#8 Irish Play Host To Seton Hall Tuesday Night

Feb. 7, 2011

Full Notes Package in PDF Format

2010-11 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 25

#8/8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (20-4 / 9-1 BIG EAST) vs. Seton Hall Pirates (7-15 / 0-9 BIG EAST)

DATE: February 8, 2011
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind. – Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
SERIES: ND leads 18-4
1ST MTG: SHU 62-55 (12/11/93)
LAST MTG: ND 72-47 (2/27/10)
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Storylines

• Notre Dame has reached the 20-win mark for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons and the 21st time in the 24-year Muffet McGraw era.
• The Fighting Irish will be playing host to Seton Hall for the first time in nearly three years.

No. 8 Irish Play Host To Seton Hall Tuesday Night
Although there are no signs of the characters from the infamous MTV reality show, the Notre Dame campus could pass for the Jersey Shore this week, as the No. 8 Fighting Irish welcome both of the BIG EAST’s New Jersey schools to Purcell Pavilion, beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) Tuesday when Seton Hall comes to town.

Notre Dame (20-4, 9-1 BIG EAST) nabbed its seventh consecutive win (and 15th in 16 games) on Saturday night, going the distance for a 76-68 victory at South Florida. The Fighting Irish led by as many as 17 points in the second half before the Bulls made a late charge to whittle the margin back to single digits.

Junior guard Natalie Novosel led four Notre Dame players in double figures with 19 points, grabbing a career-high-tying eight rebounds for good measure. Sophomore guard Skylar Diggins added 17 points, while senior forward Becca Bruszewski had 16 and freshman forward Natalie Achonwa collected a career-high-tying 14 points for the Fighting Irish.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll and was No. 8 in last week’s ESPN/USA Today poll.
• Seton Hall is not ranked.

Quick Hitters

• With its season-high No. 8 ranking in the Feb. 7 Associated Press poll, Notre Dame now has appeared in the AP poll for a school-record 72 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 3-4 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 Feb. 7 NCAA statistics report. Notre Dame is third in the nation in scoring margin (+27.4 ppg.) and steals (14.2 spg.), fourth in field goal percentage (.487), fifth in three-point defense (.240), sixth in assists (18.8 apg.), seventh in scoring offense (81.0 ppg.) and turnover margin (+7.13), and eighth in rebounding margin (+10.5 rpg.). These rankings are ironic for a Fighting Irish team that has no player ranking higher than 63rd 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 709-306 (.699) 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 15.0) 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 363 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 8,503 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 155 of their last 157 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 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 Seton Hall
It’s a new era for the women’s basketball program at Seton Hall, as the Pirates are under the guidance of first-year head coach (and Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer) Anne Donovan. SHU has suffered growing pains at times as it adjusts to the new leadership, but the Pirates have a young foundation to build for future success.

Seton Hall (7-15, 0-9 BIG EAST) has lost eight in a row, most recently a last-second 58-55 decision at home to Providence on Sunday afternoon. Neither side led by more than four points, with the Friars, scoring the final three points of the day (and dodging a last gasp three-point try by the Pirates) to claim the decision.

Junior guard Jasmine Crew had a game-high 14 points in the loss and ranks second on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg.), assists (1.6 apg.) and steals (1.4 spg.) while adding a team-high .339 three-point percentage. Sophomore forward Kandice Green leads the Pirates in scoring (11.9 ppg.) and rebounding (8.4 rpg.).

Donovan, who previously coached three seasons at East Carolina in the mid-1990s and won a WNBA title with the Seattle Storm in 2004, has a college coaching record of 40-66 (.377) entering her first matchup with Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Seton Hall Series
Notre Dame and Seton Hall will be meeting for the 23rd time in their series, with the Fighting Irish holding an 18-4 edge against the Pirates, including an 8-2 lead at Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame also has won four in a row and 18 of 20 against SHU since the Pirates won the first two series games (1993 and 1994) prior to the Fighting Irish entering the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Seton Hall Met
Lindsay Schrader scored 12 points and No. 7 Notre Dame dominated in the paint in a 72-47 victory at Seton Hall on Feb. 27, 2010, at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J.

Melissa Lechlitner added 10 points and the Fighting Irish closed both halves with big runs in sending the Pirates to their sixth straight loss and 15th in 16 games.

Kandice Green had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates. Ebonie Williams had 13 points and Terry Green added 11.

