Irish Back Home For Sunday Matinee With Western Michigan

Complete Release (PDF)

Nov. 18, 2006

2006-07 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 4
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-1 / 0-0 BIG EAST) vs.
Western Michigan Broncos (1-2 / 0-0 MAC West)

Storylines

• Notre Dame plays its fourth game in eight days, and third at home when Western Michigan comes calling Sunday afternoon.
• The Irish defense has forced more than 20 turnovers per game, including nearly 13 steals a night.

Irish Back Home For Sunday Matinee With Western Michigan
For the first time this season, Notre Dame will have the opportunity to test its resiliency when it plays host to Western Michigan Sunday at noon (ET) inside the Joyce Center. The Irish not only are coming off their first loss of the season, but also will be closing out an early run of four games in eight days.

Notre Dame last saw action on Thursday night, dropping a 75-49 decision at Penn State. Between an early 15-2 Lady Lion run and a season-low .268 field goal percentage, the Irish found themselves trying to battle from behind throughout the evening. Notre Dame did get within 13 points just after halftime, but couldn’t do enough to overcome their shooting woes.

Junior guards Tulyah Gaines and Charel Allen shared team-high scoring honors with 12 points apiece. Freshman guard Melissa Lechlitner came off the bench to chip in 11 points (including 3-of-4 three-pointers) for the Irish, becoming the seventh different Notre Dame player to crack double digits this season.

Western Michigan earned its first win of the year Friday night with an 85-72 conquest of Detroit behind 41 points from Carrie Moore.

Setting The Standard
Under the guidance of 20th-year head coach Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame has evolved into one of the country’s leading women’s basketball powers. The Irish have appeared in 13 NCAA Tournaments (including a current streak of 11 in a row) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 six times in the previous 10 years. Notre Dame also has reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four twice, winning college basketball’s ultimate prize with the 2001 national championship.

In its history, Notre Dame has developed eight All-Americans, nine WNBA players (including six draft picks in the past six years) and four USA Basketball veterans (eight medals won). Now in their 30th season in 2006-07, the Irish own an all-time record of 595-267 (.690).

A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
A large majority of college basketball programs would be pleased with an 18-12 record and an 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Then again, those programs aren’t Notre Dame.

The Irish players and coaches alike feel dissatisfied with last season’s performance, which started well with a 9-2 non-conference record and a top-15 national ranking, but ended with an NCAA first-round loss to Boston College. Along the way, Notre Dame also posted an 8-8 record in the rugged BIG EAST Conference, collected three victories over ranked opponents, and won the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas with a convincing victory over eventual NCAA regional finalist Utah (68-55).

The Irish know they will face a host of challenges in 2006-07, with hurdles that include replacing All-America point guard Megan Duffy, tackling a schedule that features 16 postseason qualifiers (and 11 NCAA Tournament participants), and most recently, dealing with the season-ending knee injury to sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader. The Bartlett, Ill., product was slated to be Notre Dame’s top returning scorer this season, having carded 10.5 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game during her rookie campaign.

However, this year’s Irish squad already may be living up to the phrase “expect the unexpected.” When many outside observers dismissed Notre Dame’s chances, the players and coaches have pulled even closer, with team chemistry and cohesion becoming the single greatest strength the Irish will possess in 2006-07. In fact, between seven other returning monogram winners and four other players with significant starting experience, not to mention four talented freshmen, those who want to write off Notre Dame before the season even starts may do so at their peril.

Junior guard Charel Allen (8.5 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) takes over as the top returning scorer for the Irish. The Monessen, Pa., resident spent much of last season working her way back to 100 percent after a March 2005 knee injury, saving her strongest efforts for the final month of the season, averaging 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in the season’s last 11 games.

Allen’s backcourt mate and fellow junior, Tulyah Gaines (4.9 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 1.7 apg.), assumes the mantle of court leadership for Notre Dame as both a team co-captain and the new starting point guard. Like her classmate, Gaines was very sharp down the stretch in 2005-06, averaging 8.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game with a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio in the final six games of the year.

A third junior, center Melissa D’Amico, will seek to anchor the Irish post game. Standing 6-foot-5, the Manorville, N.Y., native started 17 times last season, averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while ranking eighth in the BIG EAST in blocked shots (1.17 bpg.). She also owned a solid .468 field goal percentage and named the MVP of the Duel in the Desert (and subsequently the BIG EAST Player of the Week) after collecting 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with an .824 field goal percentage in the two-game tourney.

Complementing the Notre Dame veterans is a freshman class that was ranked 21st in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. Guards Melissa Lechlitner and Ashley Barlow finished second and third, respectively, in the 2006 Indiana Miss Basketball voting, with Barlow winning MVP honors for the 2006 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series after scoring 20.0 points per game. Meanwhile, 6-3 forward Danielle Ben-Tsvulun is a two-time all-area pick out of Fort Wayne, Ind., while 6-4 center Erica Williamson averaged a double-double (10.0 ppg., 10.4 rpg.) in her final two prep seasons, winning state titles in two different states during that time.

Potent Notables About The Irish

• Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past 11 seasons (1996-97 to present), ranking seventh with 249 victories in that span.

• Notre Dame’s incoming class of 2007 (announced Nov. 8) has been ranked 11th in the nation by Blue Star Basketball, marking the 11th consecutive season that the Irish have had a top-25 recruiting class. Notre Dame is one of only three schools (along with Connecticut and Tennessee) to have an active streak of that length. A thumbnail sketch of the newest Irish signees can be found on page 8 of these notes.

