Irish Head North For Friday Night Matchup At Michigan

Nov. 30, 2006

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2006-07 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 7
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2 / 0-0 BIG EAST) vs. Michigan Wolverines (5-2 / 0-0 Big Ten)

Storylines

• Notre Dame makes its first visit to Michigan in nearly 15 years and will be seeking its first win at Crisler Arena since 1982.
• The Irish are aiming for the first road victory of the season as they open up a stretch of three consecutive games against Big Ten Conference opponents.

Irish Head North For Friday Night Matchup At Michigan
With the calendar flipping over to the month of December, Notre Dame will hope for better fortunes on the road when they venture to Michigan Friday for a 7 p.m. (ET) tipoff at Crisler Arena. While the Irish are unbeaten in four home games this season, they have dropped both of their road contests to this point, most recently falling in a tough battle at USC over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Notre Dame (4-2) got back in the win column on Tuesday night by going nearly wire-to-wire in an 87-66 victory over Richmond at the Joyce Center. The Irish shot a season-high 54.4 percent from the floor and forced 21 Spider turnovers, the fifth time in six games this season they have logged 20-or-more takeaways.

Junior guard Charel Allen headed up a group of five Notre Dame players in double figures, scoring a career-high 22 points and grabbing six rebounds. Junior center Melissa D’Amico was nearly perfect from the field, making 6-of-7 shots while scoring 15 points. The Irish freshmen also made some noise, combining for 33 points and 17 rebounds on the night.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is not ranked.
• Michigan is not ranked.

Web Sites

• Notre Dame: http://www.und.com
• Michigan: http://www.mgoblue.com
• BIG EAST: http://www.bigeast.org
• Big Ten: http://www.bigten.org

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 597-268 (.690).

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw
Saint Joseph’s ’77

• 20th season at Notre Dame
• 433-169 (.719) at Notre Dame.
• 521-210 (.713) in 25 years as head coach.

NOTES

• 2001 consensus National Coach of the Year
• Four-time Naismith Coach of the Year finalist
• Four-time conference Coach of the Year
• BIG EAST Conference (2001)
• Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1991)
• North Star Conference (1988)
• East Coast Conference (@ Lehigh) (1983)

A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Less than one month into the 2006-07 season, the growth of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team already is evident, and the best may be yet to come.

With a young and inexperienced roster that has only two seniors and is missing its top returning scorer from a year ago, the Irish have had to learn on the run – and run is exactly what they have done early this season. Notre Dame is averaging 75.7 points per game thus far, a significant improvement over the previous five Irish squads, none of which has averaged better than 66.3 points per night. In addition, Notre Dame is shooting .440 from the floor, a mark the program hasn’t reached since its 2000-01 national championship season (.464).

Of course, the Irish have traditionally hung their hat on their defense, a trait that is much harder to master and takes a bit longer. On the one hand, Notre Dame’s aggressive style has rattled opponents throughout the campaign, causing 22.3 turnovers per game (including 13.0 steals per night). However, the flip side has seen the Irish allow opponents to shoot .418 from the floor (.406 from the three-point line) and claim a 0.7 rpg. edge on the boards, two areas Notre Dame will continue to focus on as it works through the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Junior guard Charel Allen has been one of the main offensive catalysts for the Irish to this point, averaging a team-high 15.8 ppg., while scoring in double figures in all six outings to date. The Monessen, Pa., native, who was limited last year while recovering from knee surgery in the summer of 2005, also is collecting 4.8 rebounds per game (fourth on the squad) and appears to have regained the form that put her on the ’05 BIG EAST Conference All-Freshman Team.

Allen’s classmate and backcourt running partner, Tulyah Gaines, is a very early candidate as one of the conference’s most improved players. The speedy Gaines has assumed the large footprint left at the point by All-American (and WNBA Draft pick) Megan Duffy and has stoked the Notre Dame offensive fire to an even hotter level, averaging 10.5 points and 3.8 assists per game with a .541 field goal percentage. Gaines, who came into the season with a 3.7 ppg. career scoring average, was a critical factor in Notre Dame’s 85-81 overtime win over two-time Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green in early November, tallying a career-high 25 points.

Another Irish junior, 6-foot-5 center Melissa D’Amico, continues to make strides in the post. The second-year starter is averaging 9.7 points and 1.5 blocks per game with a .564 field goal percentage, and has scored in double figures three times this season, including a season-high 16 points twice (vs. Central Michigan and Western Michigan).

