Junior all-BIG EAST guard Charel Allen poured in 18 points while adding six rebounds and five assists, but it wasn't quite enough as the Irish fell to DePaul, 76-71 at the BIG EAST Championship Saturday night in Hartford.

Irish Take On Another Ranked Opponent, Play Host To No. 17/16 Louisville Wednesday

Feb. 6, 2007

Complete Notes (PDF)

2006-07 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 23
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-8 / 5-4 BIG EAST) vs.
#17/16 Louisville Cardinals (21-2 / 7-2 BIG EAST)

DATE: February 7, 2007
TIME: 7:00 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind.
Joyce Center (11,418)
SERIES: UL leads 3-1
1ST MTG: 3/22/91 (UL 80-75)
LAST MTG: 1/14/06 (UL 61-51)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1490 AM
www.und.com
Sean Stires, p-b-p
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Storylines

  • Notre Dame will be facing its fifth ranked opponent of the season, and second at the Joyce Center. The Irish downed visiting No. 10/9 Purdue, 67-58 back on Dec. 6.
  • The Irish will be playing host to Louisville for the first time in more than 15 years.

Irish Take On Another Ranked Opponent, Play Host To No. 17/16 Louisville Wednesday
For the third time in the past five games, Notre Dame will take on a ranked opponent when it welcomes No. 17/16 Louisville to town Wednesday for a 7 p.m. (ET) BIG EAST Conference matchup. It’s the midpoint of a three-game homestand for the Irish, who are 11-1 on the Joyce Center hardwood this year.

Notre Dame got back in the win column on Sunday night, leading from start to finish in a 77-67 home victory over West Virginia. The Irish held the Mountaineers scoreless for more than five minutes to begin the game and ultimately jumped out to a 24-point lead in the second half before salting the victory away at the foul line (where Notre Dame shot 84.6 percent and tied both the school and arena records by making 33 free throws).

Junior guard Charel Allen came close to picking up her third double-double of the season, finishing with game highs of 26 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Ashley Barlow provided excellent support off the bench for the Irish with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Rankings

  • Notre Dame is not ranked.
  • Louisville is ranked 17th in the latest Associated Press poll and 16th in the current 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 607-274 (.689).

A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
Entering the final month of the 2006-07 regular 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 this season. Notre Dame is averaging 70.6 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, causing 21.0 turnovers per game (including a BIG EAST-best 11.2 steals per night). However, the flip side has seen the Irish allow opponents to shoot .423 from the floor (.365 from the three-point line), while the Irish claim just a 2.1 rpg. edge on the boards), two areas Notre Dame will continue to focus on during as it winds down BIG EAST play.

Junior guard Charel Allen has been one of the main offensive catalysts for the Irish to this point, averaging a team-high 16.1 ppg., while scoring in double figures in 19 of 22 outings to date. The Monessen, Pa., native, who is a three-time BIG EAST Honor Roll selection and was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Jan. 22, also is collecting team highs of 6.4 rebounds and 2.23 steals per game.

Allen’s classmate and backcourt running partner, Tulyah Gaines, is easily one of the conference’s most improved players this season. The speedy Gaines has stoked the Notre Dame offensive fire to an even hotter level, averaging 9.6 points and 4.05 assists per game. Gaines, who came into the season with a 3.7 ppg. career scoring average, has scored 20 points in a game three times this year, including a career-high 27 points on Jan. 10 in a win over Cincinnati.

Another Irish junior, 6-foot-5 center Melissa D’Amico, continues to make strides in the post. The second-year starter is carding 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with a team-high .526 field goal percentage. She also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Dec. 18, and has posted two double-doubles this year.

The most pleasing contributions of the year for Notre Dame to this point have come from its freshmen. Guard Ashley Barlow is second on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg.) and steals (2.05 spg.), and came up with a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds on Dec. 28 vs. Prairie View A&M. Center Erica Williamson (6.7 ppg., 6.0 rpg., 1.3 bpg.) logged her first career double-double at South Florida with 11 points and 18 rebounds (an Irish freshman record). And, guard Melissa Lechlitner (5.6 ppg., 3.1 apg.) has been particularly sharp of late, ranking second in the BIG EAST with a 2.58 assist/turnover ratio in conference play (3.86 in her last six games). She also scored a career-high 18 points vs. Syracuse and delivered a personal-best nine assists (without a turnover) against St. John’s.

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 261 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 10th nationally in attendance (6,273 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 90 of its last 92 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 Louisville
For years, Louisville has been one of the rising power programs in the country. However, the Cardinals have taken that to new heights this season, surging into the national rankings for the first time in school history and placing themselves firmly in contention for a BIG EAST Conference title and an extended run through the NCAA Tournament.

