Dec. 11, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the first time this season, Notre Dame will play a second consecutive home game as it welcomes Western Michigan to the Joyce Center Wednesday for a 7 p.m. (EST) non-conference matchup. It is the middle contest in a three-game homestand for the Irish, who own the nation’s longest active home court winning streak at 41 games and have won 26 consecutive non-conference home affairs dating back more than five years.
On the strength of a solid defensive effort, Notre Dame (3-4) returned to winning form Sunday afternoon with a 62-49 victory over USC at the Joyce Center. The Irish forced a season-high 27 turnovers, coming up with a season-best 10 blocks and 13 steals. Notre Dame also limited the Women of Troy to their lowest point output in five years and held them to a .328 field goal percentage, including one-of-12 from three-point range.
Freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast scored a career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds and a career-best five steals to pace the Irish offensive attack. Sophomore guard Le’Tania Severe chipped in a career-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and a personal-best five steals. Additionally, junior center Amanda Barksdale made her first career start and tied her career high with seven blocked shots, including five in the first half.
USC scored four of the first five points of the game to take its only lead of the day. The Irish quickly responded with a 10-0 run, capped by a rare four-point play from junior guard Alicia Ratay. The Women of Troy cut the deficit to six points twice midway through the period, but by halftime, Notre Dame had rebuilt a 33-22 lead.
The Irish advantage reached 16 points four minutes into the second half before USC rallied to pull within 49-41 with 10 minutes to play. However, Notre Dame’s defense stepped up to preserve the win, holding the Women of Troy to eight points the rest of the way, including an eight-minute stretch where USC managed just a single point.
SCOUTING THE IRISH – Notre Dame looks to write a new chapter in its rapidly-developing history as the Irish defend their first NCAA championship in 2001-02. Seven monogram winners, including two starters, return from last season’s title-winning squad, giving head coach Muffet McGraw a broad foundation from which to build this year. In addition, the Irish welcome six talented freshmen to the fold, a group heralded as perhaps the finest recruiting class in school history and ranked as high as third by several national publications.
McGraw is in her 15th year at Notre Dame with a 325-121 (.729) record and has led the Irish to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and eight overall. She was a near-unanimous choice as national coach of the year in 2000-01, winning top honors from the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith Award), Associated Press, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), and Sports Illustrated for Women. She also was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, marking the third different conference to recognize McGraw as its top skipper since she took the reins at Notre Dame in 1987.
Both of Notre Dame’s returning starters were honored by the BIG EAST coaches in their preseason balloting. Senior guard/forward Ericka Haney (5.4 ppg., 4.7 rpg.) was a second team preseason all-conference pick and brings explosive quickness and versatility to the Irish lineup, along with veteran leadership. As Notre Dame’s only captain, she is being called upon to assume a greater mantle of responsibility in ’01-02. After starting the first six games for the Irish, she moved into a reserve role against USC, tallying six points and six rebounds. Junior guard Alicia Ratay (14.1 ppg., 5.6 rpg.) was a first team preseason all-BIG EAST choice and is one of 30 finalists for the Naismith Award after setting an NCAA record for three-point percentage (.547) by a sophomore last season. She carded a team-high 12 points last Thursday at Purdue and became the 19th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Joining Ratay in the backcourt is sophomore Le’Tania Severe (10.7 ppg., 4.3 rpg, 5.3 apg), who was hampered by injuries last season, appearing in just 22 games, but has confidently taken control of the Irish offense this season. She scored a career-high 17 points in her last outing on Sunday against USC. Juniors Monique Hernandez (0.3 ppg., 0.7 rpg.) and Karen Swanson (2.5 ppg., 1.0 rpg.), along with sophomore Jeneka Joyce (5.6 ppg., 1.7 rpg.) give McGraw tremendous flexibility in her guard rotation. Joyce earned her first career start Sunday against USC, hitting all three of her shots and finishing with seven points. Additionally, freshmen Allison Bustamante (3.0 ppg., 2.0 rpg.) Jill Krause (0.0 ppg., 1.0 rpg.) and Kelsey Wicks (3.8 ppg., 2.8 rpg.) provide the Irish with solid ballhandling and perimeter shooting depth. Bustamante will be out for another week while she recovers from a high left ankle sprain, an injury she suffered in practice on Nov. 28.