The most pleasing contributions of the year for Notre Dame to this point have come from their freshmen, three of whom have seen significant playing time. Guard Ashley Barlow is tied for second on the team in scoring (10.5 ppg.) and tops in steals (2.5 spg.), and came up with a superb 19-point, 10-rebound effort against Bowling Green, capping an 11-of-12 free throw shooting night by hitting two clinching foul shots with 3.8 seconds left. Meanwhile, center Erica Williamson (7.4 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 1.4 bpg., .593 FG%) is proving to be a capable understudy to D’Amico, amassing season highs of 12 points and nine rebounds at USC. And, guard Melissa Lechlitner (6.3 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.5 apg.) has shown little drop off at the point behind Gaines, registering five assists in a game twice this year, and carding a season-high 11 points (including 3-of-4 three-pointers) at Penn State.

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 251 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.
• After ranking 11th in the nation in attendance last season (6,601 fans per game), Notre Dame is at it again, averaging 6,056 fans through its first four home games this year. Last season marked the sixth consecutive campaign the Irish have ranked among the national top 20 in attendance. Notre Dame also has attracted 5,000-or-more fans to 82 of its last 84 home games, including three Joyce Center sellouts of 11,418 (most recently on Dec. 31, 2005 vs. Tennessee). Potentially, a fourth sellout may loom Sunday when the Irish take on Indiana – only approximately 1,500 tickets remain for that contest.
• 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 Michigan
The future looks bright for Michigan, as the Wolverines are off to a 5-2 start and are three games above the .500 mark for the first time since February 2003. UM also has already exceeded its win total from all of last year (four), doing so on the strength of a veteran squad that has all five starters and 10 letterwinners returning, not to mention a talented four-player rookie class.

Part of Michigan’s success this season has been its ability to win on the road. The latest example of that came Tuesday night, when the Wolverines eased past Central Michigan, 52-47 in Mount Pleasant. Freshman center Krista Phillips piled up 14 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks, while veteran posts Ta’Shia Walker and Melinda Queen came off the bench to chip in 10 points apiece for the winners. UM also was strong at the foul line when it counted, making nine of 10 charity tosses in the second half.

Freshman guard LeQuisha Whitfield leads Michigan in scoring this season at 9.4 points per game, while Phillips is second in scoring (8.9 ppg.) and rebounding (5.4 rpg.), along with a team-high 1.7 blocks per night. Michigan also has employed a very deep bench, with 11 different players averaging double-digit minutes this season.

Head coach Cheryl Burnett is in her fourth season in Ann Arbor, with a 30-65 (.316) record at Michigan. She previously spent 15 seasons at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) and has a career record of 349-201 (.635). Burnett is 0-2 in her coaching career against Notre Dame (one loss each at SMS and Michigan).

The Notre Dame-Michigan Series
It would be hard to call the Notre Dame-Michigan series any more even, with the Irish owning a slim 7-6 edge on the Wolverines. However, UM has won four of five previous meetings in Ann Arbor, and the aggregate scoring total over the full 13-game series has Michigan tallying exactly one more point that Notre Dame (874-873).

Friday’s game will mark the first Irish visit to Crisler Arena in nearly 15 years, dating back to an 86-75 Wolverine victory on Dec. 13, 1991. Notre Dame’s lone victory on the UM campus came on Dec. 12, 1982, when the Irish pulled out a 62-58 win behind 15 points and five rebounds from Trena Keys.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Michigan Met
Most of Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw’s previous 499 career victories looked a lot better than win No. 500. She will take the 55-45 victory on Nov. 18, 2005 over Michigan just the same, especially after seeing Charel Allen return from a knee injury in the 2005 NCAA Tournament to lead the 15th-ranked Irish with 16 points and Lindsay Schrader get 10 points and 14 rebounds in her debut.

McGraw became the 27th women’s coach with 500 wins and the 10th to accomplish the feat before turning 50. Three other active BIG EAST coaches also won 500 before 50: Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer, Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma and Villanova’s Harry Perretta.

It looked for a while like McGraw might have to wait for the milestone victory with the Irish offense struggling. But Allen scored inside with 13:39 left to start a 12-3 run, during which she scored six points as the Irish went ahead 42-38. The Irish opened a 49-43 lead when Allen hit a 16-footer.

