Notre Dame Looks For Third Straight Win

Feb. 6, 2006

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2005-06 ND Women’s Basketball: Game 22
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-7 / 5-5 BIG EAST) vs. Villanova Wildcats (12-8 / 3-6 BIG EAST)

DATE: February 7, 2006
TIME: 6:00 p.m. ET
AT: Notre Dame, Ind.
Joyce Center (11,418)
SERIES: Notre Dame leads 13-7
1ST MTG: 1/6/81 (VU 70-57)
LAST MTG: 1/9/05 (VU 59-54)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1580 AM
Sean Stires, p-b-p
TV: ESPNU (live)
Beth Mowins, p-b-p
Patti Phillips, color
LIVE STATS: www.und.com
TICKETS: (574) 631-7356

Storylines

• Notre Dame looks for its first three-game winning streak since mid-December when it plays host to Villanova Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ET).
• The last five games between the Irish and Wildcats have been decided by a total of 13 points (2.6 ppg.) and all five have been in doubt heading into the final minute of play.

There will be numerous important elements at play when Notre Dame welcomes Villanova to the Joyce Center Tuesday for a 6 p.m. (ET) contest that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Irish (14-7, 5-5) can move above .500 in BIG EAST Conference play for the first time all season, not to mention remain firmly in contention for a valuable first-round bye at next month’s BIG EAST Championship. Notre Dame won its second consecutive game on Saturday, dispatching Providence, 66-48 at the Joyce Center. The Irish used a 16-6 run midway through the first half and a 22-7 spurt in the second half to put the Friars away. Notre Dame’s defense also came up with its second-best outing of the year in terms of points allowed and opponent field goal percentage (.283). Senior forward Courtney LaVere was nearly perfect from the field, scoring a season-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while leading four Irish players in double figures.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press poll, as well as last week’s ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll.
• Villanova is not ranked.

Web Sites

• Notre Dame: http://www.und.com
• Villanova: http://www.villanova.com
• BIG EAST: http://www.bigeast.org

Setting The Standard
Under the guidance of 19th-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 12 NCAA Tournaments (including the past 10 in a row) and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 six times in the past nine 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, eight WNBA players (including five draft picks in the past five years) and four USA Basketball veterans (eight medals won). Now in their 29th season in 2005-06, the Irish own an all-time record of 589-261 (.693).

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

• Saint Joseph’s ’77
• 19th season at Notre Dame
• 425-162 (.724) at Notre Dame.
• 513-203 (.716) in 24 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
One of the more famous movie quotes of the past 20 years came from a simple Alabama man named Forrest Gump, who recalled his mother’s advice that “life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get.”

In some ways, that philosophy would be appropriate when it comes to describing the 2005-06 season for Notre Dame. Despite losing two of their top three scorers and two primary rebounders from a year ago, the Irish bolted to a 9-1 record, highlighted by two wins over Top 25 teams (USC and Utah) as well as the championship at the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.

Since that time, Notre Dame has seen its fortunes dip somewhat, losing six of its last 11 games, including the program’s first three-game losing streak in eight seasons. However, the Irish also did log an key third win over a ranked opponent (78-75 vs. #10 DePaul on Jan. 17) and were ranked in every AP and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll this season until the past two weeks, although they continue to receive votes in both surveys.

One of the critical elements for the Irish to be successful this season has been offensive balance. On 15 occasions, Notre Dame has had at least three players scoring in double figures (going 12-3 in those games), and eight separate players have cracked double digits at least twice this year. Additionally, six different players have led the team in scoring at some point.

The Irish also have the benefit of strong leadership in senior All-America point guard and two-year team captain Megan Duffy. The 5-foot-7 Dayton, Ohio, native spent last summer as a co-captain and starter on the United States World University Games Team that rolled to the gold medal with a 7-0 record. Duffy herself directed an American offense that averaged 97.4 points per game and set a USA World University Games record with a scoring margin of +43.1 ppg.

Back stateside, Duffy continues to make improvements in her game each night out and has been a strong all-around contributor and leader for Notre Dame once again this year. The veteran floor general is averaging a team-best 15.7 points, 4.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game, with a 1.71 assist/turnover ratio, ranking among the top 11 in the BIG EAST in all four categories. In addition, she leads the league and is 11th in the nation in foul shooting (.903). She also has led the team in scoring 12 times and in assists 15 times this year. Duffy is a BIG EAST Player of the Week selection (Jan. 23), a three-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll choice, and was named to the Duel in the Desert (Gray Division) All-Tournament Team. She has scored in double figures in her last six games, averaging 16.3 points in that span.

