Notre Dame Set To Take On Pittsburgh Tuesday

Feb. 27, 2006

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish (16-10 / 7-8 BIG EAST) vs. Pittsburgh Panthers (18-8 / 9-6 BIG EAST)

Storylines

• Notre Dame appears to have regained its offensive touch in the past two games, averaging 72.5 ppg. with a .509 field goal percentage (54-of-106) in wins at West Virginia and Cincinnati.
• The Irish will honor their seniors in a ceremony prior to Tuesday night’s game against Pittsburgh. Notre Dame is 23-5 (.821) all-time on Senior Night, including a 16-2 (.889) record in the Muffet McGraw era.

After four seasons of numerous contributions and memorable moments, Notre Dame senior co-captains Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere will take the Joyce Center hardwood for the final time when the Irish play host to Pittsburgh Tuesday at 7 p.m. (ET). Duffy and LaVere, as well as senior managers Meghan Callahan and Luke Hoover, and senior video assistant Janelle Tretter, all will be honored in a pregame ceremony.

Notre Dame (16-10, 7-8 BIG EAST) has won its last two games and is coming off a stirring 75-66 overtime victory at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines was the hero, sinking the game-tying basket at the horn in regulation on the way to her first career double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds).

Duffy and LaVere also played a major role in the win over the Bearcats, sharing team-high scoring honors with 17 points each.

Rankings

• Notre Dame is not ranked.
• Pittsburgh is not ranked.

Web Sites

• Notre Dame: http://www.und.com
• Pittsburgh: http://www.pittsburghpanthers.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 591-264 (.691).

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

• Saint Joseph’s ’77
• 19th season at Notre Dame
• 427-165 (.721) at Notre Dame.
• 515-206 (.714) 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 turn south, losing nine of its last 16 games, including the program’s first three-game losing streaks 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 for the first two months of the season.

One of the critical elements for the Irish to be successful this season has been offensive balance. On 20 occasions (including each of the past eight games), Notre Dame has had at least three players scoring in double figures (going 14-6), and eight separate players have cracked double digits at least three times 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 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, 4.19 assists and 2.00 steals per game, with a 1.73 assist/turnover ratio, ranking among the top 10 in the BIG EAST in all four categories. In addition, she leads the league and ranks 11th in the nation in foul shooting (.894). She also has led the team in scoring 14 times and in assists 18 times this year.

Among her many honors this year, Duffy is one of 11 nominees for the Nancy Lieberman Award (top point guard in the nation), a mid-season candidate for the Naismith Trophy, a first-team academic all-district honoree, a two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week selection (Jan. 23, Feb. 27), 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 11 games, the longest such streak of her career.

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. Schrader is second on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg.) and tops in rebounding (5.5 rpg.), and has scored in double figures five times in the past eight games (11.5 ppg. in that time), including a season-high 24 points at Syracuse on Jan. 31.

Sophomore guard Charel Allen and senior forward Courtney LaVere also have shown signs of being dependable options for the Irish. LaVere ranks third on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg.), with Allen fourth (8.4 ppg.), while Allen is third in rebounding (4.3 rpg.), and LaVere is tops in both field goal percentage (.516) and blocks (1.46 bpg.), tying for fifth in the BIG EAST in the latter category. LaVere was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Feb. 6, and both players have come alive in recent games. Allen is on a run of six double-figure scoring games in her last eight outings, averaging 10.3 ppg. in that stretch. Meanwhile, LaVere is averaging 10.0 ppg. with a .583 field goal percentage returning to the starting lineup on Jan. 24.

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 slightly over their six-year average, allowing opponents to score 62.8 ppg.

• The Irish are 3-5 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 12-4 (.750) at home against Top 25 competition (2-2 this year).

• Drawing 8,193 fans to their Feb. 19 game vs. Connecticut (the 13th-largest crowd in school history and second-biggest of the season), the Irish now have welcomed crowds of 5,000 or more fans to 77 of their last 79 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 Feb. 27, Notre Dame ranks 11th in the country in average home attendance with 6,682 fans per game.

• Senior guard Megan Duffy was named a preseason All-American by three sources, was 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 Pittsburgh
Without question, Pittsburgh (18-8, 9-6) has emerged as the most improved team in the BIG EAST Conference this season. Currently tied for fifth place in the league standings, the Panthers, who were picked to finish 13th in the preseason poll of conference coaches, already have five more wins than all of last year and are aiming for their first 10-win BIG EAST season since 1994-95 (10-8).