The 14 rebounds by Schrader were the most by an Irish player since Jacqueline Batteast had 18 against Connecticut nearly three years earlier. Melissa D’Amico added 10 points for the Irish. Ta’Shia Walker led Michigan with 16 points and nine rebounds, making her first six shots before missing the final four. The Irish outrebounded the Wolverines 54-33.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Michigan Met At Crisler Arena
Michigan scored 16 of the game’s final 20 points, including the nine of the last 11 at the foul line, to defeat Notre Dame, 86-75 on Dec. 13, 1991, at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines had five players score in double figures, led by Trish Andrew (24 points), and shot 55.9 percent from the field in the second half to erase a four-point halftime deficit.

Michelle Marciniak led Notre Dame with 22 points, while Margaret Nowlin posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Irish. As a team, Notre Dame shot .446 from the floor, but was hampered by turnovers and fouls (26 apiece).

The Irish led almost exclusively in the first half after Michigan scored the game’s opening basket. Notre Dame moved out to a pair of six-point leads in the period, the last at 38-32 on Marciniak’s driving layup with 37 seconds to go before the break.

However, Andrew sank a putback to beat the halftime horn, signalling a momentum shift that carried into the second stanza. UM went on an 8-2 run to take a 42-40 lead with 17:21 to play. From there, the teams combined for eight ties and nine lead changes, with the final draw coming at 73-73 when Notre Dame’s Kristin Knapp hit a foul-line jumper with 2:01 left.

On the next Michigan possession, Nikki Beaudry converted an old-fashioned three-point play after a Knapp foul. Comalita Haysbert answered with a bucket for the Irish, and after UM’s Char Durand made the second of two foul shots, Notre Dame had a chance to tie or regain the lead with a minute to play. Yet, the Irish couldn’t find the mark and Knapp was whistled for her fifth foul on the rebound with 32.6 ticks left.

Notre Dame’s fortunes then were dealt a crippling blow when the Irish bench was called for a technical foul, giving the Wolverines four free throws (two for the Knapp foul, two for the technical) and the ball. Beaudry and Andrew combined to make all four charities and effectively ice the game for Michigan.

Other Notre Dame-Michigan Series Tidbits

• If history is a guide, Notre Dame’s defensive effort could be a key indicator in the outcome of Friday’s game. In their seven victories over Michigan, the Irish have held the Wolverines to less than 60 points six times (only exception: 76-71 on Dec. 5, 1985 at the Joyce Center). Conversely, in UM’s six series wins, it has tallied at least 75 points on five occasions (only exception: 66-60 in overtime on Dec. 8, 1979 at the Joyce Center).
• Notre Dame is 47-19 (.712) all-time against teams from the state of Michigan, with a 17-13 (.567) record when playing them away from the Joyce Center (road/neutral sites combined). The Irish also are 27-7 (.794) against the Wolverine State in the Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), including an 11-4 (.733) mark outside of South Bend. Notre Dame has defeated four consecutive Michigan schools, most recently defeating Central Michigan (88-66) and Western Michigan (87-67) earlier this season. The last school from that state to conquer the Irish was Michigan State, which edged out an 82-73 overtime victory on Dec. 2, 2004 at the Joyce Center.
• The state of Michigan has been home to 14 Notre Dame women’s basketball players during the past 30 years. That’s second only to Indiana (17) for the most players from one state in program history. One of those 14 Michigan natives who came to Notre Dame was current Irish associate head coach Coquese Washington, who grew up in Flint, Mich., and graduated from Flint Central High School before matriculating to Notre Dame when she earned her undergraduate degree in history (’92) and her Juris Doctorate (’97).
• While they didn’t face one another at the time, Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw and Michigan head coach Cheryl Burnett crossed paths at the 2001 NCAA Women’s Final Four in St. Louis. McGraw was piloting the Irish to their first national championship, while Burnett had led Southwest Missouri State (now simply known as Missouri State) to its second Final Four appearance – the Lady Bears fell to Purdue in the national semifinals, 81-64.
• McGraw and Burnett both have ties to the now-defunct Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) of the late 1970s-early 1980s. McGraw played with the California Dreams in 1979, while Burnett was a 1980 draft pick of the New Jersey Gems.

