March 15, 2005
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2005 NCAA Tempe Region - First Round
(#11 AP/#13 ESPN/USA Today) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (26-5)
vs. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (21-8)
The Date and Time: Saturday, March 19, 2005, at
1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET in South Bend).
The Site: Save Mart Center (15,621) in Fresno, Calif.
The Tickets: Single-session and all-session
tickets remain available through the Fresno State
athletics ticket office (559-278-3647).
The TV Plans: ESPN2 national broadcast with Dave
O'Brien (play-by-play), Kara Lawson (analysis),
Heather Cox (sideline), Kim Belton (producer) and
Doug Holmes (director). The game also is
available through the ESPN FullCourt pay-per-view
package.
The Radio Plans: Saturday's game will be
broadcast live on WDND-AM (ESPN Radio 1580) and
WNDV-AM (1490) in South Bend with Sean Stires
(play-by-play) calling the action. These
broadcasts also are available through the Notre
Dame athletics web site at www.und.com.
Web Sites: Notre Dame (www.und.com), UC Santa Barbara (www.ucsbgauchos.com).
#11/13 IRISH TIP OFF NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY SATURDAY VS. UC SANTA BARBARA
For the 10th consecutive season and the 12th time
in the past 14 years, Notre Dame will take part
in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 11/13 Irish are
seeded fourth in the Tempe Region and will face
No. 13 seed UC Santa Barbara Saturday at
approximately 1:30 p.m. (ET) in Fresno, Calif.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Notre Dame (26-5) enters the NCAA
Tournament having won 13 of its last 15 games,
but the Irish are smarting from a 67-54 loss to
No. 13/14 Connecticut in the BIG EAST
Championship semifinals on March 7 in Hartford,
Conn. Junior guard Megan Duffy scored a
season-high 21 points for the Irish and was named
to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team.
UC Santa Barbara (21-8) is making its
ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance
after winning the Big West Conference title for
the ninth year in a row. The Gauchos punched
their postseason ticket with a 74-66 victory over
Idaho in the Big West Tournament title game on
March 12 in Anaheim, Calif. Senior All-American
Kristen Mann scored a career-high 33 points for
UCSB in the win.
Mann, the reigning Big West Player of the
Year, leads the Gauchos in scoring (19.9 ppg.)
and rebounding (9.5 ppg.) this season with 15
double-doubles to her credit.
Mark French is in his 18th year as the
head coach at UCSB, sporting a 380-163 (.700)
record at the school. He is 0-1 all-time vs.
Notre Dame.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE FIGHTING IRISH
One of the primary goals for Notre Dame this
season has been to put itself in position to
contend for a national championship. As they begin NCAA Tournament play, the Irish certainly have done just that, compiling a 26-5 record (13-3 in the BIG EAST) with seven victories over ranked opponents, including four against top-10
foes. Notre Dame also won the Sportsview.tv
Preseason WNIT in mid-November, claiming its
first regular-season tournament title since
2000-01.
Below the surface, it's apparent the
Irish have been strong in nearly all facets of
their game. They are 12-3 on the road, making big
strides from last year's struggles away from
home. Notre Dame also has shown excellent
resiliency, losing back-to-back games just once
all season and rebounding from those two losses
with a season-long 10-game winning streak (the
program's longest since the '00-01 campaign).
And, the Irish have displayed an ability to win
games in numerous different ways - last-second
buzzer beaters (Marquette), thrilling second half
comebacks (Duke, Ohio State, Rutgers, Boston
College), gritty road victories (Connecticut,
USC), defensive battles (twice vs. Seton Hall)
and high-scoring shootouts (Purdue, Illinois
State).
Despite the added focus shown to her by
opposing teams, senior All-America forward
Jacqueline Batteast was a major catalyst for the
Irish this season, averaging 17.1 points, 6.5
rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. The
newly-crowned BIG EAST Player of the Year and a
leading candidate for the Naismith Trophy, Wooden
Women's Award and Senior CLASS Award, Batteast
has scored in double digits 28 times this season,
has earned game-high scoring honors on 16
occasions and has six double-doubles. She also
moved into the top five on Notre Dame's career
lists for points (1,846), rebounds (947), blocks
(163) and double-doubles (38). In addition, with
15 points vs. West Virginia Feb. 26, she became
the third Irish player to amass 1,800 points and
900 rebounds in her career, joining All-Americans
Katryna Gaither and Ruth Riley. Batteast also is
poised to break Gaither's school record for
consecutive starts, preparing to accept her 96th
consecutive starting assignment Saturday vs. UC
Santa Barbara.
