Irish Poised To Face No. 10/9 Purdue Wednesday Night

Complete Notes (PDF)

Dec. 5, 2006

Storylines

• Notre Dame faces its first Top 25 opponent of the season, although the Irish already have played four teams that were receiving votes in both major national polls at tipoff.
• The Irish are closing on three program milestones – two wins from 600 overall, one win from 550 at the Division I level and two games from 800 as a Division I member.

Irish Poised To Face No. 10/9 Purdue Wednesday Night
Having experienced both the yin and yang of college basketball in less than 48 hours last weekend, Notre Dame will find out what the next curve in the 2006-07 schedule holds when the Irish welcome No. 10/9 Purdue to the Joyce Center Wednesday for a 7 p.m. (ET) regionally-televised contest. Following a dramatic comeback win at Michigan last Friday, the Irish (5-3) landed on the other side of the emotional spectrum Sunday with a 54-51 loss at home to Indiana. Notre Dame did just about everything it wanted against the Hoosiers from a defensive standpoint, but couldn’t seem to locate its shooting stroke, finishing the day with a .345 field goal percentage. Junior guard Charel Allen led the Irish with 17 points and a career-high-tying nine rebounds. Junior center Melissa D’Amico added her second career double-double with 15 points (on 6-of-11 shooting) and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is not ranked.
• Purdue is 10th in the Associated Press poll and ninth in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

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 598-269 (.690).

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 70.8 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.

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 23.0 turnovers per game (including a BIG EAST-best 12.6 steals per night). However, the flip side has seen the Irish allow opponents to shoot .419 from the floor (.402 from the three-point line) and claim an 0.4 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 15.9 ppg., while scoring in double figures in all eight 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 5.1 rebounds per game and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 18.0 ppg. and 6.0 rpg. last week.

Allen’s classmate and backcourt running partner, Tulyah Gaines, is an 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 9.8 points and 3.5 assists per game with a .472 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 last month, 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 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game with a .526 field goal percentage (12th in the BIG EAST), and has scored in double figures four times this season, with her second career double-double vs. Indiana (15 points, 10 rebounds).

The most pleasing contributions of the year for Notre Dame to this point have come from its freshmen, three of whom have seen significant playing time. Guard Ashley Barlow is second on the team in scoring (10.4 ppg.) and tops in steals (2.5 spg., sixth in BIG EAST), and came up with a 19-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Bowling Green, including 11-of-12 free throws and the two clinchers with 3.8 ticks left in OT. Center Erica Williamson (6.4 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 1.4 bpg., .559 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 (5.4 ppg., 2.4 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 252 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 currently is ranked eighth nationally in attendance (6,743 fans per game). Last season marked the sixth consecutive campaign the Irish were among the national top 20 in attendance (No. 11 ranking). Notre Dame also has attracted 5,000-or-more fans to 83 of its last 85 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 Purdue
For the second time in three seasons, the Preseason WNIT championship trophy resides in the Hoosier State, as Purdue claimed the hardware this year to follow up Notre Dame’s four-game run to the title in 2004.

The WNIT crown has been the cornerstone of the Boilermakers’ 7-1 start this season, a debut made even more impressive in light of the off-season coaching change that brought Sharon Versyp up Interstate 65 from Big Ten Conference rival Indiana. On its charge to the WNIT title, Purdue defeated North Carolina State and 2005 NCAA champion Baylor (the latter on the road), and even found time to mix in a victory over Washington between the aforementioned semifinal and final.

The Boilermakers last played on Saturday, taking a 69-44 decision over Gonzaga in West Lafayette. Junior forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while senior forward Erin Lawless collected 12 points and seven boards, as Purdue bounced back from its first loss of the season at Connecticut (66-55 on Nov. 30).

Senior guard/forward Katie Gearlds (16.5 ppg.) paces a quartet of Boilermakers scoring in double figures, while Wisdom-Hylton is averaging nearly a double-double this season (14.6 ppg., 9.3 rpg., 3.4 bpg.). As a team, Purdue is allowing just 52.8 ppg. with a .321 defensive field goal percentage.

Although in her first year at Purdue, Versyp has a solid resume that includes five seasons at Maine and a year at Indiana. Her career record is 124-66 (.653), although she is 0-1 all-time against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Purdue Series
Notre Dame and Purdue have played one another 19 times, including almost annually for the past 15 seasons (exception: 1998-99). The Boilermakers lead the overall series, 14-5, but by only a 4-3 margin in South Bend (with three of the seven games, and two Irish losses, decided by six points or less.

The past two matchups at the Joyce Center have seen the teams trade 17-point decisions. Purdue earned a 71-54 win on Jan. 4, 2003, while Notre Dame came back with an 86-69 victory on Jan. 16, 2005.

The consistent nature of the rivalry is reflected in its playing date – including Wednesday’s game, 14 of the 20 meetings have been played in a 15-day window from Nov. 26-Dec. 10. This year’s game is the second to take place on Dec. 6 – back in 2001, Purdue took a 70-57 victory in West Lafayette.