Freshman guard Lindsay Schrader has shown tremendous promise in her first season with the Irish. The former McDonald’s All-American already has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week once (Nov. 21) after turning in an impressive 10-point, 14-rebound effort in her debut outing against Michigan, becoming just the second player in school history (first since 1979) to record a double-double in her first game. She also earned a spot on the Dec. 5 BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, the first freshman to appear on that list this season. Last Tuesday night, she erupted for a season-high 24 points and eight rebounds in a win at Syracuse. Schrader is second on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg.) and rebounding (5.7 rpg.).

Senior forward Courtney LaVere has shown signs of being a dependable force in the post for the Irish. She ranks third on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg.), and first in both field goal percentage (.514) and blocks (1.3 bpg.), tying sophomore teammate Melissa D’Amico for sixth in the BIG EAST in the latter category. LaVere was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 16.0 points and 2.5 blocks with an .800 field goal percentage (16-of-20) in wins over Syracuse and Providence. In the PC game, she scored a season-high 18 points on a career-best 9-of-10 shooting.

Potent Notables About The Fighting Irish

• Notre Dame’s departure from the Jan. 30 Associated Press poll snapped a string of 30 consecutive appearances for the Irish in that survey, dating back to the start of the 2004-05 season. All told, Notre Dame has appeared in 139 Associated Press polls since the balloting debuted 30 years ago, with their first AP ranking (No. 25) coming on Dec. 31, 1990.
• With its No. 10 AP ranking on Dec. 5, the Irish have appeared in the top 10 of the media balloting at some point in seven of the past 10 years (including three of the past four seasons). Notre Dame has spent a total of 73 weeks in the AP top 10 during the program’s 29-year history and owns a 110-21 (.840) record when it’s ranked in the top 10.
• The Irish have won 57 of their last 61 non-conference home games, dating back to the 1994-95 season. Three of the losses in that span have come against Big Ten Conference opponents (Wisconsin in 1996, Purdue in 2003, Michigan State in 2004), with the other coming back on Dec. 31 vs. No. 1 Tennessee.
• The Irish defense continues to be its calling card. In each of the past six seasons, Notre Dame has held its opponents to an average of less than 62 points per game, including a 56.8 ppg. mark last year, which ranked as the third-lowest opponent scoring average in school history and second-best of the Muffet McGraw era (55.8 ppg. in 2000-01). Thus far in 2005-06, the Irish are allowing opponents to score 61.0 ppg.
• The Irish are 3-3 against ranked teams this season and have posted 40 wins over Top 25 opponents in the past eight seasons (1998-99 to present), most recently knocking off No. 10/10 DePaul, 78-75 on Jan. 17 at the Joyce Center. In each of the past two years, Notre Dame has set a school record with seven regular-season wins over ranked opponents. Furthermore, since the start of the 2003-04 season, the Irish are 12-3 (.800) at home against Top 25 competition (2-1 this year).
• Drawing 6,800 fans to last Saturday’s win over Providence, the Irish now have welcomed crowds of 5,000 or more fans to 75 of their last 77 home games. The only two blemishes on that mark came in the semifinals and finals of last year’s Preseason WNIT, because tickets for those games could not be included in the Notre Dame season ticket package and had to be purchased separately.
• The capacity crowd of 11,418 for the Dec. 31 home game vs. top-ranked Tennessee was the third sellout in program history and the 19-day advance sellout was the quickest in the 29-year history of Irish women’s basketball. As of Jan. 30, Notre Dame ranks 10th in the country in average home attendance with 6,564 fans per game.
• Senior guard Megan Duffy was named a preseason All-American by three sources, has been cited on the preseason watch lists for both the State Farm/WBCA Wade Trophy and the John R. Wooden Women’s Award, and was tabbed as one of the top five point guards in the nation by ESPN.com. Duffy also was a preseason all-BIG EAST Conference selection, following up her first-team all-league citation last year.
• With a 55-45 victory over Michigan on Nov. 18, Irish head coach Muffet McGraw became the 27th coach in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to reach the 500-win mark. She also is the 10th Division I coach to earn her 500th victory prior to age 50. McGraw reached another milestone on Nov. 29 vs. Iona with her 700th career game as a head coach.

