Dec. 6, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second consecutive week, a Notre Dame women’s basketball player has earned a spot on the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll, as sophomore guard Skylar Diggins (South Bend, Ind./Washington) was tapped for this week’s squad, the league office announced Monday. Following in the footsteps of junior guard Natalie Novosel (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic), Diggins was one of five players chosen for this week’s honor, which recognizes outstanding weekly achievements by conference players who are not chosen as the BIG EAST Player of the Week.
Diggins averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game with a .484 field goal percentage (15-of-31) last week, as Notre Dame dropped a 76-65 decision at No. 2/3 Baylor last Wednesday before bouncing back with a near wire-to-wire 72-51 win over in-state rival Purdue on Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion.
At Baylor, Diggins scored a game-high 21 points (including a career-high-tying 4-of-7 from three-point range) and dished out a game-best five assists, and played a major role in a second-half comeback that saw the Fighting Irish rally from a 22-point deficit to get within six points with five minutes remaining before the host Lady Bears held on for the win. Diggins scored eight of her 21 points during a lightning-fast 12-0 spurt in 79 seconds that helped get Notre Dame right back in the contest.
Four days later against Purdue, Diggins scored all 14 of her points in the first half, including six in the first three minutes, as the Fighting Irish rolled to their largest win in the 24-game series with the Boilermakers. Diggins also handed out a game-high six assists, expertly piloting a Notre Dame offense that shot 50 percent from the field and led by double figures for the final 24 minutes of the afternoon.
Diggins currently ranks second on the team (and 15th in the BIG EAST) in scoring at 13.9 points per game, having scored in double figures seven times this season. She also is sixth in the conference in assists (team-high 5.0 apg.) and tied for eighth in the loop in steals (2.3 spg.).
The No. 18/16 Fighting Irish are preparing to tip off BIG EAST play at 7 p.m. (ET) Wednesday when they travel to Providence, R.I., for a matchup with the Friars at Alumni Hall/Mullaney Gymnasium. The game can be heard live on the radio in the Michiana area on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1), as well as worldwide on the Internet at www.UND.com.
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s basketball program, sign up to follow the Fighting Irish women’s basketball Twitter pages (www.twitter.com/ndwbbsid or www.twitter.com/notredamewbb) or register for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the sidebar on the women’s basketball page at UND.com.
— ND —