Nov. 25, 2002
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(#9 AP/#12 ESPN/USA Today) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0-0) vs. Cleveland State Vikings (0-1)
The Date and Time:Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002, at 7 p.m. EST.
The Site: Joyce Center (11,418) in Notre Dame, Ind.
The Radio Plans: All Notre Dame games are broadcast live on WDND-AM (ESPN Radio 1620) and WNDV-AM (1490) in South Bend with Sean Stires (play-by-play) and Sean Lewallen (analysis). These broadcasts also are available through the Notre Dame athletics website at www.und.com.
Real-Time Statistics: Live in-game statistics are available for the Cleveland State game via the Notre Dame (www.und.com) and Cleveland State (www.csuvikings.com) athletics websites.
Websites:Cleveland State (www.csuvikings.com).
IRISH TO OPEN 2002-03 SEASON TUESDAY NIGHT AGAINST CLEVELAND STATE
For the first time in more than eight months, Notre Dame will play a meaningful game Tuesday night when it welcomes Cleveland State to the Joyce Center for the 2002-03 season opener. The Irish are the final BIG EAST Conference team to tip off their regular season schedule, with most other league schools already having a couple of games under their belts.
Notre Dame won both of its exhibition games this season, including a 70-60 victory over the Ohio Girls Basketball Magazine (OGBM) Legends in their last outing on Nov. 19. The Irish raced out to a 23-9 lead and held a comfortable 18-point advantage early in the second half before the Legends rallied to within seven points midway through the period. However, Notre Dame held strong and fought off the sturdy challenge posed by OGBM, a team which included three WNBA players.
Sophomore center Teresa Borton turned in her second solid performance of the preseason, logging a double-double with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast added 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and senior guard Alicia Ratay chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds to aid the Irish cause. Had it been a regular-season game, the three double-doubles would have been the first for Notre Dame since 1995.
Tuesday’s opponent, Cleveland State, is a familiar one to longtime Irish fans. The Vikings were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference back in 1994-95, the same year Notre Dame was winning its fourth (and final) MCC championship. The next season, the Irish left the league to join the BIG EAST.
CSU is 0-1 this season after a 93-78 loss at Western Michigan Sunday afternoon. Ashley Schrock scored a career-high 23 points for the Vikings, who fell victim to a 19-3 second-half run by WMU. Cleveland State is coached by South Bend native Duffy Burns, who is 92-105 in eight seasons at the school.
SCOUTING THE IRISH
Notre Dame’s latest ascension to college basketball summit already is underway, thanks in large part to the nine returning monogram winners and three starters back from last season’s 20-10 club. Of the nine veterans back in the fold, only two are seniors, providing head coach Muffet McGraw with a rich blend of stability and experience upon which to build her next title contender.
McGraw now is in her 16th season at Notre Dame with a 342-127 (.729) record that includes 13 20-win seasons, nine postseason appearances, seven NCAA Tournament bids, four trips to the Sweet Sixteen, two Final Four berths and the 2001 national championship. Along the way, she has groomed seven All-Americans, 17 all-conference selections (including 10 first-team picks), seven players who have gone on to play professional basketball in the United States, and three USA Basketball National Team players (who have won a total of six medals). In addition, she has developed a knack for training outstanding coaches, with 15 of her former players and/or assistants currently coaching at the high school or college level, including five collegiate head coaches. She also has been a master recruiter, attracting seven consecutive top 20 classes, including this year’s freshman class, which was ranked eighth in the nation by Blue Star Basketball.
Two of Notre Dame’s three returning starters already have received numerous preseason accolades. Senior guard Alicia Ratay (15.4 ppg., 5.5 rpg. in 2001-02) is a two-time Associated Press All-American and she is a preseason first-team all-BIG EAST Conference selection this year. The Lake Zurich, Ill., native has seen her name sprinkled liberally througout the Notre Dame record book, including marks for scoring (9th, 1,375 points), three-point field goal percentage (1st, .480) and free throw percentage (1st, .867). In the latter two categories, Ratay’s shooting numbers are good enough to place her among the top 10 in NCAA history.
In addition, Ratay joined sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast (13.8 ppg., 7.8 rpg., 11 double-doubles) on the list of 30 candidates for the 2002-03 Naismith Award, given annually to the nation’s outstanding player. Batteast is the reigning United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year and was a unanimous choice as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year after turning in one of the finest rookie seasons in school history. Like Ratay, she also was a preseason first-team all-conference choice this year.
