dame was held to a season-low 58 points at Villanova (fewest since March 8, 2010 – 59-44 loss to top-ranked Connecticut in BIG EAST Championship semifinals), the Fighting Irish also held their 10th opponent of the season to 50 points or fewer, including four of their first eight BIG EAST opponents.
• The Fighting Irish move to 17-10 all-time against Villanova, including a 7-6 record at The Pavilion.
• The 15-point margin was the largest for Notre Dame at Villanova since Feb. 13, 2007 (a 75-58 win), and only the fourth double-digit Fighting Irish victory on the VU campus in 13 career visits.
• The Wildcats’ 43 points were their fewest against Notre Dame since Jan. 24, 2004 (a 38-36 Notre Dame win at Purcell Pavilion).
• The Fighting Irish held Villanova to season lows of two three-pointers and 16 three-point attempts.
• Saturday’s game marked the eighth time this season Notre Dame limited an opponent to a three-point percentage of 20 percent or lower (VU shot .125 vs. the Fighting Irish).
• The Fighting Irish had their streak of 74 consecutive games with a three-pointer snapped, going scoreless from beyond the arc for the first time since Jan. 3, 2009 (a 66-60 win at Seton Hall).
• Notre Dame shot below 25 percent from the field in a single half (.231 in the second half) for the first time since Jan. 16, 2010 (.229, 8-of-35 in the first half at top-ranked Connecticut).
• Peters recorded the second 20-point game of her career, having scored a career-high 23 points in the season opener vs. New Hampshire on Nov. 12 at Purcell Pavilion.
• Bruszewski collected her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career, having previously chalked up 12 points and 13 rebounds against No. 15 UCLA on Nov. 18 at Purcell Pavilion.
• Bruszewski tied her career high with four steals, a mark she had set twice before, most recently on Dec. 8, 2009, against IPFW at Purcell Pavilion.
• Head coach Muffet McGraw worked her 750th game at Notre Dame, rising to 543-207 (.724) in 24 seasons under the Golden Dome.

A Defensive Effort Like No Other
Defense has been a major focal point for Notre Dame this season, but in their 97-21 win over Southeast Missouri State on Jan. 2 at Purcell Pavilion, the Fighting Irish took that emphasis to record-setting levels:

• Notre Dame set six school records in the victory — fewest points allowed in a game (21), fewest points allowed in a half (6 – first half), lowest opponent field goal percentage (.125), largest rebound margin (+42, 66-24), most consecutive points scored at any time (36) and most consecutive points scored at the start of the game (36).
• Notre Dame also posted the second-largest margin of victory in school history (76 points), topped only by a 78-point margin in a 113-35 win over Liberty on Nov. 24, 1989, at the UCF Rotary Classic in Orlando.
• The Fighting Irish pulled down 66 rebounds, the fifth-highest total in school history and most since Nov. 21, 1998, when they had 67 boards against Duke in an 84-57 home win.

Tournament Tested
Notre Dame has felt right at home in tournament situations during the past 15 years. Starting with the 1996-97 season, the Fighting Irish have won 26 of their last 29 regular-season tournament games (multi-game events only), including three-game runs to the title at last year’s Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and this year’s WBCA Classic at Purcell Pavilion, as well as a two-game sweep at this year’s State Farm Holiday Hoops Classic in Seattle (which did not officially crown a champion because of its pre-determined matchups).

The only Notre Dame losses during this current stretch were a pair of defeats to third-ranked teams in the Preseason WNIT semifinals (72-59 vs. Tennessee at Ruston, La., in 1996; 75-59 at Maryland in 2007) and a 67-63 overtime setback at No. 20 Colorado on Nov. 15, 2003 in the finals of the WBCA Classic — a game that saw the Buffaloes sink a desperation 30-footer at the end of regulation to force the extra session.

Notre Dame played two regular-season tournaments this year, the first time the Fighting Irish have competed in multiple tourneys in the same season since 1996-97 (third place at Preseason WNIT; champion of Georgia Tech Comfort Inn Downtown Classic).

Only twice in school history has Notre Dame won two regular-season tournament titles in the same year, and both occurred during the program’s Division III era. In 1978-79, the Fighting Irish won the Huntington (Ind.) University Tournament and the Northern Illinois Huskie Invitational. The following season, Notre Dame claimed top honors at the Taylor (Ind.) University Invitational and repeated as the champion of the Northern Illinois Huskie Invitational.