Currently ranked 17th in the Associated Press poll and 16th in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches’ survey, Louisville (21-2, 7-2 BIG EAST) got this season off to a flying start, opening with a school-record 15 consecutive victories. The most notable of UL’s wins during that stretch came at the hands of Southeastern Conference members Kentucky (ranked 24th in the coaches’ poll at tipoff) and Florida during the month of December.

The Cardinals briefly stumbled during the first part of January with a split of four games, including a double-overtime loss at Providence and a 74-58 setback at South Florida (three days after USF dispatched Notre Dame in overtime at the Sun Dome). Since then, it’s been clear sailing for Louisville, as the Cardinals have ripped off four consecutive wins, including victories over Rutgers (53-50) and No. 23 Pittsburgh (72-59).

In its last outing, UL used a strong second half to turn back a determined DePaul squad, 86-68 on Saturday at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Sophomore forward Angel McCoughtry collected a double-double with game highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds, while senior forward Jazz Covington picked up her own double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore center Chauntise Wright rounded out a solid Cardinal post game, going 7-of-7 from the floor en route to 15 points.

Perhaps no player in the country has had a bigger impact on her team’s fortunes than McCoughtry, who leads the BIG EAST in scoring (21.7 ppg.), rebounding (11.5 rpg.) and steals (3.22 spg.). Not to be overlooked, Covington (a returning all-BIG EAST pick) is logging 11.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while junior forward Yuliya Tokova adds 8.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and a team-high 1.96 blocks per contest.

Tom Collen is in his fourth season as Louisville’s head coach, holding an 82-31 (.726) record with the Cardinals. The former Colorado State skipper from 1997-2002, Collen has a nine-year career record of 211-64 (.767) that includes a 2-0 mark against Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Louisville Series
Wednesday’s game will be just the fifth in the series between Notre Dame and Louisville, with the Cardinals holding a 3-1 edge over the Irish. Prior to last year’s first BIG EAST Conference matchup in the series (won by UL, 61-51), the teams had only met three times before, all during a four-year span in the early 1990s.

In an unusual twist, last year’s game marked the first time either side successfully defended its home court in the series. Louisville also has a neutral site win (80-75 on March 22, 1991 at the old National Women’s Invitation Tournament in Amarillo, Texas), while this year’s meeting will be the first time the Cardinals have visited South Bend since Jan. 15, 1992, when they collected a 64-53 victory at the Joyce Center.

The Last Time Notre Dame and Louisville Met Jazz Covington had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Louisville to a 61-51 upset of No. 20/19 Notre Dame on Jan. 14, 2006 at Freedom Hall.

Angel McCoughtry added 10 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals for the Cardinals (12-3, 3-1 BIG EAST), who handed the Irish (10-5, 1-3) their fourth loss in five games.

Charel Allen had 10 points for Notre Dame, which shot 32 percent from the field. Megan Duffy scored eight points on 2-of-10 shooting, eight below her team-leading average.

Louisville took control with a 15-0 run midway through the first half, holding Notre Dame scoreless for almost 10 minutes. The Cardinals held the Irish to just 21 percent shooting in the half while building a 30-15 lead.

UL outrebounded the Irish, 55-29 and overcame 22 turnovers to win its first game over a Top 25 opponent in nearly two years.

The Last Time Notre Dame and Louisville Met At The Joyce Center
Margaret Nowlin erupted for game highs of 30 points and 14 rebounds, but her teammates couldn’t offer much support, as Notre Dame dropped a 64-53 decision to Louisville on Jan. 15, 1992 at the Joyce Center.

Nowlin connected on 12-of-15 shots from the field in 38 minutes of action. However, the rest of the Irish shot 15.3 percent (9-of-59) on the frigid winter evening, with no other player scoring more than eight points. Tuanisia Cummings led Louisville with 17 points, while Jody Martin collected 16 points for the visitors.

Notre Dame got off to a solid start against the Cardinals, as Nowlin scored eight points in a 14-2 run that put the Irish in front, 22-13 with 7:40 to play in the first half. Yet, the momentum quickly reversed, as Louisville reeled off 18 answered points and held Notre Dame without a field goal for the remainder of the period to take a 35-28 halftime lead.

Two early baskets by Nowlin helped the Irish get as close as five points in the opening three minutes of the second half. However, Notre Dame then fell into another extended dry spell, going without a field goal for almost nine minutes while the Cardinals steadily opened their lead to double figures. Nowlin’s jumper at the 2:41 mark got the Irish back within 54-46, but Cummings responded with two foul shots 72 seconds later to rebuild her team’s double-digit lead for good.

