Notre Dame Hosts Northwood In Final Exhibition Game

Nov. 4, 2006

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2006-07 ND Women’s Basketball: Exhibition 2
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (0-0 / 0-0 BIG EAST) vs.
Northwood Timberwolves (0-0 / 0-0 GLIAC)

Storylines

• Notre Dame has won 20 consecutive exhibition games and is 25-1 in preseason contests dating back to the start of the 1993-94 season.
• The Irish have topped the 80-point mark in seven of their last eight exhibition games and are averaging 86.7 ppg. in preseason play during the past 14 seasons.

Preview
With the regular season looming in less than a week, Notre Dame will have one final opportunity to work on its game when it plays host to Northwood Sunday at 2 p.m. (ET) in an exhibition contest at the Joyce Center. The Irish took the court for the first time this season on Tuesday night, posting an 82-55 exhibition victory over Lake Superior State at the Joyce Center. Junior guard Charel Allen led the way for Notre Dame, piling up a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) while leading three Irish players who scored in double figures.

Notre Dame’s freshman class also performed well in their unofficial college debuts. Combined, the Irish rookies tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds, paced by eight points and four rebounds from guard Melissa Lechlitner.

Northwood will be making its 2006-07 debut when it ventures inside the Joyce Center for Sunday’s matinee. The Timberwolves are coming off their best record (10-16) in 14 years last season.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is not ranked.
• Northwood is not ranked.

Web Sites

• Notre Dame: http://www.und.com
• Northwood: http://www.northwood.edu/mi/athletics
• BIG EAST: http://www.bigeast.org
• GLIAC: http://www.gliac.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 593-266 (.690).

A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish
A large majority of college basketball programs would be pleased with an 18-12 record and an 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. Then again, those programs aren’t Notre Dame.

The Irish players and coaches alike feel dissatisfied with last season’s performance, which started well with a 9-2 non-conference record and a top-15 national ranking, but ended with an NCAA first-round loss to Boston College. Along the way, Notre Dame also posted an 8-8 record in the rugged BIG EAST Conference, collected three victories over ranked opponents, and won the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas with a convincing victory over eventual NCAA regional finalist Utah (68-55). The Irish know they will face a host of challenges in 2006-07, with hurdles that include replacing All-America point guard Megan Duffy, tackling a schedule that features 16 postseason qualifiers (and 11 NCAA Tournament participants), and most recently, dealing with the season-ending knee injury to sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader. The Bartlett, Ill., product was slated to be Notre Dame’s top returning scorer this season, having carded 10.5 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game during her rookie campaign.

However, this year’s Irish squad already may be living up to the phrase “expect the unexpected.” When many outside observers dismissed Notre Dame’s chances, the players and coaches have pulled even closer, with team chemistry and cohesion becoming the single greatest strength the Irish will possess in 2006-07. In fact, between seven other returning monogram winners and four other players with significant starting experience, not to mention four talented freshmen, those who want to write off Notre Dame before the season even starts may do so at their peril.

Junior guard Charel Allen (8.5 ppg., 4.3 rpg.) takes over as the top returning scorer for the Irish. The Monessen, Pa., resident spent much of last season working her way back to 100 percent after a March 2005 knee injury, saving her strongest efforts for the final month of the season, averaging 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds in the season’s last 11 games.

Allen’s backcourt mate and fellow junior, Tulyah Gaines (4.9 ppg., 3.2 rpg., 1.7 apg.), assumes the mantle of court leadership for Notre Dame as both a team co-captain and the new starting point guard. Like her classmate, Gaines was very sharp down the stretch in 2005-06, averaging 8.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game with a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio in the final six games of the year.

A third junior, center Melissa D’Amico, will seek to anchor the Irish post game. Standing 6-foot-5, the Manorville, N.Y., native started 17 times last season, averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while ranking eighth in the BIG EAST in blocked shots (1.17 bpg.). She also owned a solid .468 field goal percentage and named the MVP of the Duel in the Desert (and subsequently the BIG EAST Player of the Week) after collecting 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with an .824 field goal percentage in the two-game tourney.

