Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Ruth Riley Earns Fourth BIG EAST Player-of-the-Week Honor

Feb. 12, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — For the fourth week this season, Notre Dame women’s basketball senior All-America center and national player-of-the-year candidate Ruth Riley has been named BIG EAST player of the week. Riley helped the Irish remain unbeaten with a win last week over Pittsburgh in Notre Dame’s only game of the week. The Macy, Ind., native scored a season-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds for her third consecutive and seventh double-double of the season. Riley also blocked seven shots — the most by a BIG EAST player this season and one short of her career high of eight blocked shots.

The award marks the ninth time in Riley’s career she has been named BIG EAST player of the week. She also was named BIG EAST rookie of the week on three occasions in 1997-98 for a total of 12 BIG EAST weekly honors — the most ever for any Irish women’s basketball player.

Riley also earned player-of-the-week honors for the weeks of on Jan. 1, Jan. 8 and Jan. 22. Riley currently averages a BIG EAST leading 18.7 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game and is the only player in the country among the top 20 leaders in blocks (third at 3.14/game) and field-goal percentage (fourth at .651) according to the most recent NCAA statistical leaders. Riley enters the week two free throws from breaking the Notre Dame record for career free throws (447 by Beth Morgan, 1993-97) and needs just two rebounds to become the third Irish player to reach the 900-rebound milestone.