The Fighting Irish had a 12-point run at the end of the first half to build a 12-point lead and they scored 13 in a row late to blow open the game.

Most of the points in both runs came in the paint, where the Fighting Irish piled up 50 points and finished the game with 56-percent shooting from the field.

Schrader was the catalyst in the first run with six points. Becca Bruszewski had six of her eight in the late run.

Ten of the 11 players who got on the court for Notre Dame scored, with Skylar Diggins and Ashley Barlow (eight rebounds) adding nine points apiece and Devereaux Peters adding eight points and eight rebounds.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Seton Hall Met At Purcell Pavilion
Charel Allen scored 22 points and No. 14 Notre Dame made all eight of its free throws in the final 1:25 to beat Seton Hall 70-55 on March 1, 2008, at Purcell Pavilion.

The Pirates, who had lost their previous two games by at least 28 points, managed to put a bit of a scare into the Fighting Irish early on.

Notre Dame led by as many as 14 in the first half, but the Pirates closed to 36-27 at halftime when Ebonie Williams hit a 15-foot jumper with a second left. Then Nicole Emery hit a pair of three-pointers for the Pirates to start the second half and cut the lead to 36-33.

The Fighting Irish extended the lead back to seven later when Melissa Lechlitner hit a trey, but Emery answered with another three-pointer to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 46-42.

The Fighting Irish regained control with a 12-2 run. Lechlitner started it with a drive inside, followed by a 16-foot jumper, and capped it with a long pass to Tulyah Gaines for a fastbreak layup to give Notre Dame a 58-44 lead.

The Pirates closed to 62-54 on a three-point play by Emery and another free throw by her with 1:26 left. But the Fighting Irish went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line while Seton Hall went 1-of-4 and failed to make another basket.

Other Notre Dame-Seton Hall Series Tidbits

• Six of the past 10 series matchups have been decided by six points or less, including two of the past four matchups, both in South Orange (a 64-61 victory on Jan. 2, 2007, and a 66-60 win on Jan. 3, 2009).
• The Fighting Irish have limited the Pirates to 61 points or less in 18 of the past 19 series games, the lone exception being SHU’s 74-61 win on Jan. 7, 2006, at Purcell Pavilion.
• Notre Dame will be playing host to Seton Hall for the first time since the 2007-08 regular season finale (a 70-55 Fighting Irish win). Notre Dame is 8-2 all-time against the Pirates at Purcell Pavilion, winning those eight games by an average of 24.8 points per game (seven by double digits).
• The coaching matchup between Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw and Seton Hall’s Anne Donovan features one Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer (Donovan) and one future Hall of Famer (McGraw), with the latter set to be inducted in the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Hall later this year (June 2011).
• Irish senior guard Brittany Mallory and Seton Hall sophomore forward Kandice Green are no strangers, having played regularly during their high school days in Baltimore — Mallory’s McDonogh School and Green’s St. Frances Academy (also the alma mater of Providence senior guard Mi-Khida Hankins) were in the same conference, with the schools playing a minimum of twice annually; McDonogh and St. Frances also met in the 2007 IAAM A Conference title game with St. Frances pulling out a 68-63 win.

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 89-25 (.781) in February games, including a 50-5 (.909) mark at home.

In the 24-year Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), the Fighting Irish are 137-40 (.774) in the month of February, including a 72-11 (.867) 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).

Twenty Questions
Notre Dame reached the 20-win mark for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons with its 76-68 victory at South Florida on Feb. 5. The Fighting Irish now have registered 20-or-more wins 21 times in the 24-year Muffet McGraw era and 25 times in the program’s 34-year history.

McGraw herself has coached 23 20-win seasons (adding in two during her five-year tenure at Lehigh from 1982-87), tying her for ninth all-time among NCAA Division I coaches.

The Rare Air Up There
For the second consecutive week (and 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 also check in at No. 8.

Notre Dame is one of three schools in the country with matching top-10 basketball programs, along with Connecticut (No. 2 women/No. 10 men) and Duke (No. 5 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 14.2 thefts per game. The Fighting Irish also have recorded double-digit steals in 18 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 11 different players with double-digit steals this season (four with at least 40 thefts), led by senior guard Brittany Mallory, who has collected a team-high 2.2 steals per game (seventh in the BIG EAST).

