Irish Tip Off Three-Game Homestand With Sunday Matinee Against Indiana

Game Notes (PDF)

Dec. 2, 2006

Storylines

• Notre Dame opens a stretch of four consecutive games against in-state opponents, with the first three of those coming at home.
• Less than 1,500 tickets remain for Sunday’s game with Indiana, as the Irish approach the fourth sellout in program history.

Irish Tip Off Three-Game Homestand With Sunday Matinee Against Indiana
Riding the emotional wave of an amazing comeback victory at Michigan on Friday night, Notre Dame opens a three-game homestand Sunday with a 2 p.m. (ET) contest against Indiana at the Joyce Center. The Irish and Hoosiers are meeting for just the second time in the past decade, with IU’s last visit to South Bend coming early in Notre Dame’s 1996-97 NCAA Final Four season.

The Irish (5-2) picked up their first road win of the year on Friday with a 61-58 triumph at Michigan. Notre Dame outscored the Wolverines, 10-2 in the final 47.3 seconds, hitting a pair of critical three-pointers and going 4-of-4 at the free throw line to preserve the win.

Junior guard Charel Allen posted her seventh consecutive double-digit scoring game to start the season, tallying a game-high 15 points, including two clinching foul shots with 0.7 seconds left. Freshman guard Ashley Barlow chipped in 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while junior guard Tulyah Gaines had 11 points, including the two game-winning free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is not ranked.
• Indiana is receiving votes in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls.

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 598-268 (.691).

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

• 20th season at Notre Dame
• 434-169 (.720) at Notre Dame.
• 522-210 (.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 73.6 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. In addition, Notre Dame is shooting .427 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 23.4 turnovers per game (including 13.3 steals per night). However, the flip side has seen the Irish allow opponents to shoot .420 from the floor (.405 from the three-point line) and claim a 2.4 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 15.7 ppg., while scoring in double figures in all seven 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 4.6 rebounds per game 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 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 10.6 points and 3.3 assists per game with a .500 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 8.9 points and 1.3 blocks per game with a .522 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 its freshmen, three of whom have seen significant playing time. Guard Ashley Barlow is second on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg.) and tops in steals (2.6 spg.), and came up with a superb 19-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Bowling Green, capping an 11-of-12 free throw shooting night by hitting two clinching foul shots with 3.8 seconds left. Center Erica Williamson (7.5 ppg., 6.2 rpg., 1.5 bpg., .576 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 (5.9 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.

• 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 – less than 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 Indiana
Were there an award in college basketball for the most easily-adaptable team, Indiana would certainly qualify. Despite welcoming their third different coach in three seasons, the Hoosiers have yet to show any problems with their fluid leadership situation.

IU (6-1) has looked very sharp early this season, opening with five consecutive wins, including the championship of the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic, courtesy of a 54-51 victory at No. 15/16 Kentucky. The Hoosiers also have discovered a high-octane, free-wheeling offense this year, averaging 76.9 points per game and shooting .471 from the floor.

Indiana is coming off an 83-80 victory over Evansville on Thursday night in Bloomington. Sophomore forward Whitney Thomas hit a free throw and junior guard Nikki Smith added two foul shots, all in the final minute, as the Hoosiers held off a stern challenge from the Aces. Senior center Sarah McKay, making her first start of the year, scored a team-high 19 points to pace four IU players in double figures, while Thomas collected a game-best 14 rebounds.

Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack came to Indiana this past April after a successful five-year stint at Hofstra. She has a combined record of 60-64 (.484), but will be facing Notre Dame for the first time in her coaching career.

The Notre Dame-Indiana Series Notre Dame and Indiana are meeting for the second consecutive year after a nine-year hiatus from 1996-2005. The Irish lead the series with Hoosiers, 6-3, including wins in three of five prior matchups at the Joyce Center. In addition, Notre Dame has won five of the last six times it has played IU, including its current series-long three-game win streak.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Indiana Met
Notre Dame senior guard Megan Duffy had seen enough. After watching the Irish struggle for nearly 30 minutes, Duffy decided to put away unranked Indiana by herself.

She scored 12 of her 26 points in the final 10 minutes and teamed with sophomore guard Charel Allen during a decisive five-minute stretch midway through the second half to lead No. 13 Notre Dame to a 74-61 win on Nov. 23, 2005, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

Foul trouble made it tough for the Irish right from the start. Sophomore center Melissa D’Amico played only nine minutes Wednesday, while junior forward Crystal Erwin managed only 21 minutes. The Irish also lost sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines with a sprained right ankle 2:15 into the contest.

So Duffy had to do more than usual. Besides setting up teammates Breona Gray and Allen for open shots, Duffy hit 8-of-15 shots including 3-of-6 from 3-point range and rallied the Irish from a 51-47 deficit with 10:42 left.

Gray, who replaced Gaines, finished with 14 points while Allen added 11, and the Irish shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half to pull away.

Despite playing most of the first half without starters Cyndi Valentin and Angela Hawkins, Indiana (0-2) still was in position late to upset a ranked opponent for the first time since Jan. 12, 2003. Jenny DeMuth finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds and kept Indiana close. Freshman Whitney Thomas added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Notre Dame used a 15-4 run midway through the first half to build a 32-23 lead, but DeMuth led Indiana back. The Hoosiers closed to 36-32 at the half, then went on a 15-4 spurt early in the second half to take a 51-47 lead.

Allen responded with a driving layup, set up by a nifty pass from Duffy, then pumped her fist. Allen’s teammates took the cue, scoring two more baskets to reclaim the lead. Then Duffy got started. She hit back-to-back three-pointers to break a 55-55 tie, and her solid shooting and decision-making never allowed Indiana to challenge again.