Polling Station
Notre Dame is ranked a season-high eighth in the Jan. 31 Associated Press poll. That marked the 71st consecutive AP poll appearance for the Fighting Irish, extending the program record that started with the AP preseason poll in 2007-08 (the old record was 59 consecutive weeks from 1998-2001).

With their current poll position, Notre Dame now has appeared in the top 10 of the AP poll in each of the past four seasons and 11 of the past 15 seasons (1996-97 to present), as well as 97 weeks overall since the Fighting Irish earned their initial AP top-10 ranking (No. 9 on Nov. 24, 1996).

This year’s No. 12 preseason ranking also represented the 11th time in the past 12 years (starting with the 1999-2000 campaign) that Notre Dame has appeared in the preseason AP poll, something only eight schools in the nation have done — Connecticut, Duke and Tennessee have shown up in all 12 during that span, while Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Stanford join the Fighting Irish with 11 preseason AP poll berths.

Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP poll for 210 weeks during the program’s 34-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 is 22nd all-time in that category.

In addition, the Fighting Irish rose to a season-best No. 9 in the Jan. 25 ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches’ poll. Notre Dame has been ranked in the coaches’ poll for 70 of the past 71 weeks, falling just outside the Top 25 in the final poll of the 2008-09 season. Nevertheless, the Fighting Irish have appeared in the coaches’ poll for a total of 201 weeks during their history (all coming during McGraw’s tenure).

This marks the third consecutive season Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 of the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA poll, as well as nine of the past 13 campaigns (1998-99 to present).

More Polling Data
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is one of 30 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 210 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 30 people on this list, 16 currently are NCAA Division I head coaches (see accompanying chart), including former Fighting Irish point guard and assistant coach Coquese Washington (’92), who helped Notre Dame to its first-ever AP poll ranking in 1990-91, and is in her fourth season as head coach at Penn State, guiding the Lady Lions into the AP poll at No. 23 on Jan. 25, 2010.

Six of the 16 active coaches in this group — including McGraw — led their teams to this year’s NCAA Championship, while McGraw and Baylor’s Kim Mulkey are the only active skippers to play for and coach a team in the AP poll, and coach that team to a national title (McGraw in 2001, Mulkey in 2005).

The 700 Club
With a 91-47 win over Loyola Marymount on Dec. 30 at the State Farm Holiday Hoops Classic in Seattle, Notre Dame became the 32nd NCAA Division I program to record 700 victories — the Fighting Irish now own an all-time record of 707-306 (.698).

Ironically, Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) — the alma mater of Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw — earned its 700th win one day before Notre Dame, edging out the Fighting Irish as the first Catholic Division I program to hit the mark.

Half And Half
During the past decade, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Fighting Irish are 205-17 (.923) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 133 of their last 144 such contests, and 42 in a row since a 58-47 loss to Villanova on March 8, 2009, in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals at Hartford’s XL Center (Notre Dame led 25-21 at intermission).

The Fighting Irish have been up at the break in 17 games this year, including their Jan. 29 win at Villanova when they led 32-20 through the first 20 minutes.

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 16 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 Fighting Irish have an amazing 223-15 (.937) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game, including victories in 15 contests this season (New Hampshire, Morehead State, IUPUI, Butler, Purdue, Providence, Creighton, Valparaiso, Loyola Marymount, Southeast Missouri State, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, St. John’s, Villanova).

…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 16 seasons (since 1995-96), the Fighting Irish are 152-5 (.968) when they score at least 80 points in a game. The only blemishes on that record are three overtime losses to Texas A&M (88-84) and Michigan State (87-83) in 1995 and UCLA (86-83 in double OT) in 2010, as well as a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in 1998, and an 81-80 loss to DePaul in 2008.

Notre Dame has topped the 80-point mark in 13 games this year (12-1 record) after going 17-0 last season when it scored at least 80 points.