Notre Dame vs. The Big Ten Conference
Notre Dame is 32-45 (.416) all-time against the Big Ten Conference, although the Irish have won five of their last eight games against that league during the past two seasons. Last year, Notre Dame went 3-1 against the Big Ten, defeating Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin, while falling at Purdue.

Michigan is the second of four Big Ten teams on this year’s Irish schedule, with Notre Dame having previously dropped a 75-49 decision at Penn State (Nov. 16). The UM game opens a three-game stretch against Big Ten opponents for the Irish, with Indiana (Dec. 3) and Purdue (Dec. 6) on the horizon.

Keeping The Home Fires Burning
Notre Dame’s four wins this season all have come at home and have been due in large part to an explosive offense that has averaged 86.8 points per game on the Joyce Center hardwood. Led by junior guard Charel Allen (17.5 ppg.), the Irish also have five players scoring in double figures through the first four home games and are shooting .496 from the floor in front of the Notre Dame faithful.

Balance Is Key, Grasshopper
Notre Dame has gotten off to one of its better scoring starts in recent memory (75.7 ppg.), thanks to contributions from numerous sources. In fact, the Irish have had nine different players score in double figures in its first five games, with seven of those nine doing so more than once.

What makes Notre Dame’s balanced production even more encouraging is that is has come from some sources who have shown tremendous improvement early this year. Junior guard Tulyah Gaines scored a career-high 25 points vs. Bowling Green (previous career-best was 14 points), senior forward Crystal Erwin (14 points vs. Western Michigan; most points since Jan. 2005), sophomore forward Chandrica Smith (career-high 11 points vs. Central Michigan; first career double-figure game), and three Irish freshmen – guard Ashley Barlow (19 points, 10 rebounds vs. Bowling Green; 17 points vs. Western Michigan; 11 points vs. Richmond) guard Melissa Lechlitner (11 points, including 3-of-4 three-pointers at Penn State; 10 points vs. Richmond) and center Erica Williamson (12 points, nine rebounds at USC).

The Five-Finger Discount
Notre Dame’s aggressive defense has forced 22.3 turnovers per game this season, including 13.0 steals per night. The Irish also have posted double-digit steal totals in five of six games this season (the exception was nine vs. Richmond Tuesday night), with freshman guard Ashley Barlow committing the most larcenies to date (15, 2.5 per game) and leading a group of four Irish players with double-figure steals this season.

Barlow also recorded a combined 11 steals vs. Western Michigan (six) and at USC (five). That made her the first Notre Dame player with back-to-back five-steal games since March 30-April 1, 2001, when Niele Ivey did so against Connecticut (five) and Purdue (six) at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in St. Louis.

Preserve And Protect
Coming off a school-record low 430 turnovers (14.3 per game) last season, Notre Dame appears to be headed in a similar direction again this year. The Irish are averaging only 17.0 giveaways through six games, including a season-low 14 turnovers at Penn State on Nov. 16. Notre Dame now has an active string of 18 consecutive games with less than 20 turnovers, dating back to a Jan. 24, 2006 loss at Rutgers (22).

40 Minutes Just Isn’t Enough
Notre Dame’s overtime win over Bowling Green was its fifth OT contest in a 19-game span, with all five games occurring in this calendar year from Jan. 10-Nov. 13, 2006 (the Irish went 3-2 in those extra-session outings).

This recent rash of overtime games was unusual for Notre Dame when you consider the following – prior to this current stretch, one has to go back 185 games to find the previous five OT games in program history. That’s basically five overtime contests in a span of nearly six years, from late in the 1999-2000 season through the middle of the ’05-06 campaign.

Reaching Another McGraw Milestone
Seems like it’s becoming an annual occurrence, but Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw recently reached another career coaching milestone. When the Irish defeated Western Michigan, 87-67 on Nov. 19 at the Joyce Center, McGraw coached her 600th game at Notre Dame – she has a record of 433-169 (.719) in 20 seasons under the Golden Dome.

Game #6 Recap: Richmond
Mixing its aggressive defense with an efficient offensive performance, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team led virtually from the opening tip to the final horn in an 87-66 victory over Richmond on Tuesday night at the Joyce Center. The Irish (4-2) shot a season-high 54.4 percent from the floor (31-of-57) and had five players score in double figures while showing few ill effects from its cross-country Thanksgiving weekend trek to Los Angeles.

