Dec. 3, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame Athletics Ticket Office has announced that Sunday’s Irish women’s basketball game against No. 17/20 Purdue at the Joyce Center (scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET tipoff) is sold out. This marks the sixth time in school history Notre Dame will host a capacity crowd of 11,418 fans, and the third sellout in two seasons, with the most recent Joyce Center full house coming on Jan. 27, 2008, when the Irish entertained top-ranked Connecticut in a nationally-televised contest.
Sunday’s sellout also will represent the first time that Notre Dame and Purdue will face off before a capacity crowd in 18 on-campus series meetings (it will be the 22nd matchup overall). On April 1, 2001, the Irish and Boilermakers did play before a gathering of 20,551 fans at a jam-packed Savvis Center in St. Louis, as Notre Dame edged Purdue, 68-66 to win its first national championship. The Boilermakers lead the all-time series 14-7, but the rivalry is tied 4-4 at the Joyce Center, and the Irish have won three of the past four games, including a 61-48 victory last season in West Lafayette, Ind.
Notre Dame (6-0) is ranked 11th in the current Associated Press poll and No. 8 in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, and is coming off an 83-63 win at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night. Purdue (5-1) will play host to No. 8/11 Maryland Thursday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge before heading to South Bend for the Sunday matinee with the Irish.
— ND —