Pitt has won six of its last eight games entering Tuesday night’s regular-season finale at Notre Dame. However, the Panthers dropped their last contest, 65-50 to No. 7/8 Rutgers at home on Saturday. Sophomore center Marcedes Walker did all she could, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds to pick up her 11th double-double of the season (and eighth in the past 10 games). Junior guard Mallorie Winn added 12 points and senior forward Cheron Taylor shared team-high honors with 10 rebounds for Pitt, which won the rebounding battle, 39-35, but shot 30.4 percent from the floor in the loss.

Walker, a preseason all-BIG EAST selection this year, has lived up to that billing, ranking among the conference leaders in scoring (4th – 17.6 ppg.), rebounding (2nd – 9.3 rpg.) and field goal percentage (9th – .491). Winn, who sat out last season after transferring from Georgia Tech, has made an immediate impact for the Panthers, placing ninth in the BIG EAST in both scoring (15.2 ppg.) and assists (3.96 apg.). In addition, Taylor is 10th in the league in rebounding (7.6 rpg.) and freshman guard Xenia Stewart also is scoring in double figures (10.3 ppg.) this year.

Agnus Berenato is in her third season as the head coach at Pitt, having built a 37-43 (.463) record at the school. Including prior tenures at both Rider and Georgia Tech, Berenato has a career record of 320-307 (.510) in 22 years of coaching. She is 0-3 all-time vs. Notre Dame.

The Notre Dame-Pittsburgh Series
Notre Dame and Pittsburgh did not face one another prior to the Irish joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96. However, since then, the series with the Panthers has been one of the more frequent matchups on Notre Dame’s league schedule. The Irish have a 15-0 record all-time against Pitt, including a 6-0 mark at the Joyce Center.

Notre Dame first played the Panthers on Feb. 7, 1996 in South Bend, collecting a 90-51 win at the Joyce Center. To this day, the 39-point margin remains the largest by either side in the series.

That victory was the first of five in a row by double digits for the Irish against Pittsburgh. That changed when the Panthers battled Notre Dame all the way in an 81-72 victory on Jan. 16, 1999, starting a run where eight of nine series games were decided by 14 points or less.

The closest stretch of games in that span came in a four-game period from 2002-04. Pitt steadily closed the margin from 12 points down to the slimmest spread of the 15-game series, a 72-68 Irish win on Feb. 21, 2004 in Pittsburgh. Notre Dame came back last year with a 75-47 victory, also at the Petersen Events Center, marking the largest margin in the series in nine years.

Other Notre Dame-PittsburghSeries Tidbits
* Pittsburgh is one of two BIG EAST Conference opponents Notre Dame has played at least five times and has never lost to. The other is Providence, with the Irish now 14-0 all-time against the Friars after a 66-48 win back on Feb. 4 at the Joyce Center.

• Ten of the 15 series games have been decided by double digits, but only five of the past 10 have had margins exceeding 10 points.

• The series shifts back to Notre Dame for the first time since Feb. 26, 2003 (a 77-69 Irish win) and just the second time in seven games, dating back to the late stages of the 2000-01 season.

• This year’s matchup marks the second time Notre Dame has closed out the regular season against Pittsburgh. On Feb. 27, 2001, the Irish clinched a share of their first-ever BIG EAST Conference regular-season title with an 82-63 victory at Pittsburgh.

• Notre Dame has scored 65 or more points in each of its 15 meetings with Pitt, while the Panthers have reached that standard five times against the Irish, including three of the past four games. The Notre Dame offense has been even more potent in the past four games, topping 70 points on each occasion.

• The two head coaches in Tuesday night’s game have faced one another on the sidelines eight times during the past 25 seasons. Irish head coach Muffet McGraw is 8-0 in these contests with Pitt skipper Agnus Berenato, with the first five games coming when McGraw was at Lehigh and Berenato at Rider in the early 1980s.

* Notre Dame sophomore guard Charel Allen is a native of Monessen, Pa., located not far from Pittsburgh, and graduated from Monessen High School in 2004. Allen is one of leading scorers in Pennsylvania high school history, having piled up 3,110 points during her storied prep career.

* First-year Notre Dame coordinator of basketball operations Stephanie Menio graduated from Pittsburgh in 2004 with a degree in business administration. During her time there, Menio spent two years as a marketing assistant with the Panther women’s basketball program, and in conjunction with the debut of the new Petersen Events Center, she aided in the program’s 114-percent increase in attendance from 2002-04 and the first women’s basketball sellout in school history (12,632 vs. Connecticut on Jan. 25, 2003).

The Last Time Notre Dame And Pittsburgh Met The fans drawn by Charel Allen almost made it seem like a home game for Notre Dame. Courtney LaVere made certain it wasn’t a game at all once Pitt’s leading scorer got into foul trouble.