Junior guard Charel Allen set the pace for Notre Dame on Tuesday, scoring a career-high 22 points and adding six rebounds for good measure. Junior center Melissa D’Amico ably complemented her classmate in the post, tallying 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Freshman guard Ashley Barlow chipped in 11 points, while senior forward Crystal Erwin and freshman guard Melissa Lechlitner contributed 10 points apiece.

The outings by Barlow and Lechlitner were just part of perhaps the best combined effort of the season by the four-player Irish freshman class. Center Erica Williamson piled up nine points and a game-high seven rebounds in only 16 minutes of work, while forward Danielle Ben-Tsvulun etched her name in the scorebook for the first time as a collegian, knocking down three free throws and grabbing two rebounds in four minutes.

Johanna McKnight scored a team-high 14 points and Christina Campion tossed in 13 points for Richmond (2-5), which was playing the third of five consecutive road games. The Spiders took part in a tournament last weekend at Cancun, Mexico, and will head to New Orleans this weekend for another two-game tournament.

The first five minutes of Tuesday’s game took on the appearance of two rivals circling each other, just waiting for an opening to strike. There were four ties in that span, with Richmond taking its one and only lead at 8-6 on a layup by Nikita Thomas at the 15:45 mark. D’Amico answered back 12 seconds later to knot the score and the Irish would never trail again. Yet, Notre Dame couldn’t never quite shake the Spiders during the first half, getting up by as many as eight points twice before UR scratched back to within a point. Campion’s late three-pointer helped the visitors make it a one-possession game (34-31) at halftime.

It took about five minutes in the second half before Notre Dame slammed on the accelerator, going on a 21-6 run to break on top by double figures and effectively quash any hopes Richmond had for a comeback. Barlow was a key figure in the run with seven points, while Williamson added four markers and Lechlitner canned a triple, as the Irish rookies looked like wily veterans in just their sixth college outing.

Noting The Richmond Win

• Notre Dame played its first Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in nearly two years (Dayton, Dec. 9, 2004) and improved to 63-18 (.778) all-time against that league’s present configuration; the Irish also have won 10 in a row against current Atlantic 10 members, including six straight at the Joyce Center.
• Notre Dame topped the 85-point mark for the fourth time in as many home games this season.
• The Irish shot a season-best 54.4 percent from the floor, passing the .534 percentage they shot in their last home game (Nov. 19 vs. Western Michigan).
• Notre Dame had five double-digit scorers for the second consecutive home game and the third time in its last nine outings, dating back to last season (also March 4, 2006 vs. USF in the first round of the BIG EAST Conference Championship).
• The Irish forced 21 Richmond turnovers, the fifth time in six games this season that Notre Dame has hassled its opponent into 20-or-more turnovers (the Irish had 19 takeaways in the other contest vs. Bowling Green).
• After shooting .083 from the three-point line and .412 from the foul line in its last game at USC, Notre Dame reversed course against Richmond with a .412 three-point ratio and an .818 free throw percentage (the fourth time this year the Irish have shot better than 80 percent at the stripe).
• Notre Dame scored a season-high 53 points in the second half, its second 50-point period of the season after scoring exactly a half-century in the final 20 minutes vs. Western Michigan.
• Notre Dame’s bench has outscored the opposition in five of six games this year and is averaging 26.3 points per game this season.
• Senior forward Crystal Erwin had not made a three-pointer in her career prior to this season (and had attempted only one), but has made four of six shots from downtown through her first six games this year, including a career-high two treys vs. Richmond.

Injury Bug Bites Irish Early
Sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader will miss the 2006-07 season after suffering a torn ACL in her right knee during practice on Oct. 15. Schrader underwent corrective surgery on Oct. 27, with the normal rehabilitation timeline extending 6-9 months.

Schrader was to be Notre Dame’s top returning scorer and rebounder this season, after averaging 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during her rookie campaign in 2005-06.