Complementing the Notre Dame veterans is a freshman class that was ranked 21st in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. Guards Melissa Lechlitner and Ashley Barlow finished second and third, respectively, in the 2006 Indiana Miss Basketball voting, with Barlow winning MVP honors for the 2006 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series after scoring 20.0 points per game. Meanwhile, 6-3 forward Danielle Ben-Tsvulun is a two-time all-area pick out of Fort Wayne, Ind., while 6-4 center Erica Williamson averaged a double-double (10.0 ppg., 10.4 rpg.) in her final two prep seasons, winning state titles in two different states during that time.

Potent Notables About The Irish

• Notre Dame is among the nation’s winningest programs during the past decade (1996-97 to 2005-06), ranking seventh with 247 victories in that span.
• Notre Dame’s incoming freshman class was ranked 21st in the nation by All-Star Girls Report, marking the 10th 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.
• Notre Dame was ranked 11th in the nation in attendance in 2005-06 (6,601 fans per game), marking the sixth consecutive season the Irish have ranked among the national top 20 in attendance. Notre Dame also has attracted 5,000-or-more fans to 78 of its last 80 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 Northwood
It’s taken 14 seasons, but it now appears Northwood is poised to re-emerge as a potent force in the Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).

The Timberwolves are coming off a 10-16 campaign (5-13 in the GLIAC), their first double-digit win season since 1992-93, and return eight veterans from that squad, not to mention a solid mix of eight newcomers (freshmen and redshirts) who should give Northwood an added boost.

Junior guard Anna Trim was a medical redshirt last season, but when healthy, she’s a dangerous offensive weapon for the Timberwolves. In six games last year before her injury, the Clarkston, Mich., product averaged 12.8 points per game and shot .375 from the three-point line. Senior guard Sara Bilunes offers a good 1-2 punch in the Northwood backcourt, having logged 10.8 ppg. last year while ranking among the top three-point shooters in Division II with a .429 efficiency.

Though undersized at 5-foot-9, junior forward Katie Gonta is NU’s most athletic player, coming off a campaign that saw her average 8.1 points per game. Senior center Brittany Stedman is the Timberwolves’ tallest player at 6-foot-2 and used that height to average 7.0 points per game, as well as team-bests of 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

Jeff Curtis is in his third season as the head coach at Northwood, having compiled a 19-34 (.358) record on the Timberwolves’ bench. Sunday will be his first meeting with Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Northwood Series
Sunday’s game will mark the first time Notre Dame and Northwood have ever played one another in women’s basketball.

Other Notre Dame-Northwood Series Tidbits

• Northwood is the third consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent for Notre Dame in exhibition play. The Irish defeated Ferris State, 96-45, on Nov. 10, 2005, at the Joyce Center behind a quartet of double-figure scorers (Megan Duffy 24, Lindsay Schrader 19, Melissa D’Amico 16, Crystal Erwin 12). More recently, Notre Dame downed Lake Superior State on Tuesday, 82-55, also at the Joyce Center.
• Notre Dame has faced Northwood before in two other sports. The Irish baseball team hosted the Timberwolves at Jake Kline Field in 1978 (sweeping a doubleheader) and 1979 (splitting a doubleheader), while the Notre Dame volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Northwood in 1983 at the Michigan State Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.
• 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., located about 65 miles southeast of Northwood’s campus in Midland.

Exhibition Excellence For Irish
Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable in exhibition games during the past 14 seasons. Since the 1993-94 campaign, the Irish are 25-1 (.962) in these preseason tilts and own an active 20-game exhibition winning streak. During that time, Notre Dame has outscored its preseason opponents by an aggregate score of 2,255-1,586, which is good for an average score of 87-61. The last squad to defeat the Irish in exhibition play was the Lithuanian National Team, which edged Notre Dame, 94-89 in 1996-97. But the Irish were not fazed by that loss – they went on to reach their first NCAA Final Four that year.

New NCAA rules in recent years have allowed Division I teams to play exhibitions against Division II, III or NAIA institutions. The Irish are 4-0 against these College Division programs, having downed four NCAA Division II schools since 2001 (Christian Brothers in 2001-02, Indianapolis and Ferris State in 2005-06, Lake Superior State in 2006-07).