A Quick Look At Villanova
For those who have not yet seen Villanova play, trying to describe the Wildcats’ unique brand of basketball almost defies words. It’s a mix of simplicity and precision, run so effectively that even when opposing teams know what plays are coming, they still can’t defend them. It’s a style that has had coaches flocking to the Main Line to learn from veteran VU head coach Harry Perretta, while other coaches just throw up their hands in frustration as the Wildcats pick them apart year after year.

Success for Villanova (12-8, 3-6 BIG EAST) relies heavily on valuing each possession and converting a high percentage of shots. Those elements haven’t always been in place for the Wildcats this season, who opened with four consecutive wins, but have since neither won nor lost more than two consecutive games.

Villanova enters Tuesday’s contest at Notre Dame with a week-long rest following a 69-49 loss at South Florida on Jan. 30, the second loss in a row for the Wildcats. Senior guard Jenna Viani scored 11 points for VU, hitting 4-of-8 shots from the field (2-of-4 from three-point range). However, as a team, Villanova shot just 29.3 percent for the game (17-of-58), including 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from long distance.

Senior forward Liad Suez-Karni, a preseason all-BIG EAST selection, leads the Wildcats and ranks 12th in the league in scoring (14.6 ppg.), and is third in the BIG EAST with a team-high 2.4 three-pointers per game. Junior forward Jackie Adamshick, a second-team all-conference pick last year, is second on the VU roster in scoring (11.6 ppg.) and tops in rebounding (6.7 rpg. – 19th in BIG EAST). All told, 13 different players have seen action for the Wildcats this season, including 11 who have started at least once in 2005-06.

Perretta is in his 28th season at Villanova with a career coaching record of 519-289 (.642). He has piloted the Wildcats in all 20 of their prior games against Notre Dame, compiling a 7-13 record against the Irish.

The Notre Dame-Villanova Series
Notre Dame will be facing Villanova for the 21st time in their series, with the Irish maintaining a 13-7 lead over the Wildcats. However, VU has had the edge in the series of late, winning four of the past six games. Still, Notre Dame has a 6-1 series advantage in games played at the Joyce Center, as will be the case Tuesday night.

While the majority of games between the two schools have been played under the auspices of the BIG EAST Conference, four non-conference games have been played in the series. In 1980-81 (Notre Dame’s first season at the Division I level), the Irish visited Villanova and dropped a 70-57 decision to the Wildcats. In 1982-83 and 1983-84, the teams played a home-and-home series, with Notre Dame winning both times. However, Villanova evened the non-conference ledger in 1987, winning a narrow 56-55 decision at home in the championship game of the Wildcat Christmas Classic.

In BIG EAST play, Notre Dame and Villanova have played 13 times, with the Irish holding a 9-4 lead over the Wildcats. The teams also have battled three times at the BIG EAST Championship, with Notre Dame winning twice.

Other Notre Dame-Villanova Series Tidbits

• Exactly half (10) of the 20 games in the series have been decided by eight points or less, with Notre Dame winning six of those 10 close contests.
• The past five regular-season games in the series have been exceptionally tight, decided by a grand total of 13 points (2.6 ppg.), and all five games have been in doubt inside the final minute of play.
• The last time Villanova visited the Joyce Center on Jan. 24, 2004, the teams combined for the lowest scoring game in arena history (ND 38-36); the Irish also set a school record for fewest points scored in a win.
• In the past 11 seasons, Notre Dame is 158-9 when holding opponents to less than 60 points. However, Villanova is responsible for three of those losses in that time.
• The Wildcats’ lone victory at the Joyce Center came on Feb. 26, 2002 (a 48-45 decision) and was significant for two reasons. It not only snapped Notre Dame’s school-record 51-game home winning streak, but it also remains the only time the Irish have lost a February home game since they joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96 (36-1 record).
• Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw is native of Pottsville, Pa., and a 1977 graduate of Saint Joseph’s University. McGraw is a member of three halls of fame in the Philadelphia area – the SJU Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1986), the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame (inducted 1990) and the SJU Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 2002).
• Notre Dame senior guard Megan Duffy and Villanova freshman guard Maria Getty both are alums of Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio.

