Oct. 10, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team will have nearly one-third of its 2006-07 regular-season schedule televised, according to the full BIG EAST Conference television package and other arrangements announced Tuesday. It will mark the sixth consecutive season that the Irish will have at least eight games on television — Notre Dame has made a total of 71 televised appearances in that stretch, an average of nearly 12 per year, and additional games this season could be broadcast on either a regional or local basis, with further announcements pending.
The Irish are slated to play in at least four nationally-televised games during the ’06-07 campaign, including two at home on the ESPN family of networks — Feb. 4 vs. West Virginia on ESPNU and Feb. 11 against DePaul on ESPN2, with the latter contest featured as part of that network’s “February Frenzy” that showcases women’s college basketball prior to the NCAA Tournament. Both ESPN contests will tip off at 5:30 p.m. (ET) from the Joyce Center.
In addition, Notre Dame has been tapped for two national broadcasts on the BIG EAST-CSTV Game of the Week package — Jan. 23 at Marquette and Feb. 26 at DePaul. The Marquette game will begin at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) from the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, while the DePaul contest will tip at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET) from McGrath Arena (formerly known as the DePaul Athletic Center) in Chicago.
The Irish also have been chosen to play twice on the BIG EAST-Regional Sports Networks (RSN) Game of the Week broadcast. Notre Dame will venture to South Florida on Jan. 13 and play host to Rutgers on Feb. 24, with both matchups scheduled to air on various RSNs around the country, including live coverage on the network’s flagship carrier, SportsNet New York, which reaches 11.7 million homes. For the past several years, the BIG EAST-RSN Game of the Week has been carried in the South Bend market on WHME-TV (Channel 46), with clearance for this season still pending.
Outside of the BIG EAST television agreements, Notre Dame will take part in two other regionally-televised games this year. On Nov. 16, the Irish will make their first visit to Penn State since 1993 (and only their second all-time), with the contest against the Lady Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center (7 p.m. ET tip) airing throughout central Pennsylvania on WPSU-TV. Then, on Dec. 30, Notre Dame will head to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena (2 p.m. ET start), with that game being broadcast by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (available to many digital cable and satellite dish subscribers nationwide).
Besides its regular-season TV slate, virtually every one of Notre Dame’s postseason contests will be televised live nationally on the ESPN family of networks, with only the BIG EAST Championship first-round games shown regionally on the BIG EAST-RSN package. The conference tournament quarterfinals and semifinals will air on ESPNU, while the BIG EAST title game will be shown on ESPN2. What’s more, ESPN and ESPN2 will show all 63 games from the 2007 NCAA Tournament, which gets underway March 17 and ends with the NCAA national championship game April 3 from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Irish will open the ’06-07 preseason Wednesday with their annual Media Day activities, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (ET) at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame will hold its first practice of the season Saturday morning, beginning preparations for its exhibition opener at home Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. (ET) against Lake Superior State. The ’06-07 regular season starts on Nov. 10, when the Irish take on Central Michigan at 4 p.m. (ET) at the Joyce Center.
Entering its 30th anniversary season, Notre Dame has eight monogram winners and three starters back from the ’05-06 club that posted an 18-12 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th consecutive season, falling to Boston College, 78-61 in the first round. In addition to returning their No. 2 scorer from a year ago (sophomore guard Lindsay Schrader at 10.5 ppg.), the Irish also will feature a four-player freshman class that was ranked as the No. 21 rookie group in the country by All-Star Girls Report (ASGR), marking the 10th consecutive season that Notre Dame will introduce a Top 25 recruiting class to the mix.
Season ticket packages for Notre Dame women’s basketball are available by contacting the Notre Dame Athletics Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356, by visiting the ticket windows on the second floor of the Joyce Center (via Gate 1) or on the official Notre Dame athletics web site by clicking here.
— ND —
2006-07 NOTRE DAME WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ON TELEVISION
Nov. 16 at Penn State (WPSU-TV) 7 p.m. ET
Dec. 30 at Tennessee (Comcast/Charter Southeast) 2 p.m. ET
Jan. 13 at South Florida (BIG EAST TV) Noon ET
Jan. 23 at Marquette (CSTV) 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET)
Feb. 4 WEST VIRGINIA (ESPNU) 5:30 p.m. ET
Feb. 11 DePAUL (ESPN2) 5:30 p.m. ET
Feb. 24 RUTGERS (BIG EAST TV) Noon ET
Feb. 26 at DePaul (CSTV) 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET)
Mar. 3 BIG EAST First Round (BIG EAST TV) TBA
Mar. 4 BIG EAST Quarterfinals (ESPNU) TBA
Mar. 5 BIG EAST Semifinals (ESPNU) 6/8 p.m. ET
Mar. 6 BIG EAST Championship (ESPN2) 7 p.m. ET
Mar. 17-Apr. 3 NCAA Tournament (ESPN/ESPN2) TBA