LaVere came off the bench to lead No. 6/7 Notre Dame’s pivotal 14-0 run late in the first half and the Fighting Irish went on to their seventh consecutive victory, beating Pittsburgh 75-47 on Feb. 5, 2005 at the Petersen Events Center.

LaVere scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half to help Notre Dame (20-3, 8-2 BIG EAST) turn a 24-18 lead into a 38-18 advantage over a five-minute stretch in which Pitt star Marcedes Walker drew her third foul.

Walker had 13 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:32 remaining for Pitt (11-10, 3-7).

Allen also didn’t start but scored 16 points while being cheered on by hundreds of fans from her Monessen, Pa., hometown.

With Walker out, the 6-foot-1 LaVere and 6-3 Teresa Borton dominated inside against Pittsburgh, which was far less physical without the BIG EAST’s third leading rebounder.

LaVere started the run with a steal and finished it with consecutive baskets, then added two free throws after Pittsburgh scored for the first time in five minutes on Jessica Allen’s three-pointer, her only basket.

Borton had two blocked shots, a steal and a basket, and Crystal Erwin added a steal and basket during the run, which repeatedly saw the Panthers settle for three-point attempts when they couldn’t get the ball inside. Borton finished with 10 points and four blocked shots, and Erwin had eight points.

Pitt was only 5-of-26 on three-pointers, with Vika Sholokhova going 1-of-9. Notre Dame was so successful pounding the ball inside it attempted only six three-pointers, making two.

Jacqueline Batteast added 12 points for Notre Dame, whose seven-game streak includes four victories over ranked opponents – topped by a 65-59 decision at three-time defending national champion Connecticut that ended the Huskies’ 112-game Big East home winning streak.

Walker, a muscular former high school shot putter, had little help offensively. Katie Histed had eight points and five rebounds, but missed 12 of 15 shots as the Panthers shot 25 percent (17-of-68) to Notre Dame’s 43.5 percent (27-of-62).

Going Out On Top
Notre Dame is 23-5 (.821) all-time on Senior Night, including a 16-2 record in the Muffet McGraw era (1987-present). In fact, the Irish lost their first Senior Night game under McGraw (69-68 vs. DePaul in 1988), but have proceeded to win on 16 of the past 17 Senior Nights since then. The only setback during this current stretch came in 2002, when Villanova edged the Irish, 48-45 and broke Notre Dame’s school-record 51-game home winning streak in the process.

Last season, the Irish sent off Jacqueline Batteast and Teresa Borton in fine fashion with an 82-57 Senior Day victory over West Virginia on Feb. 26, 2005 at the Joyce Center.

Duffy Named BIG EAST Player Of The Week
For the second time this season and third in her career, senior All-America guard and co-captain Megan Duffy was selected as the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. Duffy, who also has earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times this season, is the seventh player in school history to be a three-time BIG EAST Player of the Week in her career (all seven have gone on to receive All-America recognition), and first since Jacqueline Batteast took the honor five times from 2003-05.

Last week, Duffy averaged 19.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game with a .550 field goal percentage (11-of-20) and a .545 three-point percentage (6-of-11) as Notre Dame picked up BIG EAST road victories at West Virginia (70-58) and Cincinnati (75-66, OT). Against West Virginia, Duffy scored 17 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, making 5-of-7 shots (4-of-6 three-pointers) in the final 20 minutes alone. Three days later at UC, Duffy shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points, including 10 in overtime (highlighted by 8-of-8 free throws) as the Irish downed the Bearcats.

Bonus Basketball
The Irish have played a school-record four overtime games this season, breaking the old mark of three held by the 1995-96 club. Notre Dame also has established a new BIG EAST record for OT games in regular-season conference play, surpassing the three overtime games played by three teams (most recently in 1990-91 by Boston College and St. John’s).

Prior to this season, the Irish had played only two BIG EAST regular-season OT games, winning both (88-79 vs. Seton Hall in 1996; 78-74 at Rutgers in 2000).

The Greenhouse Effect
Notre Dame has won its last two games on the road, both while sporting its seldom-used green alternate uniforms. Prior to their Feb. 22 game at West Virginia, the Irish had not worn their green duds since March 27, 2004, when they dropped a 55-49 decision to No. 5/7 Penn State in the NCAA Sweet 16 at Hartford.

Notre Dame is 7-4 (.636) all-time when playing in the greens, including a 4-1 (.800) mark in regular-season play.

When The Game Is On The Line
The Irish have posted a .684 free throw percentage (80-of-117) in the final two minutes and overtime of games this season, including a 10-of-11 effort in Saturday’s overtime win at Cincinnati.