The Last Time Notre Dame And Villanova Met
Jackie Adamshick had 25 points and Kate Dessart Mager scored the winning jumper to lead Villanova to a 59-54 upset over No. 4/3 Notre Dame on Jan. 9, 2005, at The Pavilion in Villanova, Pa. Betsy McManus made four free throws in the final 25 seconds for Villanova (9-4, 2-0 BIG EAST), snapping Notre Dame’s six-game winning streak.

The Irish (13-2, 2-1) never had an answer for Adamshick in the first half or Dessart Mager in the second. The two combined to go 16-for-30 from the floor with seven rebounds.

Dessart Mager – who scored all of her 14 points in the second half – made a turnaround jumper that barely beat the shot clock buzzer for a 51-49 lead with 1:39 left and the small, boisterous crowd erupted.

She and McManus each added two free throws before Notre Dame’s Jacqueline Batteast hit a three-pointer with 13.3 seconds left to make it 55-52. It wasn’t enough, though, as Villanova sealed the game at the free throw line.

Batteast scored 22 points and Teresa Borton added 17 for Notre Dame. The Irish shot 44 percent from the floor, but Villanova scored 19 points off 20 Irish turnovers.

After missing her only shot in the first half, Dessart Mager went 5-for-6 in the second half and scored six straight points in one stretch that helped the Wildcats take a seven-point lead.

When the Irish pulled to 44-43, Adamshick delivered with a three-pointer from the left side. But Adamshick – who shot 11-for-23 and fell two points shy of matching her career high – didn’t score again. The Irish got baskets from Borton and Courtney LaVere to make it 47-47.

Dessart Mager and Batteast swapped baskets before Dessart Mager hit the winner. Notre Dame seemed poised to turn the game into a blowout early until Adamshick started a Villanova run with six straight points, and later added a nice spin around two defenders in the lane for an easy layup to cut it to 21-19.

She scored the final two baskets of the first half and helped force a Notre Dame shot clock violation on its last possession to give the Wildcats a 25-24 halftime lead.

Beasts Of The BIG EAST
Notre Dame is 142-36 (.798) in regular-season competition against the rest of BIG EAST Conference, owning the best conference winning percentage of any current member of the BIG EAST (minimum of one year membership) since joining the circuit for the 1995-96 campaign. The Irish also have finished among the top three in the BIG EAST nine times in their 10-year membership, and claimed a share of their first-ever regular-season conference championship in 2001.

When including postseason competition (BIG EAST and NCAA tournaments), Notre Dame is 156-46 (.772) vs. league opponents – factoring in 23 postseason tilts, the Irish are 79-10 (.888) at home, 63-29 (.685) on the road and 14-7 (.667) at neutral sites all-time vs. BIG EAST foes.

Finding A Way
Notre Dame is 5-2 this season in games decided by five points or less. The two close Irish losses came at the hands of St. John’s (66-63 on Jan. 4) and South Florida (68-64 in overtime on Jan. 28).

Taking it one step further, the Notre Dame women’s and men’s basketball teams have seen 11 of their 17 combined BIG EAST games decided by six points or less, with five going into overtime (and two men’s games needing double OT). The Irish women are 3-2 in close BIG EAST games (wins over Marquette, DePaul and Georgetown), while the Notre Dame men are 0-8 in conference nailbiters, although their last five games all have come down to the final possession in regulation.

A History Lesson
With one steal vs. South Florida, senior All-America guard Megan Duffy became only the fifth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 200 steals in her career. Duffy has 1,151 points and 203 steals since arriving in South Bend in 2002.

Duffy joins Karen Robinson (1987-91), Krissi Davis (1987-91), Katryna Gaither (1993-97) and Niele Ivey (1996-2001) as the only Irish players in that elite 1,000-point/200-steal club.

What’s more, Duffy has 465 career assists, putting her just 35 handouts short of pairing with Robinson and Ivey as the only Notre Dame players ever to amass 1,000 points, 500 assists and 200 steals in their careers.

When The Game Is On The Line
The Irish have posted a .663 free throw percentage (67-of-101) in the final two minutes and overtime of games this season.

Leading the way are junior forward Crystal Erwin, who made her only two late-game free throws of the year with 41 seconds left in regulation Jan. 28 vs. USF, and senior guard Megan Duffy, who has made 30 of her 32 foul shots (.938) in crunch time.

