Feb. 4, 2002
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A pair of significant achievements await Notre Dame as it travels to Pittsburgh for a BIG EAST Conference matchup with the Panthers Tuesday at 7 p.m. (EST) at historic Fitzgerald Field House. With a victory, the Irish will not only move into a tie with Boston College for second place in the BIG EAST standings, but it also would be the 500th win in school history, making Notre Dame the 50th NCAA institution and fourth BIG EAST member to reach that milestone.
The Irish (13-7, 7-2 BIG EAST) picked up their third consecutive win, and 11th in the last 14 games with a hard-fought 65-60 victory at Seton Hall last Saturday. Freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast posted her ninth double-double of the season with game highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds as Notre Dame erased a 10-point first-half deficit to claim its 11th consecutive victory over the Pirates. Junior guard Alicia Ratay added 10 points and freshman forward Katy Flecky equalled her career high with nine points for the Irish.
Pittsburgh (6-14, 1-8) returns home with a season-high six-game losing streak in tow, following a 77-61 loss at Miami on Saturday. Junior guard Brooke Stewart scored a team-high 19 points and junior guard Laine Selwyn narrowly missed a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Panthers. As a team, UP shot 36.4 percent from the field and was outrebounded by a 62-43 count.
Injuries have plagued Pittsburgh all season long. Most notably, the Panthers have had to deal with the loss of junior forward Mandy Wittenmyer, a 1999-2000 BIG EAST all-rookie pick who has been sidelined since Jan. 5 with a sprained ankle. At the time of her injury, Wittenmyer was second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg.) and tops in rebounding (7.1 rpg.).
Selwyn has picked up much of the slack in Wittenmyer’s absence, averaging team highs of 14.0 ppg., 5.8 rpg., and a league-best 6.8 assists per game. Stewart is third on the team at 12.8 ppg., while freshman guard Haley Harguth has connected on a team-high 53 three-point field goals this season.
Traci Waites is in her fourth year as the Pittsburgh head coach, having compiled a 39-64 (.379) record in the Steel City. The 1999-2000 BIG EAST Co-Coach of the Year, Waites is 0-5 in her coaching career against Notre Dame.
– ND –