A pair of freshmen (and former Parade All-Americans) are making an immediate impact on the Notre Dame front line, as forward Jacqueline Batteast (13.0 ppg., 7.4 rpg.) and center Teresa Borton (5.3 ppg., 5.6 rpg.) started the first six games for the Irish. Batteast was named the 2001-02 preseason BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and her combination of speed, athleticism and perimeter shooting ability already make her a valuable weapon in the Irish arsenal. Batteast was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week for the second time on Monday after notching a career-high 19 points in Sunday’s win over USC. Meanwhile, at 6-3, Borton is a smooth and versatile post player with excellent mobility and a solid defensive presence. She showed tremendous promise in her first collegiate game against Valparaiso, scoring a game-high 14 points and grabbing a game-best nine rebounds. Junior Amanda Barksdale (4.0 ppg., 2.7 rpg., 4.0 bpg.) was one of the nation’s top shot blockers last season and has recovered nicely after missing Notre Dame’s first four games with a stress reaction in her right leg- she got her first career start Sunday against USC and responded by matching her career high with seven blocks. Meanwhile, freshman Katy Flecky (3.7 ppg., 3.3 rpg.) was a two-time Miss Colorado Basketball and offers the Irish an physical presence in the post. She missed the Michigan game and has seen limited action in the last two games after suffering a concussion in practice on Nov. 28.
SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN – The fates have not been kind to Western Michigan during the first month of the 2001-02 season. The Broncos come into Wednesday night’s game with a record of 2-6, a mark which includes four losses by four points or less and a 73-69 overtime setback in their most recent outing Sunday afternoon at Southeastern Conference stalwart Arkansas. However, WMU has had its moments this season, knocking off No. 21 Arizona State, 77-63, back on Nov. 24 at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Broncos also should be used to life on the road by the time they arrive in town for Wednesday’s battle with the Irish. WMU has played all but one of its eight games away from home this season, including the afore-mentioned junket to the Virgin Islands.
The Broncos are led by a three-headed monster, namely the combination of guard Casey Rost and forwards Kristin Koestier and Karen Deurloo. Rost, a 5-9 freshman, is WMU’s top threat from the perimeter, averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting a superb 47.7 percent (21-for-44) from behind the three-point line. Meanwhile, Koetsier, a 6-3 sophomore, has bounced back well from a season-ending knee injury in 2000-01, averaging a team-high 15 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She connected for a team-best 18 points in Sunday’s loss at Arkansas. Deurloo, a second-team all-MAC selection last season as a junior, is second on the team with 14.6 points per game, but leads the Broncos in rebounding (7.5) and field goal percentage (.544). She compiled a double-double against Arkansas, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds while hitting seven of her eight shots from the field.
As a team, Western Michigan is shooting 42.5 percent from the field, although its opponents are connecting at a 44.1 percent clip this season. With just five players taller than six feet, the Broncos also have had troubles on the glass, grabbing 34.9 rebounds per game, more than three caroms less than their opponents. WMU also has just eight blocked shots in eight games this season.
Ron Stewart is in his fifth season as the head coach at Western Michigan, owning a 55-66 (.455) record in that time. A former assistant coach with men’s teams at Florida, Kansas State, SMU and Nebraska, Stewart has guided the Broncos to a pair of WNIT berths and the 2000 Mid-American Conference West Division title. He is 0-1 all-time against the Irish.
THE NOTRE DAME-WESTERN MICHIGAN SERIES – Although their respective campuses are less than 75 miles apart, Notre Dame and Western Michigan have faced one another only six times on the hardwood, with the Irish winning all six games. The two teams squared off in five consecutive years during the mid-1980s before the series went dormant after the 1986-87 campaign.
The series didn’t resume until last season, when Notre Dame knocked off Western Michigan, 84-54 on Dec. 18, 2000 at the Joyce Center. Alicia Ratay led four players in double figures with 21 points, making nine of 12 shots from the field, including all three of her three-point attempts.The Irish shot a blistering 54.4 percent in the contest while holding the Broncos to 29.5 percent shooting, including a .176 mark in the second half (six-of-34). Karen Deurloo and Sarah Hurrle each scored 15 points for WMU.