Second-Half Sizzle
In 11 games this season, Notre Dame has used a significant second-half run to either take control or battle their way back into the contest. Included in that total are four games against Top 25 opponents (USC, Utah, Tennessee and DePaul), with three of those second-half charges leading to Irish wins (all but Tennessee).

What’s more, six times the Irish have been tied or trailed at some point in the final 11 minutes, but on the strength of their second-half run, they rallied to take the win.

Game #21 Recap: Providence
Senior forward Courtney LaVere scored a season-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting to pace four Notre Dame players in double figures, as the Irish pulled away from Providence late in the first half and posted a 66-48 BIG EAST Conference win over the Friars Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 6,800 at the Joyce Center.

LaVere knocked down all four of her shots in the first half before her only miss of the day came 30 seconds into the second half. She then made her final five shots en route to her second consecutive double-digit outing and eighth of the season.

Senior All-America guard Megan Duffy added 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while sophomore guard Charel Allen and junior guard Breona Gray chipped in with 10 points apiece for Notre Dame, which won its second consecutive game and improves to 14-7 on the season (5-5 in BIG EAST play).

Shauna Snyder was the lone double-figure scorer for Providence, tallying 14 points, nine coming in the first half. Gayle Nwafili grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Friars, who were held to a .283 field goal percentage, including a .188 mark (6-of-32) in the second half.

Notre Dame scored seven of the first 10 points in the contest, before PC came back with a 7-2 run of its own to take a brief 10-9 lead. However, Allen canned a three-pointer on the next Irish possession to put the hosts back ahead, and after a Snyder jumper tied the game, LaVere gave Notre Dame the lead it would never relinquish on a jumper at the 14:26 mark.

LaVere’s basket ignited a 16-6 Irish run that also included four points from sophomore center Melissa D’Amico. Gray capped the charge with her second three-pointer of the day for a 28-18 Notre Dame lead with 7:16 left before halftime.

Providence (6-15, 1-9) came back with five consecutive points on a triple by Ashley Etheridge and a jumper by Nwafili. The Irish then scored 11 of the last 16 points in the period, taking their largest lead just before the intermission at 39-28.

Notre Dame then put the game on ice with a stout defense that was the catalyst in a 22-7 run early in the second half. The Irish forced three shot clock violations and LaVere scored eight points in the spurt, ending with a layup that produced a 62-37 lead with 7:57 to play. Notre Dame was able to clear its bench shortly thereafter, and although the Irish did not post a field goal over the final 6:15, they also limited the Friars to a single bucket in that time (Chelsea Marandola’s layup with 22 seconds left).

Noting The Providence Win

• Notre Dame posts its largest margin of victory since a season-best 77-54 win over Arkansas State on Dec. 17 at the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.
• Providence’s 48 points are the second-fewest allowed by the Irish this season, topped only by a 45-point defensive lockdown against Michigan in the season opener on Nov. 18 at the Joyce Center.
• PC’s .283 field goal percentage also was the second-lowest by a Notre Dame opponent this year, trailing just a .255 mark by Arkansas State on Dec. 17.
• The Irish had their largest rebound total (44) since that ASU game, when they corraled 47 boards.
• Notre Dame had four double-figure scorers for the first time all five starters cracked double digits in a 68-55 win over No. 22/21 Utah on Dec. 18 in the Duel in the Desert (Gray Division) championship game; the Irish are 12-3 this year when at least three players score in double figures.
• Notre Dame is 14-0 all-time against Providence and has won 12 of 14 series games against the Friars by double-digit margins; PC’s 48 points are its third-lowest in the series and fewest since a 64-44 ND win on Jan. 31, 2001 at the Joyce Center.
• The Providence contest marked the 850th game in the Notre Dame women’s basketball program’s history, with the Irish having compiled a lifetime record of 589-261 (.693).
• Senior forward Courtney LaVere’s 18 points were not only a season-high, but the most she has scored in a game since Nov. 12, 2004 (18 points vs. Illinois State in the first round of the Preseason WNIT at the Joyce Center).
• LaVere’s nine field goals tied a career high she had set three times before (last against Wisconsin on Dec. 4, 2003) and her .900 field goal percentage was a career best, exceeding the .857 mark (6-of-7) she had on Feb. 21, 2004 at Pittsburgh.
• LaVere’s two blocks vs. Providence give her 124 career rejections, tying Trena Keys (1982-86) for seventh on the Notre Dame all-time blocks chart.
• Sophomore guard Charel Allen had a career-high three steals (previous: 2, three times, last at Louisville on Jan. 14) and tied her personal best with four assists (also: twice, last at Indiana on Nov. 23).
• Senior guard Megan Duffy tied her career high with eight rebounds (also: twice, last vs. DePaul on Jan. 17), and posted her ninth 5+-assist game of the year (45th of her career).
• Sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines had a season-best eight rebounds, one short of her personal standard set on Feb. 26, 2005 vs. West Virginia.