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 38 of 40 foul shots (.950) in crunch time.

Spine-Chiller Supremes
Former Oakland Raiders cornerback (and noted quote machine) Lester Hayes used to refer to close, exciting games as “spine-chiller supremes.” Lester probably would have used the same phrase to describe Notre Dame’s season to date.

The Irish have played eight games decided by five points or less, going 5-3 in those contests. Three games have gone into overtime (part of a school-record four OT games this year), and all three losses were in doubt heading into the final minute of regulation (two defeats occurring in OT).

Don’t Count Us Out
While Notre Dame has gotten into an unfortunate habit of falling behind by double-digit margins this season, the Irish have also found a way to claw back into the contest with dramatic second-half rallies.

In 13 games this season, Notre Dame has used a significant second-half run to either take control or battle back into contention. 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.

A History Lesson
With one steal vs. South Florida on Jan. 28, 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 1,228 points and 213 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 485 career assists, putting her just 15 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.

Among The Best In The Business
Senior All-America guard Megan Duffy has been selected by a panel of national sportswriters as one of 11 nominees for the seventh annual Nancy Lieberman Award, which is presented annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit to the nation’s top point guard.

The award is named after Hall of Famer and two-time Wade Trophy winner Nancy Lieberman, who guided Old Dominion to the 1978 and 1980 AIAW national titles and now serves as a broadcaster for ESPN. The trophy goes to the player who possesses the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Lieberman during her career.

Duffy also is one of 30 players who have been designated as mid-season candidates for the Naismith Trophy, it was announced Feb. 17 by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top women’s college basketball player, with the top 30 mid-season candidates chosen from a preseason group of 50 based upon player performance during the season.

More Than A Passing Grade For Duffy
Senior guard Megan Duffy was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V First Team, it was announced Feb. 9. It’s the second consecutive year that Duffy has been chosen for academic all-district honors (she was a second-team pick in 2004-05), and with her selection to the first team, Duffy now is eligible for Academic All-America honors, becoming the first Irish women’s basketball player to make the national ballot since Ruth Riley did so in three consecutive years (1999-2001). In 2000 and 2001, Riley earned first-team Academic All-America citations, in addition to being named the ’01 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.

Duffy currently holds a 3.555 cumulative grade-point average in the College of Arts and Letters, where she is pursuing a double major in psychology and computer applications. She has earned Dean’s List honors in each of the past four semesters, including a 3.917 GPA in the spring 2005 term and a 3.821 GPA in the recently-completed fall 2005 semester.

Game #26 Recap: Cincinnati
Sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines picked the perfect time for the best game of her young college career, posting her first-ever double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to help Notre Dame register a critical 75-66 overtime win at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 1,072 fans inside Fifth Third Arena. Gaines also was responsible for sending the Irish (16-10, 7-8 BIG EAST) to their school-record fourth overtime game of the season, hitting the game-tying layup as time expired in regulation.

Senior co-captains Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere displayed expert leadership against the Bearcats, each scoring a game-high 17 points. Duffy had 10 of her markers in overtime, including 8-of-8 at the foul line, and now has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games. Meanwhile, LaVere added seven rebounds and a season-high four blocks (one off her career best) while knocking down 8-of-11 shots from the floor.

Freshman guard Lindsay Schrader also made big contributions for Notre Dame, scoring five of her 11 points in overtime and coming up with the two biggest assists of the game – to Gaines for the game-tying layup and then to LaVere for an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:07 left in OT that put the Irish ahead for good.

Treasure Humphries and Karen Twehues
scored 14 points apiece for Cincinnati (17-9, 7-8), while Michelle Jones added 11 points and nine rebounds. The Bearcats won the battle on the boards, 41-38, but Notre Dame shot a sharp 49.1 percent from the floor (.571 in the second half and overtime) and was strong from the foul line when it counted, going 16-of-19 (.842) in the second half and OT session.

Saturday’s contest was a tight affair throughout, as the teams combined for 13 ties and 15 lead changes. Neither side led by more than six points at any time in regulation, with UC seemingly taking the final lead on Humphries’ off-balance jumper with 2.4 seconds remaining.

Irish head coach Muffet McGraw then called her own timeout and diagrammed a game-tying play – LaVere whipped a three-quarter court baseball pass to Schrader, whose touch pass to Gaines was perfect, and the speedy guard drove all the way in for the equalizer as the horn sounded.