2006-07: The Anniversary Season

• 2006-07 marks the 30th season of Notre Dame women’s basketball, with the Irish having compiled an all-time record of 597-268 (.690) since making their varsity debut in 1977-78. Actually, Notre Dame spent its first three seasons at the Division III level, playing under the banner of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) before making the move to Division I status in 1980-81 (the NCAA began sponsoring a women’s basketball championship the following season). The Irish have an overall Division I record of 548-248 (.688).
• This year also represents Muffet McGraw’s 20th season as the head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame and her 25th campaign overall, including her five-year run at Lehigh (1982-87). McGraw’s record is a stellar one – she is 433-169 (.719) at the helm of the Irish and has a career record of 521-210 (.713) in her silver anniversary season on the sidelines.
• In addition, Notre Dame is celebrating the 35th anniversary of women’s athletics at the University during the 2006-07 season. All Irish women’s sports teams will hold events to commemorate this milestone during their respective seasons. What’s more, all Notre Dame women’s teams are sporting special 35th anniversary logo patches on their uniforms for the ’06-07 campaign.

Notre Dame Ranked 11th In Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll
According to a preseason survey of the BIG EAST Conference coaches, Notre Dame is expected to finish 11th in the conference this season. Those were the results released at the league’s annual Media Day Oct. 26 at the ESPN Zone in New York’s Times Square. The Irish earned 108 points, while reigning BIG EAST Championship victor, Connecticut (221 points, 11 first-place votes) was tabbed first, just ahead of regular-season champion Rutgers (215 points, five first-place votes). The BIG EAST sent 11 of 16 teams to the postseason last year, including seven NCAA Tournament qualifiers (Notre Dame was one).

The Irish are beginning their 12th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference in 2006-07. The Irish have gone 145-39 (.788) all-time in regular-season conference games, posting the best winning percentage in league history. Connecticut is second with a .783 success rate. Notre Dame also has finished among the top three in the final BIG EAST regular-season standings nine times in its first 11 seasons in the conference, including a share of the BIG EAST title in 2000-01.

Half And Half
During the past seven seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Irish are 112-10 (.918) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 40 of their last 44 such contests. Three times this year, Notre Dame has led at the break, going on to win each time (Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Richmond).

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 12 seasons, Notre Dame has discovered that a solid defensive effort can almost certainly guarantee a victory. In fact, since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference), the Irish have an amazing 159-9 (.946) record when they hold their opponents to less than 60 points in a game.

…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 12 seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 95-3 (.969) when they score at least 80 points in a game. The only blemishes on that record are a pair of overtime losses to Texas A&M (88-84) and Michigan State (87-83) in 1995 and a 106-81 loss to Connecticut in 1998. Notre Dame has topped the 80-point mark four times this season, winning on each occasion (Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Western Michigan and Richmond).

Now That’s A Home Court Advantage
One of the hallmarks of Notre Dame’s success has been its stellar play at home. In fact, the Irish have been virtually untouchable at home in recent years, winning 139 of their last 155 games (.897) at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 80-12 (.870) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the Joyce Center, sporting a 31-game league winning streak at home before it ended with a 48-45 loss to Villanova in the ’02 home finale.

The Irish have been particularly strong when it comes to non-conference games at home, winning 61 of their last 65 non-BIG EAST contests (.938) at the Joyce Center, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Three of the losses in that span came at the hands of Big Ten Conference opponents – Wisconsin in 1996 (81-69), Purdue in 2003 (71-54) and Michigan State in 2004 (82-73 OT), with the fourth defeat coming to Tennessee last year (62-51). The Purdue loss also snapped a 33-game non-conference home winning streak which began after the UW setback.

Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the Joyce Center, posting a 289-77 (.790) record at the venerable facility. Three times (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Irish went a perfect 15-0 at home, setting a school record for home wins in a season. The 2006-07 campaign will tie for the most regular-season home games (16) in school history, although in 2004-05, the Irish played host to all four rounds of the Preseason WNIT before its regular 12-game home slate began.

Jammin’ The Joyce
Beginning with its national championship season of 2000-01, Notre Dame has ranked among the top 20 in the nation in attendance each of the past six years, including a No. 11 rating in 2005-06 (6,601 fans per game). This season, the Irish are averaging 6,056 fans in their first four home contests.

What’s more, each of the top 20 women’s basketball crowds in Joyce Center history have occurred during the 20-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-present), with 19 of those 20 occurring in the past seven seasons (2000-01 to present). Lastly, the Irish have attracted at least 5,000 fans to 82 of their last 84 home games, including 14 contests with at least 8,000 fans and the first three sellouts in the program’s history (two in 2000-01, one in 2005-06).