Junior guard Megan Duffy also has stepped
up her play this season, registering 11.8 points
per game with a team-high 5.52 assists (second in
the BIG EAST and 27th in the nation as of March
14) and 2.71 steals per game (first in the BIG
EAST). Duffy also leads the league and is third
nationally with a .902 free throw percentage
(120-133) this season, sparking the Irish to a
BIG EAST-best .742 free throw ratio, which also
ranks 34th in the nation.
In the post, senior center Teresa Borton
is showing capable leadership by example. A
veteran post and tri-captain, Borton has not
missed a game (125 and counting), nor a practice
in her entire four-year career at Notre Dame. For
the season, she has posted career-best numbers in
almost every statistical category, ranking third
on the team in scoring (8.4 ppg.), second in
rebounding (5.8 rpg.) and first in both blocked
shots (1.74 bpg.) and field goal percentage
(.566).
SOME POTENT NOTABLES ABOUT THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame won its first seven games this
season, the second-best debut in the program's
history. The 2000-01 squad opened with a 23-game
win streak en route to school's first national
championship. The Irish also reached the
double-digit win mark Dec. 19 at Marquette,
getting their 10th win faster than any team in
school history (the '00-01 team did it two days
later on Dec. 21, 2000).
Notre Dame's 10-game winning streak from
Jan. 16-Feb. 15 was its longest since a
school-record 23-game run to open the 2000-01
season. It also was the ninth double-digit
winning streak in school history and the seventh
in Muffet McGraw's 18 seasons as head coach.
The Irish are 12-3 away from home this
year, and won their first five road games this
season for the second time in school history. The
2000-01 club opened with a 10-game road winning
streak to set the school standard. Ironically,
Notre Dame struggled in true road games last
year, losing its first four and six of its first
seven on the opposition's floor.
Notre Dame picked up its 20th win of the
season Feb. 5 at Pittsburgh. The Irish have now
posted 12 consecutive 20-win seasons (one of only
six schools in the nation that can make that
claim) and 16 in the 18-year Muffet McGraw era.
In addition, Notre Dame reached the 20-win mark
in its 23rd game this season, marking the
fourth-fastest run to 20 victories in school
history. The 2000-01 club opened with 23
consecutive wins, while the 1998-99 and 1999-2000
squads each did it in 22 games. However, in terms
of calendar dates, the Irish logged their 20th
win faster than any Notre Dame team except the
2000-01 unit, which reached the mark on Jan. 31.
The Irish were a fixture near the top of
the RPI charts this year. Through the end of the
conference tournament season, Notre Dame was
fifth in the WBCA/Summerville RPI rankings, with
the nation's 22nd-toughest schedule.
Notre Dame appeared in the top 10 of the
AP balloting 16 times in the 19 polls this year
before winding up 11th in the final poll that
came out on March 14. On two other occasions in
school history have the Irish spent as long in
the AP top 10 during one season - 1998-99 (16
weeks) and 2000-01 (18 weeks). All told, Notre
Dame has now spent 72 weeks in the AP top 10 in
the program's 28-year history and has a 110-20
(.846) all-time record when it's ranked in the
top 10.
The Irish have posted 37 wins over AP Top
25 opponents in the past seven seasons (1998-99
to present), including seven this year (No. 6
Duke, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 20 Purdue, No. 6
Rutgers, No. 9 Connecticut, No. 16 Boston College
and No. 25 Boston College). Notre Dame is tied
for the fifth-most Top 25 wins in the nation this
season. During the past two years, the Irish have
14 wins over ranked opponents.
Notre Dame has defeated 23 top-10
opponents in its history, adding to that total
with four victories this season. The four top-10
wins represent the second-highest total in school
history (and tie Penn State and North Carolina
for the second-most by any team in the nation
this season behind Rutgers' five wins) - the
2000-01 squad holds the Irish record with seven
top-10 victories.
Head coach Muffet McGraw has a 410-154
(.727) record in 18 seasons with the Irish,
having logged the milestone 400th victory Jan. 23
against Rutgers. She also has a 498-195 (.719)
overall record in 23 seasons, leaving her only
two victories shy of the 500-win plateau for her
career.