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 Fighting Irish have been virtually untouchable at home in recent years, winning 200 of their last 227 games (.881) at the 9,149-seat Purcell Pavilion, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 109-19 (.852) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the former 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 Fighting Irish have been particularly strong when it comes to non-conference games at home, winning 93 of their last 101 non-BIG EAST contests (.921) at Purcell Pavilion, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Five of the eight losses in that span came at the hands of Big Ten Conference opponents (four by 12 points or less) — Wisconsin in 1996 (81-69), Purdue in 2003 (71-54), Michigan State in 2004 (82-73 OT), Indiana in 2006 (54-51) and Minnesota in 2009 (79-71) — with the other defeats coming to Tennessee in 2005 (62-51) and 2008 (87-63), and to UCLA in 2010 (86-83 in 2OT). 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 former Joyce Center, posting a 350-88 (.799) record at the venerable facility. Three times (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Fighting Irish went a perfect 15-0 at home, which was the school record for home victories in a season prior to last year, when Notre Dame went 16-1, capped by an 84-66 triumph over Vermont on March 23, 2010, in the second round of the NCAA Championship.

Irish Are The Hottest Ticket In Town
The 2009-10 season saw an unprecedented surge in fan support for Notre Dame women’s basketball, as the Fighting Irish set new program records for the highest year-end NCAA attendance ranking (fourth), highest average attendance (8,377 fans per game) and most sellouts (six) in a single season. And, as the old saying goes — “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

For the second consecutive preseason, Notre Dame fans have all but exhausted the program’s season ticket packages (close to 7,500) and are snapping up single-game ducats at a rate that will have the Fighting Irish challenging their freshly-minted single-season average attendance record in 2010-11.

Notre Dame has wasted little time in getting started with that challenge, averaging 8,557 fans for its 13 home games this season (fifth in the country according to this week’s NCAA attendance report), including sellout crowds of 9,149 for its games against games against Purdue (Dec. 5), Connecticut (Jan. 8) and St. John’s (Jan. 23).

Part of the appeal of Notre Dame women’s basketball can be traced to the renovated Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, which has yet another new feature this season with the addition of a four-sided LED video scoreboard high above center court, as well as LED auxiliary scoreboards above all four court-level entrance ramps and at the scorer’s table.

McGraw Is Simply Legendary
The announcement on July 10, 2010, may have made it official, but it really only confirmed what Notre Dame fans have known for a very long time — head coach Muffet McGraw is a Hall of Famer.

McGraw, the 2001 consensus national coach of the year and winner of more than 600 games in her illustrious career, was one of six people — and the lone coach — named to the 2011 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class, as announced in Uncasville, Conn., during the “WNBA vs. USA Basketball: The Stars at the Sun Game” that was televised live nationally on ESPN from Mohegan Sun Arena.

The others in McGraw’s Hall of Fame class include former Olympic gold medalists Ruthie Bolton (Auburn) and Vicky Bullett (Maryland), as well as Val Ackerman, the first WNBA president (1996-2005) and first female president of USA Basketball (2005-08), and a pair of three-time All-America players from the pre-NCAA era, Pearl Moore (Frances Marion) and Lometa Odom (Wayland Baptist).

The ’11 class offically was introduced at the 2010 State Farm Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 16 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., before the Connecticut-Baylor game. The group will be enshrined June 10-12, 2011, during the 13th annual Induction Weekend at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

McGraw becomes the first Notre Dame selection for the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The Fighting Irish skipper also is the third BIG EAST Conference coach chosen for the honor, joining Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer (2001) and Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma (2006) in that elite company. First-year Seton Hall head coach Anne Donovan also was a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inaugural class in 1999, going in primarily for her accomplishments as a player at Old Dominion.

McGraw also will be the ninth active college head coach to enter the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on the basis of her success on the sidelines. Besides Stringer and Auriemma, the others on this list are: Pat Summitt (1999 – Tennessee), Van Chancellor (2001 – LSU), Tara VanDerveer (2002 – Stanford), Sylvia Hatchell (2004 – North Carolina), Andy Landers (2007 – Georgia) and Debbie Ryan (2008 – Virginia).

Irish On Your Radio Dial
Beginning with the 2008-09 athletics year, 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 originates all Notre Dame women’s basketball games, with those events carried on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1), marking a return to the FM side of the dial for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Combined, these two stations blanket the nation’s No. 91 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 women’s basketball network stretches 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 continue to be streamed live and free of charge on Notre Dame’s official athletics web site (www.UND.com) through the Fighting Irish All-Access multimedia package.

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 for his third season in his second stint as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame will have at least 26 regular season games televised during the 2010-11 season. Highlighting this year’s broadcast schedule are seven nationally- or regionally-televised Fighting Irish women’s basketball contests, including the program’s fourth-ever appearance on network television (Jan. 8 vs. Connecticut on CBS), two showings on the ESPN family of networks, and three others on CBS College Sports.