The teams traded the lead five times and were tied once during the first half of the overtime period, with Humphries squaring the score at 62-all on the second of two free throws with 2:18 left. On Notre Dame’s next possession, Schrader found LaVere knifing down the lane and the veteran forward converted a layup in traffic and was fouled by Jones. LaVere drained the ensuing free throw, igniting an 11-2 Irish run that featured a foul line jumper by Schrader, followed by eight consecutive free throws from Duffy in the final 42 seconds to secure the win.

Noting The Cincinnati Win

• Notre Dame played its school-record fourth overtime game of the season, breaking the old mark of three set by the 1995-96 Irish squad.
• All four of Notre Dame’s OT games have come against BIG EAST Conference opponents (Marquette, South Florida, Villanova and Cincinnati), setting a new league record for regular-season overtime contests in BIG EAST play (previous: three on three occasions, most recently by Boston College and St. John’s in 1990-91).
• Notre Dame had at least three double-digit scorers for the eighth consecutive game and 20th time in 26 outings this season.
• Notre Dame’s 28-24 halftime lead was its first at the break since Feb. 4 vs. Providence.
• Notre Dame topped the 70-point mark for the second game in a row, the first time it has done that since a five-game stretch from Nov. 20-Dec. 4.
• Sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines set new career highs with 14 points (previous: 12, twice, last vs. Seton Hall on Jan. 7), 11 rebounds (previous: nine vs. West Virginia on Feb. 26, 2005) and eight free throws made (tied previous mark set against Seton Hall on Jan. 7).
• Gaines is the fourth different Irish player to notch a double-double this year, joining freshman guard Lindsay Schrader (two), sophomore center Melissa D’Amico (one) and junior forward Crystal Erwin (one); Gaines’ double-double was the first by a Notre Dame player since Erwin’s double-dip on Jan. 4 at St. John’s.
• Senior All-America guard Megan Duffy’s current 11-game double-figure scoring streak not only remains a career best, but also is the longest in a single season since Jacqueline Batteast had a 12-game run early in her freshman campaign of 2001-02.
• Duffy’s 17 points boosted her into 14th place on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 1,228 points, passing Letitia Bowen (1,219 from 1991-95).
• Senior forward Courtney LaVere also moved up a spot on the Irish all-time points list, now with 1,109 points to surpass Danielle Green (1,106 from 1995-2000) for 18th in Notre Dame history.
• LaVere’s four blocks were the most by an Irish player in a game since Teresa Borton had five vs. West Virginia on Feb. 26, 2005; LaVere also rose to sixth place on the school’s career blocks list with 134 swats, passing Shari Matvey who had 133 from 1979-83.

Duffy, LaVere Join ND 1,000-Point Club
Senior co-captains Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere became the 21st and 22nd members of Notre Dame’s 1,000-Point Club earlier this season. Duffy did so at St. John’s on Jan. 4, with LaVere following suit 10 days (and three games) later on Jan. 14 at Louisville.

Duffy currently has 1,228 career points, good for 14th on the Irish career scoring chart. LaVere is 18th all-time with 1,109 points.

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.

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 64-17 (.790) in February games, including a 36-3 (.923) mark at home. Two of those February home losses for the Irish in the past 11 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 earlier this month on Feb. 19 (79-64).

In the 19-year Muffet McGraw era (1987-present), the Irish are 112-32 (.778) in the month of February, including a 58-9 (.866) 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).

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 515-206 (.714) in 24 years of coaching, including 19 seasons at Notre Dame (427-165, .721).

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.

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 has won 12 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 159-9 (.946) record when they hold their opponents to less than 60 points in a game. Notre Dame is 9-0 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 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 150 games (.893) at the 11,418-seat Joyce Center, including winning streaks of 51 and 25 games in that span. Notre Dame also has a 79-12 (.868) 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 284-77 (.787) 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 6,682 fans in its 12 home games this season, and is 11th 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 77 of their last 79 home games, including 14 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, 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.

Notre Dame On The Small Screen
Notre Dame had nine of its regular-season games televised during the 2005-06 season. Highlighting this year’s television docket were six nationally-televised Irish women’s basketball contests, including three consecutive games on the ESPN family of networks (which has shown 27 Notre Dame games in the past six seasons).

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 69 televised games, including 43 that were broadcast nationally. Last year, the Irish had 17 games televised, with 10 being national broadcasts.

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: BIG EAST Championship
Notre Dame tips off postseason play Saturday with a first-round game in the 2006 BIG EAST Conference Championship, presented by Aeropostale, at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Conn.

Due to a variety of possible seeding scenarios, Notre Dame’s first-round opponent and time of that game will not be known until after all games have been played Tuesday night. The Irish do know they will be no lower than the No. 11 seed, meaning they will not play in the first game of the tournament (noon ET on Saturday).