Notre Dame has won all four times it has played Western Michigan at the Joyce Center, including 30-point wins in 1984 and 2000. Over the course of the six-game series, the Irish have outscored the Broncos by an average of 20.5 points per game (77.0 to 56.5).
NOTRE DAME AGAINST THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE – Notre Dame has posted a 24-14 (.632) all-time record against the current members of the Mid-American Conference, including a 10-7 (.588) mark under head coach Muffet McGraw. The Irish have won their last seven games against MAC opponents, a streak which dates back to the end of the 1994-95 season, Notre Dame’s last in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. In fact, Northern Illinois also was an MCC member with the Irish in that ’94-95 campaign before finding its way to the MAC in 1997.
Notre Dame has played 10 of the 13 MAC schools in its history and owns a winning record against Bowling Green (2-0), Eastern Michigan (2-0), Kent State (1-0), Northern Illinois (7-5), Ohio (1-0), Toledo (3-2) and Western Michigan (6-0). Only Ball State (1-2), Central Michigan (0-1) and Miami (Ohio) (1-4) have managed to defeat the Irish. Notre Dame has never faced Akron, Buffalo or Marshall.
TAKING ON THE WOLVERINE STATE – Notre Dame has had a tremendous amount of success against teams from the state of Michigan, going 42-20 (.677) in its history against such schools. The Irish have tasted victory more often against Detroit (22-2) than any other Michigan-based institution. In fact, Michigan State (4-6) and Central Michigan (0-1) are the only schools from the Wolverine State to hold a series lead over Notre Dame, while Michigan is now 6-6 all-time against the Irish after its win earlier this season in Grand Rapids.
PROTECTING PERFECTION – Coming into the 2001-02 season, Notre Dame had a perfect all-time record against nine of the opponents on its schedule. Western Michigan represents the third foe in that list, with the Irish holding a 6-0 series record against the Broncos. So far, Notre Dame is 1-1 when protecting its unbeaten series marks – the Irish downed Valparaiso in their season opener to move to 15-0 all-time against the Crusaders, but fell on a last-second shot at Arizona, giving the Wildcats their first win over Notre Dame in three career meetings. The other “perfect series” remaining on Notre Dame’s schedule this year include one non-conference opponent (Rice) and five BIG EAST Conference foes (Pittsburgh, Providence, St. John’s, Virginia Tech and West Virginia).
BATTEAST REPEATS AS BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – For the second time in as many weeks, freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast has been selected as the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week, the league office announced Monday. She is the first repeat winner of the award this season and the first Irish player to turn the trick since current teammate Alicia Ratay earned Rookie of the Week honors in three consecutive weeks (Feb. 7, 14, 21) during the 1999-2000 season. Ruth Riley, the 2001 consensus national player of the year, is the only other Irish player to win the award more than once, picking up three rookie awards during the 1997-98 campaign.
Batteast, the 2001-02 preseason BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field last week as Notre Dame lost at No. 7/8 Purdue, 70-57, but bounced back to defeat USC, 62-49. In the loss to the Boilermakers, Batteast tallied 10 points on five-of-eight shooting, to go along with four rebounds, a season-high four assists and three blocks. Three days later against USC, Batteast recorded a season-high 19 points, seven rebounds and a season-best five steals as the Irish downed the Women of Troy to extend the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 41 games.
JOYCE JUMPING INTO THE FRAY – Sophomore guard Jeneka Joyce has been a potent weapon for Notre Dame in the last four games. The Topeka, Kan., native has averaged 8.5 points per game while shooting 59 percent (13-of-22) from the field in that four-game stretch. She also tossed in a season-high 11 points on Dec. 2 in a loss to No. 16/17 Michigan.
Joyce was rewarded on Sunday with her first career start against USC. She responded by making all three of her shots from the field and finishing with seven points. This season, she leads the Irish in field goal (.538) and three-point (.471) percentage.
BARKSDALE’S BLOCK PARTY – Junior center Amanda Barksdale already has opponents dealing with rejection through the first month of the season. Although she missed Notre Dame’s first four games with a stress reaction in her leg, she still leads the Irish with 12 blocked shots (4.0 per game). She was at her best in Sunday’s win over USC, capitalizing on her first career start by matching her career high with seven blocks, including five in the first half alone.