Warming Up Quickly
In addition to Notre Dame’s team success in exhibition games, several players also have performed well during preseason play. Here’s a brief thumbnail on how some of the Irish players have done in exhibitions during their careers:

• Charel Allen – 10.0 ppg., 6.2 rpg., 20 pts. and 10 rebs. vs. Lake Superior St. in ’06
• Melissa D’Amico – 12.2 ppg., 5.8 rpg., .563 FG% (27-48), 16 pts. vs. both Indianapolis and Ferris State in 2005
• Crystal Erwin – 4.7 ppg., 3.9 rpg., 12 points vs. Ferris State in 2005
• Tulyah Gaines – 5.2 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 4.6 apg., nine points and six assists vs. Lake Superior State in 2006
• Breona Gray – 4.8 ppg., 3.5 rpg., 11 points and eight rebounds vs. Lake Superior State in 2006
• Lindsay Schrader – 16.0 ppg., 5.5 rpg., 19 points vs. Ferris State in 2005
• Chandrica Smith – 5.0 ppg., 2.5 rpg., six points (3-3 FG) vs. Indianapolis in 2005

Experimental Rules In Play
In accordance with a directive from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Rules Committee, two experimental rules again will be used during Sunday’s game. First, the three-point line will be shifted back to 20-6 (as opposed to the current college distance of 19-9). And second, there will be a 10-second backcourt rule, in which teams have 10 seconds to cross the midcourt stripe. Both rules are in effect only for exhibitions, scrimmages or certified events played prior to Dec. 1, and both coaching staffs must consent to use the experimental rules in order for them to be employed.

Exhibition #1 Recap: Lake Superior State
Notre Dame got its 2006-07 season off to a successful start with an 82-55 exhibition victory over Lake Superior State before a Halloween night crowd of 5,626 fans at the Joyce Center. Junior guard Charel Allen had game highs of 20 points (on 8-of-13 shooting) and 10 rebounds, pacing three Notre Dame players in double figures. Senior guard Breona Gray chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds, while junior center Melissa D’Amico scored 10 points.

All 11 Irish players who suited up got into the contest, with 10 of them finding their way into the scorebook. The four Notre Dame freshmen also made their unofficial college debuts on Tuesday night, with guard Melissa Lechlitner tallying eight points, four rebounds and a team-high four steals to head up the rookie corps.

Jaclyn Armstrong was the only player to reach double digits for Lake Superior State, finishing with 11 points. Mandi Johnson collected nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds, but also was charged with 10 turnovers, part of 32 giveaways on the night for the Lakers.

It took about four minutes for both teams to shake the offseason rust, with LSSU taking a pair of one-point leads, the last coming at 6-5 on a three-pointer by Shalyn Beauchamp 3:18 into the contest. Notre Dame then shifted its offense into high gear, going on a 20-5 run during the next 5:55 to take command. The junior trio of Allen, D’Amico and guard Tulyah Gaines scored six points apiece during the spurt.

The Irish pushed their lead to 20 points when Gray’s free throw gave the hosts a 37-17 lead at the 5:21 mark. A triple by the Notre Dame co-captain moments later boosted her team’s edge to 40-19, before Lake Superior State closed out the first half by scoring eight of the final 12 points.

Armstrong hit a layup in the opening minute of the second half to pull the Lakers within 44-29, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. A 16-6 Irish run hiked the lead back to 25 points, capped by five points from Barlow. LSSU briefly peeked inside 20 points midway through the second stanza, but Notre Dame eventually moved out to a game-high 29-point margin on a couple of occasions before the night was out.

2006-07: The Anniversary Season

• 2006-07 will mark the 30th season of Notre Dame women’s basketball, with the Irish having compiled an all-time record of 593-266 (.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 544-246 (.689).
• This year also will represent 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 429-167 (.720) at the helm of the Irish and has a career record of 517-208 (.713) entering her silver anniversary season on the sidelines.
• In addition, Notre Dame will be 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.