In addition, Notre Dame continues to expand its broadcast reach globally on the Internet. All Fighting Irish regular-season home games not selected for commercial TV coverage will be webcast live on the official Notre Dame athletics web site, www.UND.com, via the site’s free multimedia package, Fighting Irish All-Access.

This year’s TV slate continues a trend that has seen the Fighting Irish become a regular fixture on television. Beginning with the NCAA championship season of 2000-01 and continuing through the Jan. 23 St. John’s contest (televised live on ESPNU), Notre Dame has played in 184 televised games, including 130 that were broadcast nationally.

Oh Captain, My Captain
Senior forward Becca Bruszewski and senior guard Brittany Mallory are serving as Notre Dame’s team captains for the 2010-11 season. Both players received the captain’s honor for the first time in their respective careers following a preseason vote by their teammates.

Notre Dame Pink Zone Efforts Underway
Following last year’s wildly-successful fundraising efforts for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Pink Zone breast cancer initiative, Notre Dame is aiming even higher this season, as it draws closer to the Feb. 12 Pink Zone game vs. Rutgers. For that game, the Fighting Irish will wear unique white and pink uniforms, with Notre Dame also holding special events during the game in honor and memory of those touched by breast cancer.

In 2009-10, the Fighting Irish collected more than $103,000 for the global unified effort by the WBCA’s membership to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

Notre Dame’s local Pink Zone drive is led by primary sponsor Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, with donations divided between the Foundation for Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center’s Women’s Task Force and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

This year, Notre Dame is bringing back some of its more popular fundraising activities, including the Fighting Irish Three-Point Pledge (fans donate a certain amount for every three-pointer made by Notre Dame this season) and the Notre Dame Pink Zone Store (sales of various Pink Zone items, including t-shirts, buttons, tote bags, etc., in the Joyce Center’s Heritage Hall at all Fighting Irish home games). The Notre Dame Gameday Silent Auction also returns in 2010-11, with bids being taken in the Monogram Room at the Joyce Center on Feb. 12 from 12:30 p.m. (ET) to 30 minutes following the Pink Zone game against Rutgers.

Some new events added for this year include the Pink Zone Treadmill Campaign (walk on a treadmill during the Jan. 23, Feb. 1, 8 and 12 games) and the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball SPIN-A-THON (a 24-hour event to ride stationary bikes on Jan. 22-23 at South Bend’s Knollwood Country Club, which raised $24,000 for the cause).

In addition, NBC correspondent Anne Thompson (a Notre Dame alumna and breast cancer survivor) will be the keynote speaker at the “Docs in Pink” luncheon at 11 a.m. (ET) on Feb. 12 inside Club Naimoli at Purcell Pavilion.

For more information, or to make a donation, please visit the Notre Dame Pink Zone web page at www.UND.com/pinkzone.

Irish Fans Crave Another Big Mac Attack
It’s year four of Notre Dame’s wildly-successful “Big Mac” promotion, offering fans a coupon for a free Big Mac from South Bend-area McDonald’s restaurants if the Fighting Irish score at least 88 points in a home game.

In the four-year history of the promotion (and counting exhibition games), Notre Dame has hit the 88-point mark 25 times, including wins this year over Michigan Tech (exhibition), New Hampshire, Morehead State, IUPUI, Wake Forest, Creighton and Southeast Missouri State.

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 — senior guard Brittany Mallory, who sent the crowd home happy (and presumably with full bellies) four times during the promotion’s inaugural run in 2007-08.

And for those tracking such things (or perhaps falling under the heading of “media relations director has too much time on his hands”), 15 different players have converted the “burger ball”, including eight current members of the Fighting Irish roster.

What’s more, of the 25 Big Mac games to date, 13 have been reached on two-point baskets, eight on free throws, and four on three-pointers.

Next Game: South Florida
Notre Dame heads back out on the road Saturday, venturing to the sunnier climate of Tampa, Fla., for a 7 p.m. (ET) BIG EAST matchup with South Florida at the Sun Dome.

USF (10-12, 1-7) has dropped eight of its last nine, most recently falling at Syracuse, 78-57 last Saturday. The Bulls will be off all this week before entertaining Notre Dame on Saturday night.

— ND —