In her career, Barksdale has 104 career blocks, making her only the fifth player in school history to reach the century mark in career rejections. She is averaging 1.58 blocks per game in her three-year career, which is second in Irish history behind only 2001 consensus national player of the year, Ruth Riley, who averaged 2.82 swats per game from 1997-2001.
ALICIA ALMOST AUTOMATIC FROM THE LINE – Junior guard Alicia Ratay has been nearly perfect from the free throw line this season, making 22 of 23 charity tosses and leading the BIG EAST Conference with a sparkling .957 free throw percentage. The Lake Zurich, Ill., native also has made 13 consecutive free throws, dating back to her final two shots at Colorado State on Nov. 21. Additionally, since the start of last season, she has made 90.6 percent of her foul shots (87-of-96).
Ratay is Notre Dame’s career free throw percentage leader by a wide margin, connecting on 86.8 percent of her charities (171-of-197) in her three-year tenure with the Irish. Mollie Peirick (1994-98) is second on the career free throw percentage list with an .819 ratio.
TWO MORE IRISH GAMES SLATED FOR TELEVISION – The Notre Dame games at Miami on Jan. 2 and Seton Hall on Feb. 2 now are scheduled to be televised regionally. The Miami contest will air on Fox Sports Florida, while the Seton Hall tussle will be shown on CN8, The Comcast Network in Philadelphia. Check your local listings for broadcast times and availability.
NOTRE DAME AMONG NATIONAL ATTENDANCE LEADERS – Notre Dame is ranked seventh in the nation, according to the first unofficial attendance figures compiled Monday by the University of Wisconsin Sports Information Department. The Irish have averaged 7,626 fans for their three home games, more than 1,200 above last season, when Notre Dame was ranked ninth in the country in attendance with an average of 6,376 fans per game.
IRISH HOPING TO ENJOY ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME – After a rugged first month of the season that saw Notre Dame face three ranked opponents and play four of its first six games away from home, the schedule now appears to balance out over the next month. The Irish are in the midst of a stretch where they play six of eight games at the Joyce Center, including a three-game homestand which began Sunday with a win over USC. Following Wednesday’s tilt with Western Michigan, Notre Dame will go on a 10-day hiatus for exams before returning to the court Dec. 22 against Marquette. After the Marquette contest, the Irish will have another six days off for the Christmas holidays before coming back Dec. 28 with a visit to Rice.
IRISH GOING THROUGH BASIC TRAINING – For the sixth time in the last eight seasons, Notre Dame played three ranked opponents in its first seven games, going 0-3 against Colorado State, Michigan and Purdue (all away from home). However, recent history has shown that these early-season tests have proven invaluable later in the year – during this stretch, the Irish have gone on to make six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Sweet Sixteen four times and the Final Four twice, including the 2001 national championship. Additionally, in the previous seven seasons (1995-2001), Notre Dame has gone on to win 20 games each year, carding four 25-win campaigns and two 30-win seasons.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK – With six freshmen on this year’s roster, Notre Dame is certainly going through some growing pains. However, the Irish rookies are getting a great deal of college experience this season, as evidenced by their production through the first seven games of the 2001-02 campaign. Notre Dame’s freshmen have accounted for 39.9 percent of the points (179 of 449), 45.7 percent of the rebounds (134 of 293) and 38.9 percent of the minutes (545 of 1400) recorded by the Irish this season. Additionally, Notre Dame has started at least two freshmen (Jacqueline Batteast and Teresa Borton) in its first six games this year, and four of the six Irish rookies are averaging at least 11 minutes per contest.
A SEVERE DEVELOPMENT – Sophomore guard Le’Tania Severe has quickly adapted to her new role as the starting point guard for the Irish, filling the large shoes of All-American Niele Ivey. In just her seventh game as a starter, Severe poured in a career-high 17 points and collected a career-best five steals in Sunday’s win over USC. She also has been adept at distributing the ball to her teammates, handing out at least five assists four times, including a career-high eight assists Dec. 6 at Purdue. In addition, she pulled down a career-best eight rebounds and played 37 minutes against the seventh-ranked Boilermakers.