Helping Hands
Notre Dame also enters Tuesday’s game ranked sixth in the country in assists (18.8 apg.), having dished out at least 20 assists in 13 games this season.

Further illustrating the Fighting Irish giving spirit, Notre Dame has assisted on 62.6 percent of its baskets this season, with 451 assists on 720 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 14th in the league with a 1.35 assist/turnover ratio. She also has handed out at least five assists in 15 games this season, after tallying seven five-assist games during her entire freshman campaign.

Sharp Shooters
Notre Dame also ranks fourth in the nation with a .487 field goal percentage, shooting 50 percent or better from the floor in 13 games this season, and at least 45 percent in 20 outings.

Notre Dame also has seen a recent rise in its three-point shooting numbers. During the past 15 games, the Fighting Irish are connecting at a 37.8 percent clip (54-of-143) 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 (+27.4 ppg.) and steals (14.2 spg.); fourth in field goal percentage (.487); fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.240); sixth in assists (18.8 apg.); seventh in scoring offense (81.0 ppg.) and turnover margin (+6.67) and eighth in rebounding margin (+10.5 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 scoring defense (13th, 53.7 ppg.), assist/turnover ratio (15th, 1.09) and field goal percentage defense (17th, .347).

Yet for all of these high team statistical marks, no Fighting Irish individual ranks higher than No. 63 in any single category — sophomore guard Skylar Diggins is 63rd in the nation in assists (4.7 apg.).

High Octane Offense
Behind one of the nation’s top 10 scoring offenses (81.0 ppg., seventh 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 more than two rebounds from last year’s total at this time (40.3 rpg.) and good enough for third in the BIG EAST.

Notre Dame also is giving up just 32.0 rebounds per game, more than four caroms better than last year at this time (36.1 rpg.) and placing second in the conference.

With a +10.5 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 13 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 eight different players claim team-high rebounding and assist honors at some point this year.

Missed It By That Much
Notre Dame may hold a 20-4 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 (No. 15 UCLA, also at the end of the first overtime; No. 2 Connecticut), and the Fighting Irish also had a possession to tie the game in the final 30 seconds at No. 9/10 Kentucky.

The fourth loss (at No. 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 Cops Second Honor Roll Nod
For the second time this season, junior guard Natalie Novosel was named to the BIG EAST Conference Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll, the league office announced Monday. Novosel, who previously garnered an Honor Roll citation on Nov. 29, was one of five players chosen for this week’s honor (also the second of her career).

In two games last week, Novosel averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as Notre Dame stretched its current winning streak to seven games with BIG EAST victories over No. RV/25 Syracuse (71-48) and at South Florida (76-68).

Last Tuesday against Syracuse, Novosel tallied 13 points, four rebounds and three steals as the Fighting Irish chalked up their third win over a ranked opponent in a two-week span. On Saturday night at USF, Novosel led the way for Notre Dame with 19 points (including 12 in the second half) and a career-high-tying eight rebounds as the Fighting Irish beat back a stubborn Bulls squad.

Novosel is the third different Fighting Irish player to cop multiple BIG EAST weekly honors for Notre Dame this season, joining senior forward Devereaux Peters, who is a three-time Honor Roll selection, and sophomore guard Skylar Diggins, who has earned that distinction twice this year. That trio also highlights the exceptional balance on this year’s Fighting Irish roster, which has featured at least one conference weekly award recipient from all four classes — freshman forward Natalie Achonwa was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Dec. 13.

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 eighth in the league) in scoring at 15.0 points per game, 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 21 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 (29th in the BIG EAST) and 7.2 rebounds per game (10th), along with a .582 field goal percentage (fourth), 1.6 blocks per game (tied-seventh), 1.9 steals per game (tied-12th) and a career-high .754 free throw 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 ranks among the top five in the league in field goal percentage (second – .614), rebounding (third – 8.4 rpg.) and blocks (fifth – 1.9 bpg.), while ranking 14th in scoring (13.2 ppg.). She also leads the BIG EAST with four double-doubles in 10 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 12 games, the Chicago native is averaging 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds with six double-doubles with a .616 field goal percentage (69-of-112).

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 Joins 1,000-Point Club
With 12 points vs. Syracuse on Feb. 1, senior forward/co-captain Becca Bruszewski became the 27th Notre Dame women’s basketball player to score 1,000 points in her career. She currently ranked 25th on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,023 points.

Bruszewski also became 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.