Joining Ratay in the Irish backcourt is junior guard Le’Tania Severe (6.6 ppg., 4.9 apg.), who quickly is developing into one of the top point guards in the BIG EAST. Last season, Severe capably filled the large shoes left by the graduation of All-American Niele Ivey, setting career highs in virtually every statistical category. Severe will be backstopped by freshman Megan Duffy, a crafty lefthander with a commanding floor presence and a smooth outside jumper. Duffy averaged 14 points and 5.8 assists per game last year as a senior at Dayton’s Chaminade-Julienne High School before tearing the ACL in her right knee midway through the campaign.
At the other guard position, sophomore Kelsey Wicks (4.7 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) offers a unique mix of outside shooting ability and toughness in the paint. The 6-2 native of Gillette, Wyo., connected at a 33-percent clip from the three-point line as a freshman, and she showed no fear in playing some of the nation’s elite teams, scoring in double figures on the road at Connecticut and Tennessee. She could be called upon to provide instant scoring punch off the bench as a top reserve for McGraw this season.
Senior walk-on Karen Swanson (1.0 ppg., 0.5 rpg.), junior Jeneka Joyce (3.4 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) and sophomore Jill Krause (0.4 ppg., 0.3 rpg.) also will be counted on for support at the guard positions.
Sophomore center Teresa Borton (6.0 ppg., 4.8 rpg.) and sophomore forward Katy Flecky (4.9 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) will team up with Batteast to produce a formidable front line for Notre Dame this season. The 6-3 Borton started the first six games of her college career last season and finished with two double-doubles and a team-best .497 field goal percentage. She already has shown flashes of additional growth during the ’02-03 exhibition season, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in two Irish wins. Meanwhile, Flecky is widely considered to be the most improved player on the Notre Dame roster, after logging 10 points per game during her team’s tour of Europe last May. She started eight games last season, including the final seven in place of an injured Batteast, earning BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honors after a career-high 14-point effort at Georgetown.
Freshman forward Courtney LaVere also will see significant playing time on the blocks for the Irish this season. LaVere was a consensus prep All-American as a senior at Buena High School in Ventura, Calif., averaging 26.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game, all while shooting 57 percent from the field. The potential that the 6-3 LaVere brings to the table already has been noticed by at least one national media outlet. The website Women’s College Hoops.com has chosen the Irish rookie as one of its “Top 21 Freshmen of Impact” for the 2002-03 season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. CLEVELAND STATE
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Cleveland State, 4-0, including a 2-0 mark in games played at the Joyce Center. The Irish and Vikings played for the first time in Jan. 20, 1987, with Notre Dame registering an 85-68 victory at home behind 22 points from Heidi Bunek and a double-double (15 points, 15 rebounds) from Sandy Botham. The Irish returned to CSU the following season, notching an 87-69 win over the Vikings in Muffet McGraw’s first season at Notre Dame.
The Irish and Vikings wouldn’t meet again until the 1994-95 season, when Cleveland State joined the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Notre Dame was in its final season with that league and defeated CSU twice en route to its fourth MCC regular-season title. In the first contest (a 90-66 win at the Joyce Center), All-American forward Katryna Gaither erupted for 34 points and 12 rebounds, hitting 16-of-20 shots in the game. A month later, the Irish traveled to Cleveland without injured All-American guard Beth Morgan and narrowly pulled out an 83-79 overtime win. Gaither once again was the star for Notre Dame, ringing up 31 points and 16 rebounds.
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
The Vikings opened the 2002-03 season Sunday afternoon with a 93-78 loss at Western Michigan. Junior forward Ashley Schrock scored a career-high 23 points and junior center Karen Woloszynek added 18 points for Cleveland State, which dropped to 1-7 in season openers under head coach Duffy Burns. CSU fought the Broncos evenly throughout the first half, trailing by just six (39-33) at the half, before WMU went on a 19-3 run midway through the second period to lock up the victory.
Cleveland State will be paced this season by senior guard Erika Roudebush, a first-team all-Horizon League selection last year after leading the conference in scoring (18.2 ppg.) and three-point field goals made (2.39 per game). Roudebush, a native of Noblesville, Ind., recently was named to the preseason all-Horizon League first team and she is considered one of the favorites for conference Player of the Year. She also is one of six Indiana natives on this season’s CSU roster, including sophomore forward Jill Barnbrook, a native of South Bend and graduate of Adams High School.