Through the first seven games of this season, Severe is third on the team with 10.7 points per game and leads the squad with 5.3 assists per game, ranking seventh in the BIG EAST Conference in the latter category. Entering the 2001-02 campaign, her career highs were seven points and two assists and she had played in just 22 games due to injury.
IT’S BATTEAST, TO SAY THE LEAST – Although the 2001-02 season is only seven games old, freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast is already showing flashes of the potential which led the BIG EAST coaches to vote her as the league’s preseason Rookie of the Year. The South Bend, Ind., resident, who was chosen as the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week for the second time on Monday, already has posted two double-doubles this season (13 points/11 rebounds at Colorado State and 18 points/12 rebounds vs. Army) and has scored in double figures in six of Notre Dame’s seven games. This season, Batteast is second on the team in scoring at 13.0 points per game (19th in the BIG EAST Conference) and leads the squad with 7.4 rebounds per outing, good for eighth in the BIG EAST.
CRASHING THE BOARDS – Despite losing its top two rebounders from last year (Ruth Riley and Kelley Siemon), Notre Dame doesn’t appear to have broken stride in the rebounding department this season. The Irish have averaged 41.9 rebounds per game in their first seven games of 2001-02, owning a +5.2 edge on the glass.
Leading the charge on the boards for Notre Dame have been a pair of freshmen – forward Jacqueline Batteast is setting the pace at 7.4 rebounds per game, while center Teresa Borton is tied for second with 5.6 caroms per contest. In fact, five different players are averaging at least four rebounds per game. Additionally, the Irish have been potent on the offensive glass, collecting 15 offensive rebounds per game. Borton is setting the pace with 20 offensive caroms, more than half of her 39-rebound total this year.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE … – Over the last five-plus 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 90-1 (.989) record when they hold their opponents to less than 60 points in a game. Curiously, the only time that notion didn’t come to pass was last season, when Rutgers handed Notre Dame a 54-53 loss, one of only two setbacks the Irish suffered en route to the 2001 national championship. The Irish already have added to this total three times during the 2001-02 season, turning the trick against Valparaiso (35 points), Army (57) and USC (49).
… 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. Over the last five-plus seasons (1995-96 to present), the Irish are 80-3 (.964) 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. Notre Dame contributed another win to that growing record when it rang up 89 points in a win over Army on Nov. 26.
NOTRE DAME MAKING A LIVING BEYOND THE ARC – Notre Dame has established itself as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation over the last three seasons. The Irish led the nation in three-point percentage last year, hitting 46.4 percent of their shots from long distance – in fact, over the last six seasons, Notre Dame has averaged better than 10 three-point attempts per game. The Irish also set a new school record with 28 three-point tries in their win over Army on Nov. 26.
However, this year’s season-opening win over Valparaiso produced an offensive anomaly for Notre Dame. The Irish were held without a three-point field goal, breaking a streak of 50 consecutive games in which they had made at least one trey. Prior to that game, the last time Notre Dame had gone dry from beyond the arc was Jan. 26, 2000, at St. John’s.
Notre Dame didn’t waste time in starting up a new three-point streak, canning 40 triples in their last six games (6.7 treys per game). The Irish have now made at least one three-pointer in 152 of their last 154 games, a streak which stretches back more than four seasons.
FRESH FACES IN THE IRISH LINEUP – Notre Dame had a decidedly youthful look in its starting lineup when it opened the season Nov. 18 against Valparaiso, as freshmen Jacqueline Batteast and Teresa Borton got the nod at forward and center, respectively. In doing so, the pair were first rookie tandem in 20 years to start a season opener for the Irish – Ruth Kaiser and Mary Beth Schueth cracked the starting five in a 78-44 win over St. Joseph’s (Ind.) on Dec. 2, 1981. Borton paced the Irish with 14 points and nine rebounds against the Crusaders, while Batteast scored two points and grabbed five rebounds against Valparaiso.
