Jan. 23, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — For the third time in the last four weeks, Irish women’s basketball senior All-American 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 wins last week over top-ranked Connecticut and Seton Hall as she averaged 21.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. She also earned player-of-the-week honors for the weeks of on Jan. 1 and 8. Riley currently averages 17.3 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game and is the only player in the country among the top 20 leaders in blocks (third at 3.00/game) and field-goal percentage (fourth at .663) according to the most recent NCAA statistical leaders.

The Irish center poured in a season-high 29 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four assists and five blocks in Notre Dame’s 92-76 win over top-ranked Connecticut on Jan. 15. In the win at Seton Hall on Sunday, Riley scored 13 points and had four rebounds in 29 minutes of actions. For the week, she shot 12-16 (.750) from the field and 18-21 (.857) from the free throw line, including 13-13 vs. Connecticut.

The award marks the eighth 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 11 BIG EAST weekly honors — the most ever for any Irish women’s basketball player.

Notre Dame defeated host Seton Hall 72-47 on Sunday to improve to 18-0 on the season and 7-0 in the BIG EAST in its first outing since the Connecticut game. The 18-game winning streak currently is the longest active streak in the country. The Irish will play their first-ever game as the No. 1 team when they travel to West Virginia for a 7:00 p.m. BIG EAST game on Wed., Jan. 24, at the WVU Coliseum.