Not all of the Vikings’ Indiana ties are limited to the players. Burns is a South Bend native himself and a graduate of nearby St. Joseph’s High School. He now is in his eighth season as the Cleveland State head coach, compiling a 92-105 (.467) record with the Vikings. He assumed the top post following one season as a CSU assistant coach in 1994-95. His only other experience as a women’s basketball coach came during his four-year stint (1990-94) as an assistant at Central Connecticut. Prior to that, he had worked only with men’s teams, serving as an assistant at Ball State, Illinois State, Pittsburgh, Massachusetts and Central Connecticut.
NOTRE DAME VERSUS THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Irish boast a sterling 79-14 (.849) all-time record against the current members of the Horizon League (formerly the Midwestern Collegiate Conference), including a 40-5 (.889) mark at home. Notre Dame has a winning record against all nine Horizon League teams, posting undefeated records against Cleveland State (4-0), Wright State (2-0), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1-0) and Youngstown State (1-0).
Many of these games were played while Notre Dame was a member of the conference from 1988-95. In fact, the Irish have played just one Horizon League school since leaving to join the BIG EAST Conference in 1995, defeating Butler three times from 1997-99.
IRISH INJURY REPORT (as of Nov. 25)
Junior G Jeneka Joyce – leg injuries, out indefinitely
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Notre Dame will try to continue its recent success in season openers Tuesday against Cleveland State. The Irish have won their last six season lidlifters and 12 of 15 openers under head coach Muffet McGraw. Notre Dame is 17-8 (.680) all-time in season openers and has not lost the first game of the season since its final season in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, when the Irish dropped a 65-60 overtime loss to future BIG EAST Conference sister (and 25th-ranked) Seton Hall on Nov. 26, 1994.
A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
Notre Dame has been extremely successful in the month of November over the last seven seasons. Since the start of the 1995-96 campaign, the Irish are 25-5 (.833) in November games, including a an 11-0 mark at the Joyce Center. The last time Notre Dame lost a home game in November was Nov. 30, 1994, when No. 13 Purdue squeezed past the Irish, 87-83.
“T” FOR TWO
Sophomore center Teresa Borton was a dominant force on the blocks during the exhibition season, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game with an .800 field goal percentage (16-of-20) during Notre Dame’s two victories. In the exhibition opener against the Houston Jaguars, the Yakima, Wash., native did not miss a shot, going 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line in scoring a game-high 20 points. In fact, had it been a regular season game, Borton would have compiled the second-best shooting performance by an Irish player in Joyce Center history, topped only by Sandy Botham’s 9-for-9 outing against Evansville on Feb. 28, 1986.
As if that weren’t enough, Borton posted a double-double in Notre Dame’s win over the OGBM Legends, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, along with 10 rebounds.
BITS OF BATTEAST
While she didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the preseason, sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast proved she is valuable to the Irish in many different ways. The South Bend product averaged 14 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and four steals per game during Notre Dame’s two exhibition wins, posting double-doubles in both contests. She opened with a well-rounded performance against the Houston Jaguars, finishing with 11 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocks. Just over two weeks later against the OGBM Legends, Batteast contributed 17 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in a near wire-to-wire Irish victory.
THE DOUBLEMINT TRIPLETS
Notre Dame pull off a rare feat in its exhibition victory over the OGBM Legends on Nov. 19. Three Irish players posted double-doubles in the game, as sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast (17 points, 12 rebounds), sophomore center Teresa Borton (21 points, 10 rebounds) and senior guard Alicia Ratay (13 points, 10 rebounds) all achieved the statistical milestone. The last time Notre Dame had three players record double-doubles in a regular-season game was Dec. 21, 1995, when Beth Morgan (28 points, 11 rebounds), Katryna Gaither (27 points, 14 rebounds) and Carey Poor (10 points, 10 rebounds) turned the trick in an overtime loss at Michigan State.
MILESTONE WATCH
Senior guard Alicia Ratay is on the threshold of several career milestones in 2002-03. The Lake Zurich, Ill., native is only two assists away from becoming just the fifth player in school history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists in her career. She would be the second Irish player in three seasons to turn that trick, following Kelley Siemon, who completed the hat trick when she scored her 1,000th point in Notre Dame’s NCAA championship game win over Purdue in 2001. The others in this elite group are Beth Morgan (1993-97), Trena Keys (1982-86) and current Irish assistant coach Letitia Bowen (1991-95).
Ratay also is 38 three-point field goals away from breaking the Notre Dame career record of 249, currently held by Sheila McMillen (1995-99). Ratay has averaged more than 70 treys per season during her first three years at Notre Dame.