THE END OF ONE STREAK … – For the first time since the end of the 1997-98 season, Notre Dame was not ranked in either of the major national polls on Dec. 3. The exclusion snapped a 60-week run in the ESPN/USA Today poll and a 56-week stretch in the AP rankings. This week, the Irish earned six points in the Associated Press poll and 15 points in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
… BUT THE CONTINUATION OF ANOTHER – Thanks to Kent State’s loss at home to Rhode Island on Dec. 1, Notre Dame now owns the longest active home winning streak in the nation at 41 games. The Irish have not lost a game at the Joyce Center since Dec. 8, 1998, when Connecticut logged a 106-81 victory. Notre Dame’s home winning streak next will be put to the test on Wednesday when the Irish welcome Western Michigan to the Joyce Center.
RATAY NAMED NAISMITH CANDIDATE FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR – Notre Dame junior guard Alicia Ratay has been selected as a preseason candidate for the 2001-02 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award. It marks the second time in as many seasons that Ratay has been named to the 30-player preseason Naismith watch list.
Ratay averaged 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season, and set an NCAA record for three-point percentage (54.7 percent) by a sophomore on the way to third-team all-BIG EAST Conference honors – she was the only sophomore to make any of the three all-league squads. Ratay also is a former BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press in 2000. She will be looking to follow in the footsteps of her former teammate, Ruth Riley, who won the 2000-01 Naismith Award, becoming the first Notre Dame women’s basketball player to be so recognized.
The Naismith Awards, in their 34th year, are given in honor of the inventor of the game of basketball – Dr. James Naismith. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball. The Awards, including Men’s and Women’s College Player of the Year, Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year, Male and Female Prep Player of the Year and Men’s and Women’s Official of the Year, are determined by a vote of the Naismith Board of Selectors. In addition, the Board of Selectors, comprised of a select group of leading basketball coaches, journalists and administrators, honors a Men’s and Women’s Outstanding Contributor to Basketball. The 2001-02 Naismith Award will presented April 5, 2002 in Atlanta.
NOTRE DAME PICKED SECOND IN BIG EAST PRESEASON BALLOTING – Fresh off a share of their first-ever BIG EAST championship last season, the Irish have been picked to finish second in 2001-02 according to a preseason poll of the league’s coaches which was released at BIG EAST Media Day on Oct. 25. Notre Dame claimed two first-place votes and 155 points overall, trailing only Connecticut (11 first-place votes, 167 points). Rutgers, Boston College and Villanova round out the top five, with VU picking up the remaining first-place vote.
Individually, junior guard Alicia Ratay was a first team preseason all-BIG EAST selection after earning third-team honors last year. The Lake Zurich, Ill., native set an NCAA record for three-point percentage by a sophomore last season (.547) and is the top returning scorer for the Irish in 2001-02 after charting 12.9 points per game a year ago.
Senior guard/forward Ericka Haney also was recognized by the conference coaches, earning second team preseason all-BIG EAST laurels. She joins Ratay as one of two starters back from last year’s NCAA championship squad and averaged 11 ppg. and 5.7 rpg. during the ’00-01 campaign.
In addition, freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast was chosen as the preseason BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. It was one in a series of early-season honors for the South Bend, Ind., product, who also has been named a first team freshman All-American by the Women’s Basketball News Service and has been tabbed as one of the Top 21 “New Players of Impact” by Women’s College Hoops.com.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – This season, for only the fourth time in school history, Notre Dame has just one captain – senior guard/forward Ericka Haney. She is the first solo captain for the Irish since Sheila McMillen in 1998-99 and the second in head coach Muffet McGraw’s 15-year tenure.
IRISH HAIL FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA – The 13 players on this season’s Notre Dame roster hail from 10 different states, including two each from Florida, Illinois and Ohio. Other states represented on the Irish roster include Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The all-time Notre Dame women’s basketball roster features players from 34 different states, including 23 during the Muffet McGraw era. Ironically, the most common home state on the Irish all-time roster – Michigan (14) – is not represented on this season’s roster.
FUN WITH NUMBERS – This season, Notre Dame fans are seeing a pair of jersey numbers on the floor that haven’t made an appearance in quite some time. Freshman guard Kelsey Wicks has chosen to wear No. 24, becoming the first Irish player since Andrea Alexander (1990-94) to sport those digits. In addition, freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast is wearing No. 21 this season, a number which has not been modeled by an Irish player since All-American Beth Morgan wore the same jersey from 1993-97. Prior to Morgan, the last Notre Dame player to wear No. 21 was current Irish assistant coach Coquese Washington, who had the number from 1989-93.