Oh Captain, My Captain
Senior guard Breona Gray and junior guard Tulyah Gaines will serve as team captains for the 2006-07 season. Both players are serving as captains for the first time in their respective careers, and each received the captain’s honor following a vote of their teammates prior to the season.

States of Grace
Notre Dame is one of 12 schools in the country to have more than one player on its roster who was named a high school Player of the Year in their home state. Irish junior guard Tulyah Gaines was tapped as the 2004 Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year, while sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader was chosen as the 2005 Illinois Miss Basketball and Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.

Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame will have 10 of its regular-season games televised during the 2006-07 season. Highlighting this year’s television docket are five nationally-televised Irish women’s basketball contests, including a pair of games on the ESPN family of networks a week apart in early February.

This year’s TV slate continues a recent trend that has seen the Irish become a regular fixture on television. Beginning with the NCAA championship season of 2000-01 and continuing through this year, Notre Dame has played in 72 televised games, including 46 that were broadcast nationally.

Notre Dame made its 2006-07 television debut Nov. 16 when its road opener at Penn State aired live on College Sports Television (CSTV). That was the first of three Irish women’s basketball broadcasts for the national cable network, with the second coming Jan. 23 at Marquette (7 p.m. CT tip) and the third coming in the regular-season finale on Feb. 26 at DePaul (8 p.m. CT). The latter two contests are part of the BIG EAST-CSTV Game of the Week package, now in its second season. Counting the Penn State contest, CSTV now has aired 12 Notre Dame women’s basketball games during the past five seasons, with the first being that network’s inaugural broadcast of any sport (a Feb. 2003 game at Connecticut).

The Irish also are scheduled to make two appearances on the ESPN family of networks, beginning with a Feb. 4 home game against West Virginia that will be broadcast live on ESPNU and will start at 5:30 p.m. (ET). The following Sunday (Feb. 11), Notre Dame will play host to DePaul for a 5:30 p.m. (ET) game that will air on ESPN2 as part of that network’s “February Frenzy” split-national coverage designed to preview a similar coverage pattern for the NCAA Tournament. During the past six seasons, Notre Dame has appeared on the ESPN family of networks 28 times, averaging nearly five telecasts per year on “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”.

In addition, Notre Dame will play in five regionally-televised games this season. The first of those will come Dec. 6, when the Irish welcome Purdue to the Joyce Center for a 7 p.m. (ET) game that will air live on Comcast Local (based in Detroit). On Dec. 30, Notre Dame will venture to Tennessee for a 2 p.m. (ET) contest at Thompson-Boling Arena that can be seen live on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast. And, on Jan. 27, the Irish will visit Connecticut for a 7 p.m. (ET) matchup that will be carried live on Connecticut Public Television (CPTV).

Notre Dame will appear twice on the BIG EAST-Regional Sports Network (RSN) package this season with contests at South Florida (Jan. 13, noon ET) and home against Rutgers (Feb. 24, noon ET). SportsNet New York will serve as the flagship for the BIG EAST package, with additional clearances to be announced at a later date.

Notre Dame On The Airwaves
For the 11th consecutive season, every Irish women’s basketball game (home and away) will air on commercial radio in South Bend, and for the seventh year in a row, Notre Dame can be heard on the flagship station of the Artistic Media Partners (AMP) Network – WDND-AM (ESPN Radio 1490) in South Bend. Veteran broadcaster and AMP sports director Sean Stires is now in his seventh season handling the play-by-play for Notre Dame. The Irish also can be heard free of charge on the Internet at Notre Dame’s official athletics web site (www.und.com).

Irish To Debut Free Video Coverage
In the latest instance of the wide-ranging media avenues afforded the Notre Dame women’s basketball program, the Irish will have several of their 2006-07 home games televised free of charge through the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com). Thanks to the considerable efforts of CSTV Online (based in Carlsbad, Calif.) and its new Fighting Irish All-Access package, fans of Notre Dame women’s basketball can watch every minute of exciting action at the Joyce Center live from the comfort of their own homes. The video will be supplemented by an audio simulcast of the Notre Dame radio broadcast, led by veteran sportscaster Sean Stires.