Two other milestones also are within Ratay’s reach. She ranks ninth on the Irish all-time scoring list with 1,375 points, but she needs only 215 counters to move into the top five on that chart, passing Keys (1,589 from 1982-86). In addition, Ratay has been one of the most durable players in school history, appearing in all 98 Irish games in her career and starting all but one (2001 Senior Night vs. Georgetown). She can break the Notre Dame career records for starts and games played with 28 starts and 35 games played this season.
Ratay already holds the Irish career marks for free throw (.867) and three-point field goal (.480) percentages, records which currently rank among the top 10 in NCAA history. For a complete rundown of Ratay’s place in the Notre Dame record books, please see the charts on page 9 of these notes.
POLL POSITION
Notre Dame is ranked ninth in the latest Associated Press poll, the highest ranking for the Irish in the media poll since they were second in the final 2000-01 AP rankings (which were taken before the NCAA Tournament). The current No. 9 ranking represents the 43rd week in which Notre Dame has been ranked in the Top 10 (two weeks in 1996-97, 16 in 1998-99, 15 in 1999-2000, 18 in 2000-01 and two in 2002-03).
Notre Dame was ranked 10th in the preseason AP poll, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the Irish were tapped in the initial AP survey of the year. It also marked the third time in the last four years that Notre Dame was ranked in the top 10 of the preseason AP poll < the=”” irish=”” were=”” seventh=”” in=”” the=”” first=”” 1999-2000=”” poll,=”” and=”” placed=”” sixth=”” in=”” the=”” 2000-01=”” preseason=””>
The Irish are ranked 12th in the most recent ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, marking their highest ascension in that poll since they claimed the top spot after their run to the national championship in 2001. Notre Dame also checked at No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll, marking the third time in four seasons that the Irish appeared in the top 12 of that survey < they=”” were=”” ninth=”” in=”” 1999-2000=”” and=”” fifth=”” to=”” open=”” the=”” 2000-01=””>
Notre Dame is slated to face five teams that are currently ranked in both major polls (No. 2/2 Tennessee, No. 5/5 Connecticut, No. 7/7 Purdue, No. 19/20 Boston College and No. 24/24 Colorado State). In addition, seven other Notre Dame opponents presently are receiving votes in one or both of the major polls < arizona=”” state,=”” depaul,=”” pittsburgh,=”” temple,=”” usc,=”” villanova=”” and=”” virginia=”” tech.=””>
NOTRE DAME ALSO RANKED NATIONALLY IN SEVERAL PRESEASON PUBLICATIONS
The general consensus in most basketball circles is that Notre Dame will be a major player on the national scene in 2002-03. Seven different media outlets released their preseason rankings and the Irish have placed no lower than 16th in any of these polls. Four of those publications ranked Notre Dame in the top 10 in the country to begin this season < street=”” &=”” smith’s=”” (4th),=”” athlon=”” sports=”” (5th),=”” women’s=”” college=”” hoops.com=”” (6th)=”” and=”” women’s=”” basketball=”” magazine=”” (7th).=”” the=”” other=”” preseason=”” rankings=”” came=”” from=”” the=”” women’s=”” basketball=”” news=”” service=”” (11th),=”” lindy’s=”” annual=”” (12th),=”” and=”” all-star=”” girls=”” report=”” (16th).=””>
RATAY, BATTEAST NAMED TO 2002-03 NAISMITH PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Senior guard Alicia Ratay (Lake Zurich, Ill.) and sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind.) have been named preseason candidates for the 2002-03 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Awards which are presented annually by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
The Naismith Awards program, now in its 35th year, honors the outstanding male and female college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball. The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts.
For Ratay, this year’s selection to the Naismith Preseason Watch List is her third in as many seasons. The senior guard is a two-time Associated Press honorable mention All-American and ranks ninth on Notre Dame’s career scoring list with 1,375 points. She also ranks among the top 10 in NCAA history in career three-point (.480) and free throw percentage (.867), and she is on the verge of breaking the school record for career three-point field goals made, needing just 38 treys to eclipse Sheila McMillen’s total of 249 from 1995-99.
Last season, Ratay was a first-team all-BIG EAST Conference selection after finishing third in the conference in scoring at 15.4 points per game. She also averaged a career-high 5.5 rebounds per game and ranked 15th in the nation in free throw percentage, hitting a school-record 88.2 percent of her charities. Ratay started every game for the Irish last season and has played in every Notre Dame game in her career, starting 97 of a possible 98 contests.