NOW THAT’S A HOME COURT ADVANTAGE – Notre Dame is looking to continue some impressive streaks in 2001-02. The Irish have won a school-record 41 consecutive games at home, which became the longest active streak in the nation when Kent State’s 43-game run came to an end Dec. 1 with a loss to Rhode Island. The Irish have not lost at home in more than three years, dating back to a defeat at the hands of top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 8, 1998. Notre Dame also has a 49-3 (.942) record in BIG EAST games at the Joyce Center, with Connecticut the only league team to solve the Irish at home.
Notre Dame also sports a five-year, 26-game non-conference winning streak at the Joyce Center – a streak that includes victories over a trio of sixth-ranked teams (UCLA and Duke in 1998-99 and Purdue in 2000-01), as well as 25th-ranked Illinois in ’98-99. Notre Dame’s last non-conference loss at the Joyce Center came way back on Dec. 9, 1996, when 19th-ranked Wisconsin toppled the Irish, 81-69. Overall, the Irish are 66-2 (.971) at the Joyce Center in their last 68 home games, with the only losses coming to Connecticut.
Since its inaugural season in 1977-78, Notre Dame has played all of its games at the Joyce Center. The Irish own a 229-65 mark for a .779 winning percentage since that first season. Last year, the Irish were a perfect 15-0 for the second year in a row. The 15 victories are a school record for home wins in a season and the first time Notre Dame teams have been undefeated at home during the regular season. During the last five-plus seasons, Muffet McGraw’s squad is 79-4 (.952) at the Joyce Center.
SEASON TICKET SALES REACH ALL-TIME HIGH FOR IRISH – Attendance at Notre Dame women’s basketball games in 2000-01 increased nearly 88 percent compared to the previous season – and indications suggest another significant jump is in order for the 2001-02 campaign. Coming off the 2001 NCAA championship, there already have been more than 6,700 season tickets sold to the general public and University faculty and staff for the ’01-’02 women’s basketball season. That’s compared to 2,700 a year ago and 940 in 1999-2000- a jump of nearly 150 percent over last season, and a whopping 700 percent rise in just two years.
The sale of season tickets for the ’01-02 campaign actually began midway through Notre Dame’s 2001 championship season. All seats are reserved for Irish women’s games for the first time this season – all seating in previous years had been general admission.
The Irish ranked ninth nationally in attendance last year at 6,376 fans per game, compared to 3,392 in 1999-2000. Notre Dame also recorded the first two women’s basketball sellouts in school history, as 11,418 fans packed the Joyce Center for victories over top-ranked Connecticut and Georgetown.
All three of Notre Dame’s home games in 2001-02 have attracted more than 7,300 fans, placing them among the top 10 crowds in school history (see chart on page 12). In fact, all of the top 20 crowds in the Notre Dame record book have occurred during the 15-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw.
NOTRE DAME FACES TOUGH SCHEDULE IN 2001-02 – Notre Dame is slated to play 10 teams which reached the postseason as part of a rugged schedule this year. On the docket are seven NCAA Tournament squads, including four (Connecticut – 1/1, Purdue – 7/7, Michigan – 14/15 and Colorado State – 18/16) which are ranked in the Top 25 in the latest Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. In addition, eight Irish opponents (Boston College, DePaul, Georgetown, Miami, Rice, Rutgers, Villanova and Virginia Tech) are receiving votes in one or both of the major rankings this week.
IRISH ON THE SMALL SCREEN – Notre Dame is getting a good deal of face time in 2001-02, playing on television at least eight times, including a pair of nationally-televised contests – Nov. 21 at Arizona (Fox Sports Net) and Jan. 21 at Connecticut (ESPN). The Irish also will make two regional television appearances this season – Jan. 2 at Miami (Fox Sports Florida) and Feb. 2 at Seton Hall (CN8, The Comcast Network).