IRISH IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Notre Dame is beginning its 12th appearance in
the NCAA Tournament this week and has compiled a
21-10 (.677) record in its 11 previous trips. The
Irish have reached the Sweet Sixteen (regional
semifinals) on six occasions, all in the past
eight years, along with two Final Four berths and
the 2001 NCAA title.
This season marks only the second time
Notre Dame has played an NCAA Tournament game in
California (lost 93-72 at UCLA in 1992). A
complete listing of Notre Dame's appearances in
NCAA Tournament may be found in the sidebar on
page 5 of this notes package.
THE NOTRE DAME-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES
Saturday's game will represent just the second
all-time meeting between Notre Dame and UC Santa
Barbara. On Nov. 28, 1997, the Irish registered
an 86-75 victory over the Gauchos at the
Thunderdome in Santa Barbara. Sheila McMillen led
four Notre Dame players in double digits with 23
points, while Danielle Green added 19 points for
the Irish, who shot 46.8 percent from the floor
and forced 28 UCSB turnovers.
OTHER NOTRE DAME-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES NOTES
Notre Dame and UC Santa Barbara crossed
paths just last season when both teams advanced
to the NCAA East Regional semifinals at the
Hartford Civic Center. The Irish dropped a
hard-fought 55-49 decision to No. 5/7 Penn State,
while the Gauchos came up on the short end of an
equally hard-fought 63-55 verdict to eventual
national champion and sixth-ranked Connecticut.
Notre Dame and UCSB have two of the top
seven win totals in the country during the past
nine seasons. The Gauchos are sixth in that span
with 230 victories, followed next by the Irish
with 228 wins, starting with the 1996-97
campaign. The chart on page 12 of these notes
shows the individual season-by-season breakdown
of both teams' win totals.
Notre Dame junior forward Courtney LaVere
grew up not far from the UCSB campus in Ventura,
Calif., and was heavily recruited by the Gauchos.
She is still close with several UCSB players,
most notably Gaucho All-American Kristen Mann,
with whom she roomed at the 2003 USA Basketball
Women's National Team trials (also attended by
Irish All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast).
LaVere and Mann also squared off along the AAU
circuit for several years, dating back to their
middle school days.
In addition to her relationship with
Mann, LaVere was a teammate of UCSB guard
Courtney Young at Buena High School in Ventura,
Calif., during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
In the latter campaign, Buena advanced to the
state quarterfinals before losing 56-51 to
eventual state champion Narbonne, in a game that
was played in Fresno.
Notre Dame sophomore forward Crystal
Erwin also is a California native, hailing from
Rancho Cucamonga and graduating from St. Paul's
School in Santa Fe Springs.
Irish freshman guard Tulyah Gaines was
born in Fontana, Calif., and spent much of her
formative years in Burbank, Calif., including her
first three prep seasons at John Burroughs High
School. At BHS, Gaines averaged 18.9 points and
5.1 assists per game as a junior and was a
two-time Street & Smith's All-American, as well
as a Los Angeles Times first-team all-area choce
in 2003. She also owns the BHS school record for
assists in a season (122 in 2003) and even broke
the school standard on the track in the triple
jump in 2003. Gaines moved to North Las Vegas,
Nev., in the summer of 2003 and graduated from
Cheyenne High School the following spring.
UCSB assistant coach April McDivitt, who
played for the Gauchos on their Sweet Sixteen
club last year, is a native of Connersville,
Ind., and was named Indiana Miss Basketball in
1999 while playing at Connersville High School.
She later attended Tennessee before transferring
to UC Santa Barbara.
Notre Dame and UCSB have tangled in other
sports during the past couple of years. In 2001,
the Gaucho baseball team came to South Bend for
the NCAA South Bend Regional - the Irish won the
only matchup between the clubs, 11-10 in 10
innings, but wound up falling to Florida
International in the regional title game. More
recently, the Notre Dame and UCSB softball teams
clashed less than two weeks ago on March 7 in
Santa Barbara, with Irish junior pitcher Heather
Booth tossing a six-hitter in a 1-0 Notre Dame
victory.