Batteast was named the 2002 United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year and a WBCA/Kodak honorable mention All-America pick after averaging 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in her rookie season at Notre Dame. The sophomore forward ranked second in the BIG EAST in rebounding and double-doubles (11) and fifth in blocked shots (1.38 bpg.), earning second-team all-conference honors along the way. She also was a unanimous choice as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and was a six-time conference Rookie of the Week in 2001-02. Batteast is one of only four sophomores to be named to the 2002-03 Naismith Preseason Watch List.
Notre Dame is one of only five schools to have more than one women’s basketball player named to the Naismith Preseason Watch List, joining Duke, Kansas State, LSU and Tennessee in that select group.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE …
Over the last six 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 102-2 (.981) record when they hold their opponents to less than 60 points in a game. The only times that notion didn?t come to pass were on Feb. 17, 2001 (Rutgers 54-53), and Feb. 26, 2002 (Villanova 48-45).
… 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. Over the last six seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 81-3 (.964) 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.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Notre Dame has two captains this season < senior=”” guard=””>Alicia Ratay (Lake Zurich, Ill.) and junior guard Le’Tania Severe (Pembroke Pines, Fla.).They are the 34th and 35th different players to serve as captains for the Irish in the 26-year history of the program (not including the 1986-87 season, when captains were chosen on a game-by-game basis).
IRISH HAIL FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA
The 11 players on this year?s Notre Dame roster hail from nine different states, including two each from Illinois and Ohio. Other states represented on the Irish roster include California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Washington and Wyoming. The all-time Notre Dame roster features players from 34 different states, including 23 during the Muffet McGraw era. Ironically, the most common home state on the Irish all-time roster < michigan=”” (14)=””>< is=”” not=”” represented=”” for=”” the=”” second=”” year=”” in=”” a=”” row,=”” although=”” assistant=”” coaches=”” (and=”” former=”” notre=”” dame=”” players)=””>Coquese Washington and Letitia Bowen both are Michigan natives.
Sophomore center Teresa Borton turned in her second solid performance of the preseason, logging a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds against OGBM.
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FUN WITH NUMBERS
This season, Notre Dame fans are seeing a pair of jersey numbers on the floor that are a bit uncommon in Irish colors. Freshman guard Megan Duffy has chosen to wear No. 13, becoming only the second Notre Dame player since 1986 to wear those digits. Danielle Green was the last to sport No. 13, doing so during her freshman season (1995-96). Prior to Green, no Irish player had worn that number since Trena Keys (1982-86).
In addition, freshman forward Courtney LaVere is wearing No. 41 this season, a number which has been modeled just once before by an Irish player. Imani Dunbar had that jersey number throughout her Notre Dame career from 1997-2001.
NOTRE DAME AMONG RECENT WINS LEADERS
Notre Dame has won 160 games over the last six seasons, which stands as the fifth-most wins of any school in the country during that time.
NOTRE DAME PICKED FOR SHARE OF BIG EAST TITLE IN PRESEASON POLL
For the first time in its eight-year affiliation with the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame was picked to finish first in the preseason coaches’ poll that was released Oct. 24 at BIG EAST Media Day. The Irish shared top billing with defending national champion Connecticut, with each team earning seven first-place votes and 161 total points in the balloting. Boston College (143 points), Villanova (128 points) and Virginia Tech (110 points) round out the top five.
Individually, Notre Dame was the only school to place two players on the preseason all-BIG EAST first team. Senior guard Alicia Ratay earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America honors for the second time in her career last season, and was a first-team all-conference selection. She is the top returning scorer for the Irish, averaging 15.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in ’01-02. She also led the BIG EAST and ranked 15th in the nation in free throw percentage, hitting a school-record .882 from the charity stripe. Ratay also has been named one of 30 preseason candidates for the Naismith Player of the Year award, her third selection in as many seasons.
Sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast also was recognized by the conference coaches after being named the 2002 United States Basketball Writers Association National Freshman of the Year. The South Bend native averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season, and was a unanimous selection as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. She also registered 11 double-doubles (second in the conference) and was a second-team all-league selection, the only freshman to make an all-BIG EAST squad in ’01-02. In addition, Batteast was a WBCA/Kodak honorable mention All-America selection last year and like Ratay, she has been chosen as one of 30 preseason candidates for the Naismith Player of the Year award.