Other Notre Dame-Louisville Series Tidbits

  • Louisville is the only Kentucky school Notre Dame has ever played in women’s basketball.
  • Louisville’s 55 rebounds in last year’s game were the most for a Notre Dame opponent since Jan. 4, 1993, when Tennessee also had 55 boards in a 79-48 win over the Irish.
  • Louisville freshman guard Brandie Radde is a native of Niles, Mich. (less than 10 miles north of the Notre Dame campus) and a graduate of Niles High School.
  • Louisville Director of Olympic Sports Medicine Carole Banda spent nine years on the athletic training staff at Notre Dame from 1991-2000, including the last four as the women’s basketball trainer for the Irish.
  • During the 30-year history of the program, Notre Dame has suited up 132 different players from 35 states, but Kentucky is not one of them. The other states that have never produced an Irish women’s basketball player are: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

Allen Named To BIG EAST Honor Roll
For the third time this season, junior guard Charel Allen has been named to the BIG EAST Conference Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll, the league office announced Monday. Allen previously earned that distinction on Dec. 4 and Jan. 8, before garnering the BIG EAST Player of the Week award on Jan. 22. Allen is one of three Irish players who have been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this season, joining senior guard Breona Gray, who took the award on Dec. 11, and junior center Melissa D’Amico, who was accorded that status on Dec. 18.

Allen averaged 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in two BIG EAST games last week, as Notre Dame dropped a narrow 71-62 road contest at Pittsburgh, before coming back with a 77-67 victory over West Virginia Sunday night at the Joyce Center. In her second career homecoming game at Pitt, Allen turned in a sharp all-around effort with a game-high 17 points, seven rebounds and a career-best six assists. Four nights later against WVU, she rolled up game highs of 26 points (20 in the second half) and nine rebounds as the Irish led from start to finish to pick up the win.

For the season, Allen leads the team and ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in scoring (16.1 ppg.), while also collecting a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Besides her scoring total, Allen is among the conference leaders in steals (sixth, 2.23 spg.) and free throw percentage (third – .857), and she has scored in double figures 19 times in 22 games this season. During conference play, Allen ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring (18.9 ppg.) and first in free throw percentage (.897), with three of her five 20-point games this year coming against league opponents.

Pine Time Players
Part of the reason for Notre Dame’s success this season can be traced to the production the Irish have gotten from their bench (comprised almost entirely of their freshmen class). The Notre Dame reserves are averaging 23.8 points per game and are outscoring the opposition’s bench by more than nine points per game.

For the year, the Irish second unit has outscored the opponent reserves in 18 of 22 games, with Notre Dame posting a 13-5 record in those contests.

The Familiar Five
The Irish have used the same starting lineup in all 22 games this season, with guards Tulyah Gaines, Charel Allen and Breona Gray joined by forward Crystal Erwin and center Melissa D’Amico.

Notre Dame is the only BIG EAST school that has started the same lineup in every game it has played this season.

The Best Things In Life Are Free
Notre Dame ranks sixth in the nation in free throw percentage (.783), through games of Feb. 1. Should it hold up, that figure would shatter the school’s single-season record for foul shooting (.743), currently held by the 1996-97 Final Four squad. The Irish also lead the BIG EAST Conference with a .799 free throw percentage in league play. The BIG EAST record for foul shooting in regular-season conference games is .787, set by Seton Hall in 1986-87.

Peaking When It Counts
When the regular season enters its stretch run in the month of February, Notre Dame historically seems to raise its level of play. Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, the Irish are 66-17 (.795) in February games, including a 38-3 (.927) mark at home. Two of those February home losses for the Irish in the past 12 seasons came against Villanova (48-45 on Feb. 26, 2002; 69-65 in overtime on Feb. 7, 2006), with the other coming at the hands of Connecticut (79-64 on Feb. 19, 2006).

In the 20-year Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), the Irish are 114-32 (.781) in the month of February, including a 60-9 (.870) home record. In that time, Notre Dame has not had a losing February, and only once did the Irish end the month at .500 (4-4 in 1988-89, McGraw’s second season in South Bend).

Clutch When It Counts
Notre Dame is shooting 77 percent from the foul line (77-of-100) this season inside the final five minutes of regulation and overtime.

Upon closer inspection, the Irish have gotten some of their most critical free throw production from their freshmen – guards Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner are a combined 18-of-21 (.857) at the charity stripe down the stretch.

Poise Under Pressure
The Irish are 7-4 this season in games decided by 10 points or less, including a 4-1 record when the margin is five points or fewer. Going back the previous two seasons (2004-05 to present), Notre Dame is 12-5 in five-point games and 27-11 in 10-point contests – with four of those 11 losses coming in overtime.

In addition, four times this season, the Irish have sent a player to the free throw line with less than five seconds remaining in regulation or overtime and the game hanging in the balance. In those clutch situations, Notre Dame is 7-for-8 at the charity stripe, with the only miss being a semi-intentional one by senior guard Breona Gray on the second of two tries with 1.2 seconds to go in a 60-59 win at Valparaiso on Dec. 19.