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 62-14 (.816) in February games, including a 36-1 (.973) mark at home. The only February home loss for the Irish in the past 11 seasons came on Feb. 26, 2002, when Villanova snapped Notre Dame’s school-record 51-game home winning streak with a 48-45 victory at the Joyce Center.

In the 19-year Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), the Irish are 110-29 (.791) in the month of February, including a 58-7 (.892) 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).

Even Bigger Gaines For Notre Dame
Beginning next fall, Notre Dame sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines won’t be the only member of her family attending the University. Her brother, Jashaad, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football for the Irish in 2006-07. A safety from Las Vegas High School in Las Vegas, Nev., Jashaad is one of 27 players who recently announced their commitment to join Charlie Weis’ crew next season.

Duffy Joins Irish 1,000-Point Club
Senior co-captain and All-America guard Megan Duffy became the 21st member of Notre Dame’s 1,000-Point Club with her 13-point night at St. John’s on Jan. 4. Duffy eclipsed the milestone on an old-fashioned three-point play with 14:01 left in the game.

Duffy now has 1,151 career points, good for 17th on the Irish career scoring chart.

And LaVere Follows Suit 10 Days Later
Senior co-captain and forward Courtney LaVere joined Duffy as a 1,000-point scorer at Notre Dame on Jan. 14 at Louisville, hitting a hook shot in the lane 2:27 into the contest. LaVere now has 1,059 career points, putting her one marker behind Carrie Bates (1981-85) for 19th on the Irish all-time scoring list.

The Duffy-LaVere 1,000-point tandem marks just the fifth time in school history have teammates reached the 1,000-point plateau in the same season, with Niele Ivey and Kelley Siemon the last to do so in 2000-01.

Duffy and LaVere also have recorded the shortest span between hitting the mark (three games). The previous school record was eight games, the term between Mary Beth Schueth and Carrie Bates scoring their 1,000th points in the 1984-85 season.

Give Her Five (Hundred)
With Notre Dame’s 55-45 victory over Michigan on Nov. 18, head coach Muffet McGraw became the 27th women’s basketball coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the 500-win mark. McGraw now has a career record of 513-203 (.716) in 24 years of coaching, including 19 seasons at Notre Dame (425-162, .724). Here’s a closer look at how that milestone victory breaks down for McGraw:

• She is the 10th NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach to register her 500th victory before turning 50 (her birthday was Dec. 5).
• McGraw is the fourth active coach in the BIG EAST Conference to reach the career 500-win mark, joining Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer, Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma and Villanova’s Harry Perretta.
• She is the third BIG EAST coach in as many seasons to celebrate her 500th win. Auriemma hit the milestone late in the 2002-03 campaign, while Perretta joined the club with his landmark victory midway through last season.

Join The Club
The Irish women’s basketball team is one of a staggering eight Notre Dame squads this year to be ranked in the top 10 in its respective sport at some point during the season – the cagers joined the party when they earned the No. 10 spot in the Dec. 5 AP poll. The other top-10 Irish teams include (highest rank listed): women’s fencing (1st), men’s fencing (2nd), women’s cross country (3rd), football (5th AP), men’s cross country (5th), women’s soccer (5th) and volleyball (7th).

In addition, all six of Notre Dame’s fall sports teams advanced at least as far as the round of 16 (or its equivalent) in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish cross country teams both finished among the top 10 at the NCAA Championships (men – 3rd; women – 7th), while the women’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals (lost at eventual champion Portland), and the men’s soccer squad made its first-ever trip to the Sweet 16 before bowing by a 1-0 count at College Cup participant Clemson.

The Irish volleyball team reached the round of 16 for the first time since 1997, falling to Wisconsin in five games down in College Station, Texas.