RATAY NAMED CANDIDATE FOR SENIOR C.L.A.S.S. AWARD
Senior guard Alicia Ratay has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the second annual Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the nation?s senior Player of the Year by the Senior CLASS Organizing Committee. Ratay is one of three BIG EAST Conference student-athletes on the list of Senior CLASS Award ?Players to Watch,? joining Villanova?s Trish Juhline and Brianne Stepherson of Boston College. Connecticut guard Sue Bird received the inaugural award last year.
Ratay is a two-time Associated Press honorable mention All-American and was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection last season. She ranks ninth in school history with 1,375 points and is among the top perimeter shooters in the country, connecting at a school-record .480 clip from behind the three-point line in her career. She also has made a school-record 86.7 percent of her free throws at Notre Dame, and both her free throw and three-point percentages currently stand among the top 10 in NCAA history.
Ratay also is an exemplary student, owning a 3.46 cumulative grade-point average while pursuing a double major in psychology and education. She has been named to the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team each of the last three years, and she has garnered Dean?s List honors three times.
The Senior CLASS Award — the acronym stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School — is based on a number of factors, the most important being that the recipient must have exhausted their four years of eligibility and have fulfilled their commitment to their respective university. In addition, the recipient must be working toward their degree, be in good academic standing and be of sound moral character. The award was developed last season in response to the recent trend of college basketball players leaving early to turn professional.
The performances of the 30 ?Players to Watch? will be tracked during the season, and from that pool of players, a group of 10 finalists will be selected by a national committee of sportscasters and sportswriters that cover Division I college basketball. The finalists then will appear on the official ballot which will be voted upon in March by the national media committee and Division I college basketball coaches. The winner will be announced during the Women?s Final Four April 6-8 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
LaVERE NAMED ONE OF NATION’S “TOP 21 FRESHMEN OF IMPACT”
Courtney LaVere was a consensus All-America selection and one of the top 25 prep players in the country following her senior season at Buena High School in Ventura, Calif. One media outlet believes LaVere will continue that success in her initial campaign at Notre Dame. Women’s College Hoops.com has chosen the 6-3 freshman forward as one of the website’s “Top 21 Freshmen of Impact” for the 2002-03 season.
LaVere joins the Irish after averaging 26.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game during her senior season. She finished her high school career with 1,897 points (second in school history), 1,029 rebounds (third in school history) and 303 blocks (first in school history). She also holds school single-game records for points (45) and blocks (9), as well as BHS single-season marks for points (741), scoring average (26.5) and blocks (99).
LaVere was named the 1999 California Freshman of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports, and she helped lead Buena to the top spot in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings for much of the 2000-01 season.
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 76 of their last 79 games at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including a school-record 51-game winning streak (10th-longest in NCAA history) from 1998-2002. Notre Dame also has a 56-4 (.933) record in BIG EAST Conference play at the Joyce Center, sporting a 31-game winning streak at home before it was snapped with a 48-45 loss to Villanova in the 2002 home finale. Besides the Wildcats, only Connecticut (three times) has successfully conquered the Irish on their home floor.
Nevertheless, Notre Dame still owns a five-year, 29-game non-conference winning streak at the Joyce Center — a stretch that includes victories over a trio of sixth-ranked teams (UCLA and Duke in 1998-99 and Purdue in 2000-01), as well as 25th-ranked Illinois in ?98-99. Notre Dame?s last non-conference loss at home came back on Dec. 9, 1996, when 19th-ranked Wisconsin toppled the Irish, 81-69. Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the Joyce Center. The Irish own a 239-66 (.784) record at the venerable facility. In both the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, the Irish were a perfect 15-0 at home, setting a school record for home wins in a season. Also, since joining the BIG EAST in 1995-96, Notre Dame is 89-5 (.947) at the Joyce Center.
JAMMIN’ THE JOYCE
For the second consecutive season, Notre Dame finished among the top 10 in the nation in attendance for 2001-02. The Irish averaged a school-record 7,825 fans for their 14 home games last season, good for eighth in the final NCAA attendance rankings. Last season also saw Notre Dame register 13 of the top 20 crowds in school history, including a gathering of 9,676 fans, the third-largest in school annals, for the Feb. 10 win over No. 16 Boston College.
Furthermore, all of the top 20 crowds in the Irish record book have occurred during the 15-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-present). And, as more evidence of Notre Dame’s rapid elevation to “hot ticket” status in South Bend, 19 of the top 20 crowds in school history have been recorded in the last three seasons.