Other Storylines For The Irish In ’06-07

• Junior guard Charel Allen is back at 100 percent after spending the better part of last season healing from summer 2005 surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Allen averaged a career-high 8.5 points per game last year, including 9.9 ppg. in the final 11 games of the season. She also scored in double figures a career-best 14 times during her sophomore year.
• With the question of replacing All-American Megan Duffy at the point guard position an obvious one, junior guard Tulyah Gaines is fully prepared to make it a seamless transition. Gaines made significant strides in that direction during the latter part of the 2005-06 season, averaging 8.0 points and 3.7 assists per game with a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio in Notre Dame’s final six games. Gaines also came up big in the clutch at Cincinnati with her game-tying layup at the regulation horn, helping the Irish log a 75-66 overtime win and remain in position for another NCAA Tournament appearance.
• As the coaching cliche often goes, “championships are won in the summer.” Junior center Melissa D’Amico and freshman center Erica Williamson certainly did their part, most notably spending time at the Pete Newell Tall Women’s Camp in San Diego. D’Amico is aiming to build upon her 2005-06 season that saw her average 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, earn MVP honors at the Duel in the Desert tournament and be named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Dec. 19. Meanwhile, Williamson comes to Notre Dame having averaged a double-double (10.0 points, 10.4 rebounds), along with 4.7 blocks per game during her final two high school seasons, winning state titles each year (albeit in different states – New York and North Carolina).

Hoosier State Hoopsters
Notre Dame welcomes three Indiana natives among its four-player freshman class, as guards Ashley Barlow (Indianapolis/Pike) and Melissa Lechlitner (Mishawaka/South Bend St. Joseph’s), and forward Danielle Ben-Tsvulun (Fort Wayne/Harding) will suit up for the Irish in 2006-07. This represents the largest influx of in-state personnel in one rookie class during the 30-year history of the Notre Dame women’s basketball program. Counting the three freshmen, a total of 17 Indiana natives are on the all-time Irish basketball roster, making Indiana the most common home state in program history. Michigan is second, having produced 14 Notre Dame players (including current associate head coach and Flint, Mich., product Coquese Washington).

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.

2005-06 Season Rewind

• Notre Dame posted an 18-12 record and finished 8-8 in the BIG EAST Conference. The Irish also made their 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance (13th overall), bowing to Boston College, 78-61 in the opening round – the first time Notre Dame lost in the NCAA first round since 1994, snapping a run of 10 consecutive opening-round victories by the Irish.
• Head coach Muffet McGraw reached a personal milestone, winning her 500th career game on Nov. 18, 2005 at the Joyce Center (55-45 vs. Michigan). McGraw became the 27th NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach to reach that landmark and the 10th to do so before age 50.
• Notre Dame played a school-record four overtime games during the 2005-06 season, going 2-2 in those extra-session contests, all against BIG EAST opponents (also setting a conference regular-season record).
• The Irish were ranked as high as 10th in the nation in both the Associated Press poll and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll last season, marking the seventh time in the past 10 seasons Notre Dame has been a top-10 club.
• The Irish defeated three ranked teams last season, downing No. 24/21 USC (73-62), No. 22/21 Utah (68-55) and No. 10 DePaul (78-75). Notre Dame now has recorded 50 wins over Top 25 opponents in the McGraw era (1987-present), including 40 in the past eight seasons, with 19 of those 40 victories coming over top-10 teams.
• In 2005-06, Notre Dame set single-season school records for fewest total turnovers (430) and fewest turnovers per game (14.3). Since the statistic was first kept in 1987-88, the previous Irish standards were 516 turnovers (2001-02) and 15.8 turnovers per game (2000-01). During the past two seasons, Notre Dame has been solid in protecting the basketball, averaging just 15.3 turnovers per game in that span.

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.

Half And Half
During the past six seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Irish are 109-10 (.916) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 37 of their last 41 such contests. Notre Dame won 12 games last season when it led at the break (the Irish were tied at halftime of their wins over No. 24/21 USC and South Florida).

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense…
During the past 11 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. Notre Dame went 9-0 in such games last season.

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 11 seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 91-3 (.968) 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.

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 135 of their last 151 games (.894) 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 57 of their last 61 non-BIG EAST contests (.934) 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 285-77 (.787) 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.

Next Game: Central Michigan
It all gets started for real on Friday, Nov. 10, when Notre Dame tips off its 30th season of varsity competition with a 4 p.m. (ET) contest against Central Michigan at the Joyce Center. It will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Irish and Chippewas, with CMU winning their initial encounter, 72-69, way back on Dec. 21, 1983, also in South Bend.

Central Michigan opened its 2006-07 exhibition season on a sour note, dropping a 92-78 decision at home to Athletes in Action on Oct. 31. Stacey Verhoff had 17 points and five steals to lead the Chippewas, who ran into a hot-shooting AIA squad that shot 64.2 percent from the field, including a staggering 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the three-point line. CMU will face Windsor (Ontario) in a second exhibition game Sunday afternoon.