Meanwhile, the Notre Dame football team advanced to its first Bowl Championship Series game since 2000, dropping a 34-20 decision to No. 4 Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

On the strength of their success to date, the Irish were first in the final fall standings for the NACDA/USSA Directors’ Cup (released Jan. 10) with 412 points, outpacing Penn State (308.5) and Stanford (282).

This marks the second consecutive year that Notre Dame has ranked atop the final fall standings, and its 412 points are its highest-ever fall total.

Half And Half
During the past six seasons, Notre Dame has been nearly unbeatable when it has the lead at halftime. The Irish are 108-10 (.915) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign when they go into the dressing room with the lead, including wins in 36 of their last 40 such contests. Notre Dame has won 11 games this season when it led at the break (the Irish were tied at halftime of their win over No. 24/21 USC).

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 158-9 (.946) record when they hold their opponents to less than 60 points in a game. Notre Dame is 8-0 in such games this 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 decade (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.

Sweet Success
Notre Dame is one of only nine schools in the country to have appeared in the NCAA Sweet 16 six times in the past nine seasons (1997-2005). The others are Connecticut and Tennessee (nine times), Duke (eight times), Louisiana Tech (seven times), and Georgia, LSU, North Carolina and Texas Tech (six times).

The Gold Standard
The Irish are one of six teams nationwide to have an active streak of 12 consecutive 20-win seasons. The others in this club are Tennessee (29), Texas Tech (16), Louisiana Tech (14), Old Dominion (14) and Connecticut (12).

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 134 of their last 148 games (.905) at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 79-10 (.888) 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. The only three losses in that span all 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). The Purdue loss 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 284-75 (.791) record at the venerable facility. In three of the previous six seasons (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04), the Irish were a perfect 15-0 at home, setting a school record for home wins in a season.

Jammin’ The Joyce
Beginning with its national championship season of 2000-01, Notre Dame has ranked among the top 20 in the nation in attendance each of the past five years, including a No. 16 rating in 2004-05 (5,830 fans per game). Notre Dame has averaged 6,564 fans in its nine home games this season, and is 10th in the latest unofficial national attendance rankings, released each Monday by the University of Wisconsin Sports Information Office.

What’s more, each of the top 20 women’s basketball crowds in Joyce Center history have occurred during the 19-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw (1987-present), with 19 of those 20 occurring in the past six seasons (2000-01 to present). Lastly, the Irish have attracted at least 5,000 fans to 75 of their last 77 home games, including 13 contests with at least 8,000 fans and the first three sellouts in the program’s history.

The most recent sellout in Notre Dame women’s basketball history took place on Dec 31, when 11,418 fans packed the Joyce Center for the Irish matchup with No. 1 Tennessee. The game sold out 19 days in advance, making its the fastest sellout in the 29-year history of the program.

Oh Captain, My Captain
Notre Dame’s two seniors – guard Megan Duffy and forward Courtney LaVere – are serving as team captains for the 2005-06 season. Duffy is in her second year as a captain (making her the 16th two-time captain in school history, and 12th in the Muffet McGraw era), while LaVere is a first-time captain. Both players received the captain’s honor following a vote of their teammates prior to the season.

They’ve Got The Know-How
Notre Dame is one of only two schools in the country that have two or more WNBA veterans on their coaching staffs. Associate head coach Coquese Washington played six seasons (1998-2003) in the league with three different clubs, and also served as the first-ever president of the WNBA Players Association. Meanwhile, assistant coach Angie Potthoff spent the 2000 season as a starter with the Minnesota Lynx after two years in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL) with the two-time champion Columbus Quest.

Besides Notre Dame, Virginia Commonwealth is the other school with multiple WNBA veterans on its staff. VCU assistant coach Wendy Palmer-Daniel currently plays for the San Antonio Silver Stars, while the Rams’ head coach is a familiar name to Irish women’s basketball fans – Beth (Morgan) Cunningham, who played for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics in 2000 after an All-America career at Notre Dame from 1993-97.

Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame will have nine of its regular-season games televised during the 2005-06 season. Highlighting this year’s television docket are six nationally-televised Irish women’s basketball contests, including three consecutive games on the ESPN family of networks during a 12-day span in mid-February.

This year’s TV slate continues a recent trend that has seen the Irish become a regular fixture on television. Beginning with the NCAA championship season of 2000-01 (and including games to date this year), Notre Dame has played in 65 televised games, including 40 that were broadcast nationally. Last year, the Irish had 17 games televised, with 10 being national broadcasts.