NOTRE DAME FACING ONE TOUGH SLATE
Historically, Notre Dame has always played a difficult schedule and 2002-03 is no exception. The Irish will play no less than 14 teams that qualified for postseason play last year, including nine NCAA Tournament teams (highlighted by defending national champion Connecticut and Final Four participant Tennessee). In addition, six opponents (Arizona State, Connecticut, Purdue, Temple, Tennessee and Valparaiso) won the regular-season or tournament title in their respective conference. Furthermore, 17 of the 24 Irish opponents finished with records of .500 or better last season, including 10 squads that posted 20-win campaigns.
With all of this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Notre Dame’s schedule has been ranked 26th in the nation in the preseason Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/Summerville RPI rankings. On its own, the Irish non-conference docket is ranked 16th in the country.
IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN
Notre Dame will get a good deal of face time in 2002-03, playing on television at least six times, including nationally-televised contests against Arizona State (Dec. 7 on Fox Sports Net), Purdue (Jan. 4 on CBS) and Connecticut (Jan. 20 on ESPN2). In addition, Notre Dame will appear three times as part of the BIG EAST regular-season television package, playing host to Miami (Jan. 11, noon ET) and traveling to Villanova (Jan. 25, noon ET) and Virginia Tech (Feb. 9, 2 p.m. ET). All three of those games will be telecast in South Bend on WHME-TV on a tape-delayed basis as part of the league?s TV deal. The BIG EAST tournament semifinals on March 10 also will be aired on the BIG EAST TV package, while the conference championship game on March 11 will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
NOTRE DAME ON THE AIRWAVES
Once again this season, every Irish women’s basketball game will air on WDND-AM (ESPN Radio 1620) and WNDV-AM (1490) in South Bend. Veteran broadcaster and WDND sports director Sean Stires is now in his third season handling the play-by-play for Notre Dame. The Irish also can be heard on the Internet at Notre Dame’s official athletics website (www.und.com) by subscribing to Fighting Irish Pass, which gives listeners full access to a wide variety of Irish events on radio for only $6.95 per month.
NOTRE DAME INKS PAIR OF TOP 20 PREP STANDOUTS IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
University of Notre Dame women?s basketball coach Muffet McGraw announced Nov. 14 that two of the nation?s top high school student-athletes have chosen to continue their careers with the Irish, signing national letters of intent to attend Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2003. Crystal Erwin, a 6-2 forward from St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., and Susie Powers, a 5-11 guard from Highlands Ranch High School in Denver, Colo., will join the Irish for the 2003-04 campaign.
Erwin has averaged 22.6 points and 14.5 rebounds per game during her three-year prep career at St. Paul. She holds the school records for career points (2,084) and rebounds (1,324), as well as single-season points (869) with one year still to play for the Swordsmen. Ranked as high as third in the nation by All-Star Girls Report, Erwin was named to the 2002-03 USA Today Preseason Super 25 Team, and she is a two-time Street & Smith’s All-America pick, earning third-team honors last season. She also has been named to all-star teams at the adidas Top Ten Camp each of the last two years and she was a member of the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival West Team this past summer. Erwin is the second California native in as many seasons to commit to the Irish, following current Notre Dame freshman Courtney LaVere.
Powers averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 assists per game last season for perennial national power Highlands Ranch High School, which won its third consecutive Colorado Class 5A title last season and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the campaign according to the USA Today Super 25 poll. Powers was ranked as high as 12th in the nation by the Greg Swaim Basketball Report, and she is a two-time Street & Smith’s honorable mention All-America selection. She also was Erwin’s teammate on the USA Basketball Youth Development Festival West Team in the summer of 2002. In addition to Erwin, Powers will have some familiarity with another Irish player — she played with sophomore forward Katy Flecky at Highlands Ranch in 2000, helping lead the Falcons to the first of their three straight state championships.
With the addition of Erwin and Powers, Notre Dame has its seventh consecutive top 20 recruiting class, according to Blue Star Basketball, which rated the newest Irish signees 16th in the nation.
McGRAW INDUCTED INTO SAINT JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
University of Notre Dame women?s basketball coach Muffet McGraw was one of seven people inducted into the Saint Joseph?s (Pa.) University Athletics Hall of Fame Nov. 16 in Philadelphia. McGraw was a standout point guard for Saint Joseph?s during its first four years of varsity competition, serving as team captain during her final two seasons (1975-76 and 1976-77). She helped lead the Hawks to an 18-3 record as a junior and a third-place finish in the AIAW Eastern Regional Tournament. A year later, she guided SJU to a 23-5 record, a sixth-place finish at the AIAW National Tournament, and a No. 3 national ranking in the Associated Press poll, the highest year-end poll finish in school history. She also set the Saint Joseph?s single-season record for steals with 102 during the 1976-77 campaign.