Game #24 Recap: South Florida
Natalie Novosel scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half to lead eighth-ranked Notre Dame past South Florida 76-68 on Saturday night at the Sun Dome in Tampa.

Skylar Diggins added 17 points for Notre Dame (20-4, 9-1 BIG EAST), which has won seven in a row since losing 79-76 to No. 2 Connecticut on Jan. 8.

South Florida (10-13, 1-8) got 20 points from Andrea Smith. The Bulls have lost nine of 10.

Notre Dame had held four of its previous five opponents to 50 points or fewer.

After South Florida got within nine points with nine minutes left, Novosel had a basket and made a free throw during an 8-0 run that put Notre Dame up 70-53 four minutes later.

Notre Dame withstood a late surge after Smith hit a three-pointer to make it 73-66 with 44 seconds to go.

The Fighting Irish, who connected on 28 of 41 free throws overall, made three to secure the win over the final 35 seconds.

South Florida was 14 of 24 from the line.

Becca Bruszewski had 11 of her 16 points to help Notre Dame, which led by as many as 17, go up 42-30 at halftime. Notre Dame went 12 of 21 from the free-throw line during the opening 20 minutes.

Andrell Smith had 15 points, while Akila McDonald chipped in 14 for South Florida.

Noting The South Florida Game

• The Fighting Irish recorded their fourth consecutive win over South Florida and improved to 7-2 all-time against the Bulls, including a 3-1 record in Tampa; the last three series games in Tampa all have been decided by single digits.
• Notre Dame has scored at least 70 points in eight of its nine series games against USF.
• The Fighting Irish are 24-5 (.828) all-time against Florida schools, including a 13-2 (.867) record on the road.
• Notre Dame rises to 16-3 (.842) all-time when playing in the state of Florida.
• For the second consecutive game, Notre Dame did not trail at any point during the contest — through 10 BIG EAST games this year, the Fighting Irish have not trailed by more than five points at any time (7-2 with 17:48 left in first half at Villanova on Jan. 29).
• Notre Dame attempted a season-low 46 shots, two fewer than their total against Georgetown on Jan. 18.
• Novosel tied her career high with eight rebounds, the fourth time she’s hit that mark and the first since Nov. 21 at Kentucky.
• Bruszewski scored in double figures for a career-best fifth consecutive game and the sixth time in her last seven outings.
• Bruszewski also tied her career high with eight free throws made (first set on Feb. 17, 2009, the last time Notre Dame visited USF), handed out a season-high five assists and registered her first “5-5-5” game of the season, as well as the second of her career (five points/six rebounds/seven assists at Louisville on Jan. 19, 2010).
• Bruszewski is the seventh different Fighting Irish player to record a “5-5-5” game this season.
• Freshman forward Natalie Achonwa tied her career high with 14 points, a mark she first set on Dec. 11 against Creighton at Purcell Pavilion.

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 Feb. 7 Associated Press poll. That marked the 72nd 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 211 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. 8 in the Feb. 1 ESPN/USA Today/WBCA coaches’ poll. Notre Dame now has been ranked in the coaches’ poll for 71 of the past 72 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 202 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 211 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 back into the AP poll this week at No. 23.

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 709-306 (.699).

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 207-17 (.924) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 135 of their last 146 such contests, and 44 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 19 games this year, including their Feb. 5 win at South Florida when they led 42-30 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 224-15 (.937) record when they hold their opponents below 60 points in a game, including victories in 16 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, Syracuse).

…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 201 of their last 228 games (.882) at the 9,149-seat Purcell Pavilion, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 110-19 (.853) 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 351-88 (.800) 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 8,503 fans for its 14 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 Feb. 1 Syracuse contest (which was webcast live on UND.com), Notre Dame has played in 185 televised games, including 131 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 Saturday’s 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 Saturday 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) Saturday at Club Naimoli in 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: Rutgers
Notre Dame wraps up its two-game “Jersey Week” homestand on Saturday, playing host to Rutgers at 2 p.m. (ET) inside Purcell Pavilion in the program’s annual Pink Zone game (designed to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research).

The Scarlet Knights (13-9, 6-3 BIG EAST) snapped a three-game losing streak last Saturday with a 54-47 home win over No. RV/25 Syracuse. Rutgers will play host to Pittsburgh Tuesday night before heading to South Bend this weekend.

— ND —