Notre Dame is 3-2 in televised games this year, with wins over Western Michigan and USC (Comcast Local), as well as DePaul (CSTV). Notre Dame’s remaining TV games are:

• Tuesday vs. Villanova (ESPNU) – 6 p.m. ET
• Feb. 12 @ DePaul (ESPN2) – 4:40 p.m. CT
• Feb. 19 vs. UConn (ESPN2) – 7 p.m. ET
• Feb. 25 @ Cincinnati (BIG EAST TV) – 2 p.m. ET During the past five seasons, Notre Dame has appeared on the ESPN family of networks 24 times, averaging nearly five telecasts per year on “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”.

The Feb. 25 game at Cincinnati will air as part of the BIG EAST-Regional Sports Network (RSN) package. Among the outlets scheduled to televise the game live are WHME-TV (Channel 46 in South Bend), Comcast Chicago, Comcast Local, Comcast Philadelphia and Madison Square Garden Network.

Check Out The New Digs
The Notre Dame women’s basketball program recently relocated its first-floor offices at the Joyce Center to the west wing of the facility, adjacent to Gate 1. The renovated suites include plasma televisions in each coach’s individual office (as well as one in the main conference room), a stand-alone video editing facility and tape library (complete with the latest in video editing technology and software), and spacious meeting facilities. The centerpiece of the offices is the main reception area, which features a hardwood floor comprised entirely of the exact court upon which the Irish won the 2001 NCAA Championship at the Saavis Center in St. Louis.

The new women’s basketball offices are part of a series of relocations and renovations of office space within the Joyce Center. The Irish men’s basketball program – which previously filled the space where the women now reside – has moved to the opposite corner of the first-floor west wing offices, taking over the Gate 2 area formerly occupied by the Notre Dame football program (which now operates out of the 95,840-square foot Guglielmino Athletics Complex that opened last summer and is located northeast of the Joyce Center).

Riley Named One Of ESPN.com’s Top 25 Players Of The Past 25 Years
Former Notre Dame All-America center and 2001 consensus National Player of the Year Ruth Riley has been selected as one of the top 25 women’s college basketball players of the past 25 years, according to ESPN.com. The list of all-time greats was released Jan. 10 in conjunction with the silver anniversary celebration of the inaugural NCAA women’s basketball season in 1981-82.

A native of Macy, Ind., Riley was tapped as one of the legends of the sport in part because of her contributions in the NCAA Tournament, where she led Notre Dame to three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and the 2001 national championship. In the ’01 NCAA title game vs. Purdue, Riley tallied 28 points (on 9-of-13 shooting), 13 rebounds and seven blocks, not to mention the two game-winning free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining which snapped a 66-66 tie. It was an effort that ESPN.com termed as “the third-best all-time championship game performance in NCAA history.” That outing capped a six-game NCAA tourney stretch in which the 6-foot-5 post averaged 23.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting at a .632 clip (48-of-76).

Riley was a two-time first-team Associated Press All-America selection and two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America choice, earning Academic All-America Team Member of the Year honors in 2001. In addition, she was a three-time first team all-BIG EAST selection, earning the league’s Player of the Year award in 2001 and the conference Defensive Player of the Year hardware three consecutive years. The only player in school history to amass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career (2,072 points/1,007 rebounds), Riley also is the Irish all-time leader in seven statistical categories, including blocked shots (370 – fifth in NCAA history) and field goal percentage (.632 – 11th in NCAA history).

Next Game: DePaul
The Irish will face their only repeat opponent of the BIG EAST Conference regular season when they travel to Chicago Sunday for a 4:40 p.m. (CT)/5:40 p.m. (ET) rematch with No. 17 DePaul at the DePaul Athletic Center. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 as part of that network’s “February Frenzy” promotion (designed to mimic its whiparound coverage for next month’s NCAA Tournament).

DePaul (18-5, 5-5 BIG EAST) is in the midst of its longest dry spell of the season, having lost three in a row and four of six after rising in the top 10 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ polls earlier this year. The Blue Demons are coming off a 67-57 loss at (then) No. 9 Rutgers on Saturday, a contest that was much closer than the final score would indicate.

DePaul hosts Cincinnati Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CT) prior to facing the Irish.