• Notre Dame was ranked 11th in the nation in attendance in 2005-06 (6,601 fans per game), marking the sixth consecutive season the Irish have ranked among the national top 20 in attendance. Notre Dame also has attracted 5,000-or-more fans to 80 of its last 82 home games, including three Joyce Center sellouts of 11,418 (most recently on Dec. 31, 2005 vs. Tennessee).

• For the sixth time in school history, Notre Dame has been selected to host NCAA Tournament action, as the Joyce Center will be the site of NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games in 2010. In four of the five previous instances, Notre Dame was involved in NCAA Tournament play, going 6-1 all-time and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 three times (2000, 2001, 2004), with only a first-round loss to Minnesota in 1994 blotting the resume. Notre Dame also hosted the 1983 NCAA Mideast Regional at the Joyce Center, with Georgia defeating Tennessee, 67-63 in the regional final.

• The Irish have become a regular fixture in the WNBA Draft in recent years, as six Notre Dame players have been selected in the past six seasons. All-America guard Megan Duffy was the most recent Irish player to be chosen, going to the Minnesota Lynx in the third round (31st overall pick) of the 2006 WNBA Draft. Other active Notre Dame players in the WNBA during the 2006 season included Ruth Riley and Jacqueline Batteast (league champion Detroit Shock), while Niele Ivey sat out this year as a free agent, rehabilitating an injury after previously playing with Indiana, Detroit and Phoenix. Riley’s WNBA title with Detroit was her second (she was the 2003 WNBA Finals MVP), while Batteast earned her first pro crown this year.

• Notre Dame has been an elite program in the classroom as well. The Irish posted a perfect 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to figures released by the NCAA in October 2006. Notre Dame was one of 16 Division I-A programs to achieve this distinction, and one of only two BIG EAST programs (Syracuse is the other). Furthermore, since Muffet McGraw became the Irish head coach in 1987, every Notre Dame women’s basketball player that has completed her athletic and academic eligibility at the University has graduated.

A Quick Look At Western Michigan
If there’s one team in the country that could make a case that its record doesn’t really tell the story, it would be Western Michigan.

Last season, the Broncos posted a 14-14 record (11-5 in the Mid-American Conference West Division), yet half of their losses came by seven points or less, including two in overtime. WMU showed exceptional mental toughness throughout the challenging season, winning 10 of its final 13 regular-season games, capped by a dramatic double-OT win over Toledo in the home finale. But, UT won a rematch with Western a week later at the MAC Tournament, putting an early end to the Broncos’ season.

Early in the ’06-07 campaign, some of the same early themes have popped up for WMU (1-2), which has seen both of its defeats come on the road by four points or less (87-83 at Illinois-Chicago; 80-77 at Wisconsin). However, the Broncos rebounded in a big way Friday night in their home opener vs. Detroit, running past the Titans, 85-72 at University Arena. Senior guard Carrie Moore scored a school-record 41 points (15-24 FG, 9-11 FT) and grabbed 10 rebounds for good measure, helping WMU earned its first win of the year.

Moore’s performance against Detroit certainly hasn’t been a one-time deal for the Bronco veteran this season. In fact, she’s scored at least 27 points in all three of her games to date, averaging an astronomical 32.3 points per game on .556 shooting (35-of-63), along with 7.7 rebounds per game, so far in 2006-07.

Her supporting cast has been stout as well, led by speedy sophomore guard Tiera DeLaHoussaye, who is averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 assists per game with a .533 field goal percentage. Senior forward Lindsey Brown is the sentinel in the post for the Broncos, averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 8.7 rebounds per outing.

Ron Stewart is in his 10th season as the head coach at Western Michigan, owning a 133-134 (.498) record in Kalamazoo. He is 0-3 all-time against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Western Michigan Series
Sunday will be the ninth meeting between Notre Dame and Western Michigan on the hardwood, with the Irish leading the series, 8-0. The teams also will be playing in the Joyce Center for the sixth time, with Notre Dame having each of the five prior games (with the last being a 71-48 decision on Dec. 12, 2001).

The Last Time Notre Dame And Western Michigan Met
Senior All-America guard Megan Duffy scored 19 points, including four straight free throws in the final minute, for 15th-ranked Notre Dame. But Western Michigan’s Casey Rost almost stole the show.

Rost had a career-high 29 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers (tying an Irish opponent record) in her first game for the Broncos in a year after being sidelined by a knee injury. However, Duffy hit all eight of her free throws attempts and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Notre Dame to a 71-68 victory on Nov. 20, 2005, at WMU’s University Arena, and the third 2-0 start in four years for the Irish.

Notre Dame only trailed once, in the game’s first minute, but twice had its lead trimmed to one point in the second half – including on a three-pointer by Rost with 11:50 left. But not even Rost could save the Broncos from their eighth consecutive loss to Notre Dame.

Freshman guard Lindsay Schrader scored 11 points for Notre Dame, reaching double figures in her second consecutive start, and senior forward Courtney LaVere came off the bench to score eight of her 10 points in the second half.

Western’s Lindsey Brown had 16 points and Tiera DeLaHoussaye had 11.

The Irish outrebounded Western 39-37, although Western’s Amanda Parker had a game-high nine rebounds. Notre Dame also held Western to 34.3 percent shooting in the first half before Rost warmed up with 21 points in the second half, and forced 18 Western turnovers.