Dec. 10, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second time in as many weeks, University of Notre Dame freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind./Washington HS) has been selected as the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week, the league office announced Monday. She is the first repeat winner of the award this season and the first Irish player to turn the trick since current teammate Alicia Ratay earned Rookie of the Week honors in three consecutive weeks (Feb. 7, 14, 21) during the 1999-2000 season. Ruth Riley, the 2001 consensus national player of the year, is the only other Irish player to win the award more than once, picking up three rookie awards during the 1997-98 campaign.
Batteast, the 2001-02 preseason BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field last week as Notre Dame lost at No. 7/8 Purdue, 70-57, but bounced back to defeat USC, 62-49. In the loss to the Boilermakers, Batteast tallied 10 points on five-of-eight shooting, to go along with four rebounds, a season-high four assists and three blocks. Three days later against USC, Batteast recorded a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds and a season-best five steals as the Irish downed the Women of Troy to extend the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 41 games.
Notre Dame (3-4) continues its three-game homestand Wednesday at 7 p.m. (EST) when it plays host to Western Michigan at the Joyce Center.
– ND –