McGraw graduated from SJU in 1977 with a bachelor?s degree in sociology. She played one season for the California Dreams in the Women?s Professional Basketball League (WBL) before beginning her college coaching career as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1980-82. Following five successful seasons at Lehigh (1983-87), McGraw was named the head coach at Notre Dame, a position she has held ever since.
As she enters her 16th year with the Irish, McGraw has posted a stellar 342-127 (.729) record, guiding Notre Dame to 13 20-win seasons, nine postseason appearances, seven NCAA Tournament berths, four Sweet Sixteen visits, two Final Fours and the 2001 NCAA title. The 2001 Naismith and AP National Coach of the Year, McGraw also is a member of the SJU Women?s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame.
IRISH ASSISTANT COACH TO BE FEATURED ON WNBA.COM
When she’s not diligently working with the Notre Dame women?s basketball team, assistant coach Coquese Washington spends the offseason playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). A six-year veteran point guard, Washington guided the Indiana Fever to their first-ever playoff berth this past summer, following her midseason trade from the Houston Comets.
During the course of the 2002-03 college basketball season, WNBA.com will feature regular interviews and chat sessions with Washington. Readers will get an inside look at how she successfully handles the challenges of being a collegiate assistant, while also remaining prepared for the next professional basketball season.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR NOTRE DAME-TENNESSEE GAME AT CONSECO FIELDHOUSE
A potential matchup of Top 10 teams is on the horizon when Notre Dame and Tennessee tangle Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. (EST) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Tickets still remain for this battle of college basketball powers — $14 for lower level seats, and $10 for club level seats. Fans can also register to attend a post-game “Meet ‘N Greet” with Indiana Fever standouts Tamika Catchings (Tennessee ’01) and Niele Ivey (Notre Dame ’01), as well as purchase discounted tickets for the NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Hornets which will follow at 7 p.m. (EST).
For more information on this game, or to buy tickets, call the Conseco Fieldhouse Box Office at (317) 917-2500, or visit the Conseco Fieldhouse website at www.ConsecoFieldhouse.com.
IRISH ENJOY SUCCESSFUL SUMMER TRIP TO EUROPE
Last May, the Irish embarked on a 12-day tour of Italy and France, going 3-1 in a four-game series against Italian professional teams. Among the Notre Dame victories was an 82-76 conquest of 14-time Italian First Division champion Pool Comense 1872, which had won its latest league title only two weeks prior to playing the Irish.
Sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast and sophomore guard Kelsey Wicks shared team-high scoring honors on the tour, averaging 14.8 points per game during the series. Batteast, the reigning United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year, also registered two double-doubles and carded 11.3 rebounds per game while in Europe.
Sophomore center Teresa Borton collected team-high rebounding laurels, averaging 12.3 boards per contest. She also posted double-figure rebounding totals in three of the four games, finishing with nine caroms in her other outing. Like Batteast, she averaged a double-double on the tour, adding 10 points per night.
All told, five Irish players scored in double figures while in Europe < the=”” aforementioned=”” trio,=”” along=”” with=”” junior=”” guard=””>Le’Tania Severe (13.5 ppg.) and sophomore forward Katy Flecky (10.0 ppg.). As a team, Notre Dame averaged 79.5 points and 51.3 rebounds per game during the trip.
UP NEXT: USC
Following Tuesday’s season opener against Cleveland State, the Irish begin a four-game road trip Friday at 7 p.m. (PST) against USC at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The game is the first of two matchups between the two schools next weekend < the=”” seventh-ranked=”” irish=”” football=”” team=”” will=”” meet=”” the=”” sixth-ranked=”” trojans=”” saturday=”” at=”” 5=”” p.m.=”” (pst)=”” at=”” the=”” los=”” angeles=”” memorial=”” coliseum,=”” located=”” adjacent=”” to=”” the=”” sports=”” arena.=”” the=”” seventh-ranked=”” irish=”” football=”” team=”” will=”” meet=”” the=”” sixth-ranked=”” trojans=”” saturday=”” at=”” 5=”” p.m.=”” (pst)=”” at=”” the=”” los=”” angeles=”” memorial=”” coliseum,=”” located=”” adjacent=”” to=”” the=”” sports=””>