This new free service is limited to those home games which have not already been selected for television coverage by other media outlets. The Irish will make their und.com debut on Dec. 3 when they play host to Indiana at 2 p.m. (ET). The remainder of this year’s Internet video broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date.

Hey, Just Text Me The Score
For those Notre Dame women’s basketball fans who cannot see the Irish in person, or catch the broadcasts on the Internet, there’s still a way to keep up to date with the team’s activities this season. The 2006-07 campaign marks the debut of Irish ALERT, a free text-messaging system that provides subscribers with regular updates sent directly to their cell phone, wireless PDA or pager.

Signing up is easy – just click on the Irish ALERT link located in the right sidebar on the women’s basketball page of the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com). Then go through the simple two-step process and choose the sports team categories that interest you. You will get game updates, scores, schedule updates and web site alerts sent instantly to your wireless device.

Please note: Irish ALERT is a free communication service offered by the University of Notre Dame Department of Athletics. It is SPAM free – your personal information will be kept private and it will never be shared or sold. Check your wireless provider for any additional fees that might be charged for receiving text messages.

Get It On The Notre Dame Sports Hotline
The Notre Dame Sports Hotline remains another reliable means to get information on the Irish women’s basketball team this season. Just dial (574) 631-3000, then select option #3 and sub-option #2 to get complete game recaps and other information updates. The other sport options on the Hotline are rotated regularly, so be sure to listen to the introductory message for any late-breaking changes.

Joyce Center Arena Renovation On Tap
On Oct. 5, Notre Dame announced plans for a nearly $25 million renovation of the Joyce Center arena, including new chairback seating, a four-sided digital video scoreboard, and a club/hospitality area (as part of a new two-story addition to be built on the south side of the facility).

The $24.7 million renovation project has been underwritten with a $12.5 million leadership gift from Philip J. Purcell III, a Notre Dame alumnus and Trustee, and the retired chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley. Upon completion, the arena will be known as Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. The Purcell gift, combined with other benefactions, including a $5 million gift from 1959 Notre Dame graduate and Tampa Bay Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli, brings the total contributions to the project to $22 million.

In accordance with University policies for new construction, work on the renovation will begin after the project is fully funded and designed. The University is actively seeking additional contributions.

Women’s Basketball History On Display
In conjunction with the program’s 30th anniversary season, a photo display of great moments and players in Notre Dame women’s basketball history has been unveiled on the lower (inner) concourse of the Joyce Center, adjacent to the Gate 1 ramp leading to the arena floor. The arrangement was made possible thanks to the considerable efforts of the staff at Lighthouse Imaging of Mishawaka, Ind., led by proprietors Mike and Sue Bennett.

Promotional Corner
Here’s a rundown of some upcoming promotions and giveaways at future Notre Dame women’s basketball games this season. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Irish athletics ticket office (second floor of the Joyce Center through Gate 1; 574-631-7356), on game day at the Gate 10 ticket windows of the Joyce Center, or via the Internet at Notre Dame’s official athletics web site (www.und.com). Please note – additional promotions and giveaways may be added at a later date, so consult the Notre Dame promotions web site (www.notredamepromotions.com) for the latest information:

• Dec. 3 vs. Indiana – Hoosier State Game of the Year (only 1,500 tickets remain!) … Clancy’s Kids Club Day (free admission to club members and three guests) … Notre Dame blinking shamrocks and pom-poms to first 5,000 fans, courtesy of CW 25 Michiana … post-game autograph session on upper concourse (Heritage Hall) with entire Irish team.
• Dec. 6 vs. Purdue – Country Basketball … halftime performance by Cook & Bell … Family Night (four tickets/hot dogs/sodas for $25) … Notre Dame women’s basketball green rally towels to first 3,000 fans, courtesy of Quality Dining … post-game autograph session courtside with selected Irish players.

Next Game: Indiana
Notre Dame opens a three-game homestand Sunday at 2 p.m. (ET) when it plays host to Indiana at the Joyce Center. The Hoosiers will be making their first visit to South Bend in nearly a decade, with the Irish holding a 6-3 series edge on IU (3-2 at home). The contest is approaching sellout status, with only around 1,500 tickets remaining.

Under first-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, the Hoosiers are off to a 5-1 start, including a win at No. 15/16 Kentucky in the championship game of the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic last month. Indiana was scheduled to welcome Evansville to town Thursday night before turning its attention to Notre Dame.