In addition, Notre Dame will appear three times as part of the BIG EAST regular-season television package, playing host to Virginia Tech (Jan. 26) and traveling to Villanova (Jan. 12) and Rutgers (Feb. 16). All three of those games will be telecast live on Fox Sports Chicago as part of the league’s TV deal. The BIG EAST Championship semifinals on March 4 also will be aired on the BIG EAST TV package, while the conference title game on March 5 will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Additionally, the Dec. 6 rematch of the 2001 NCAA championship game between Notre Dame and Purdue was televised live statewide by LeSea Broadcasting, which includes WHME-TV (Channel 46) in South Bend and WHMB-TV (Channel 40) in Indianapolis.
NOTRE DAME RECEIVES COMMITMENTS FROM PAIR OF TOP 25 PROSPECTS – Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw announced Nov. 15 that two of the nation’s top high school student-athletes have chosen to continue their careers with the Irish, signing national letters of intent to attend Notre Dame beginning in the fall of 2002. Megan Duffy (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne HS) and Courtney LaVere (Ventura, CA/Buena HS) are the first players to commit to the Irish during the early signing period.
Duffy, a 5-7 guard, averaged 17 points per game last season for Chaminade Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio. She was a 2001 first-team Division I all-state selection and earned honorable mention All-America accolades from Street & Smith’s. Additionally, Student Sports tabbed her as a junior All-America selection. She was rated as high as No. 24 in the country by the All-Star Girls Report (ASGR) and No. 29 by School Sports.
LaVere, a 6-3 forward, tallied 13.8 points and eight rebounds per game last season for Buena High School in Ventura, Calif. She also shot 54 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line for BHS, which was ranked in the top 10 nationally throughout the 2000-01 season by USA Today. In addition, LaVere was an All-America honoree by both USA Today and Street & Smith’s last year, and she already has been selected as a preseason third-team All-American for the ’01-02 campaign by School Sports. Like Duffy, LaVere also was a first-team all-state selection last season. She is a consensus top-15 player according to all of the major recruiting services – No. 10 by the Blue Star Index, No. 13 by School Sports and No. 15 by ASGR.
The additions of Duffy and LaVere already have given Notre Dame one of this year’s top 10 recruiting classes, according to at least one recruiting outlet. The Blue Star Index has ranked the latest group of Irish signees sixth in the nation, marking the sixth consecutive year in which Blue Star has placed Notre Dame’s recruiting class among the Top 20 in the country.
BOOK ON NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON MAKES PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT – Fans of Notre Dame women’s basketball will be able to relive the 2000-01 NCAA championship season in a new book by Mark Bradford entitled “Nice Girls Finish First.” The book, which hit store shelves on Monday, is the story of how the Irish and head coach Muffet McGraw put together a squad of truly remarkable young women, some of whom overcame great odds, to win the national championship last April. Included in the book are in-depth interviews with members of the Notre Dame senior class and starting lineup, giving an unique perspective on what it goes into putting together a championship team.
Bradford is a sportswriter for the South Bend Tribune, and also has done freelance work for the Associated Press and Indianapolis Star. The Mishawaka, Ind., resident has covered Notre Dame football and men’s and women’s basketball for the last six years.
KRAUSE FEATURED IN “CONFESSIONS OF A FRESHMAN” – Freshman guard Jill Krause is giving fans an inside look at the the 2001-02 Irish women’s basketball team through regular diary entries on the Notre Dame athletic website, www.und.com. Entitled “Confessions of a Freshman,” the Glenview, Ill., native is detailing her journey as a first-year player on the defending NCAA championship squad. Her diary entries may be accessed either from the front page or the women’s basketball page on the Notre Dame website.
HANEY SHINES ON BIG EAST ALL-STAR TEAM – For the second time in as many years, Notre Dame sent a player with the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball All-Star Team, as guard/forward Ericka Haney joined the squad for its six-game swing of Germany this summer. Haney followed in the footsteps of Niele Ivey, who helped lead the BIG EAST All-Stars to a 5-1 record during a junket through Canada in the summer of 2000.
Haney helped the BIG EAST, which was led by Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman, to an unbeaten 6-0 record during its tour, scoring a team-high 18 points in a 103-57 win over Ludwigsburg/Malmsheim in the final game of the trip.
Haney finished with a team-high 13.0 points per game and collected 4.5 rebounds per game during her European vacation. She also scored in double figures in five of the All-Stars’ six wins.
– ND –