NOTRE DAME VS. THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE
Notre Dame is 3-1 (.750) all-time against the
current alignment of the Big West Conference,
with three of those four matchups coming in the
postseason. The Irish have defeated Pacific
(88-74 on March 23, 1995 at the NWIT in Amarillo,
Texas), UC Irvine (72-71 on Dec. 2, 1994 at the
UCI/Newport Beach Marriott Classic) and UC Santa
Barbara (86-75 on Nov. 28, 1997 in Santa
Barbara). Notre Dame's only loss to a Big West
school was a 67-65 overtime setback vs. Idaho on
March 21, 1986 in the NWIT at Amarillo, Texas,
despite 24 points and 16 rebounds from Notre
Dame's Heidi Bunek.
OTHER NCAA TOURNAMENT STORYLINES IN FRESNO
Points could be at a premium if Notre
Dame's last three NCAA Tournament appearances are
any indication. In their last eight NCAA
Tournament games (2002-04), the Irish are
allowing only 58.1 points per game. At the same
time, Notre Dame has had trouble finding the
range itself, averaging just 56.3 ppg., with only
one game of more than 60 points (a 69-65 overtime
victory over Southwest Missouri State in last
year's opening round).
Saturday's game vs. UC Santa Barbara will
mark the third time Notre Dame has faced a
California school in NCAA Tournament play. The
Irish lost their first-ever NCAA postseason game
at UCLA, 93-72, in 1992, but defeated Saint
Mary's (Calif.), 61-57 in 1999 at Baton Rouge, La.
Although in a different grouping than
Notre Dame, some Irish fans might have a vested
interest when Iowa State comes to Fresno for its
first-round game vs. Utah. ISU head coach Bill
Fennelly is a former assistant coach at Notre
Dame, having spent two seasons at the school
(1986-88), including the second as a member of
Muffet McGraw's staff in her initial season at
Notre Dame.
Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin
White held the same post at Arizona State from
1996-2000. While in Tempe, White oversaw an ASU
athletics program that won three NCAA titles and
posted NCAA runner-up finishes twice. The Sun
Devils also rose to 11th in the 1999-2000 Sears
Directors' Cup rankings under White's guidance.
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
The Irish have done a good job of starting their
NCAA Tournament experience in the right way,
winning their first round game in each of the
last nine seasons. That corresponds exactly with
Notre Dame's membership in the BIG EAST
Conference, which began with the 1995-96
campaign. During that time, the Irish have
advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen six times,
moving on to the Final Four twice and winning the
2001 NCAA title.
IRISH OPPONENTS QUALIFY FOR THE SECOND SEASON
Notre Dame played a difficult 2004-05 schedule,
one which was ranked in the top 25 in the country
all year long. Highlighting that fact, a total of
14 Irish opponents qualified for postseason play
- nine in the NCAA Tournament (Boston College,
Connecticut, Duke, Illinois State, Michigan
State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers and USC) and
five in the WNIT (Marquette, Nebraska, St.
John's, Villanova and West Virginia). Notre Dame
went 9-4 against the NCAA qualifiers (wins over
all but Michigan State, including two wins over
BC), and posted a 5-1 mark against the WNIT group
(defeated all but Villanova and beat WVU twice).
SOWING THE SEEDS, PART ONE
Notre Dame is seeded fourth in the Tempe Region
of this year's NCAA Tournament, representing the
third-best seed in school history. It's also
Notre Dame's highest seed since 2001, when the
Irish carried the top seed in the Midwest Region
all the way to the program's first national
championship. This year marks the first time
Notre Dame is the No. 4 seed. Overall, Notre Dame
has played 25 NCAA Tournament games as a
single-digit seed, posting an 18-7 (.720) record.
The Irish also are 8-1 (.889) all-time as a
top-four seed, with their only loss coming to
Texas Tech, 69-65 in the 2000 Mideast Regional
semifinals at The Pyramid in Memphis.
SOWING THE SEEDS, PART TWO
Although some bracketologists could peg a matchup
between the No. 4 and 13 seeds as being ripe for
an upset, the fourth spot might not be a bad
locale for Notre Dame in this year's field. In
first-round games between the No. 4 and No. 13
seeds over the past five seasons (2000-04), the
fourth-seeded team holds an 18-2 (.900) record.
However, both the Irish and UC Santa Barbara are
intimately familiar with the perils of the 4-13
matchup - in 2000, the fourth-seeded Gauchos were
toppled by No. 13 seed Rice, 67-64 in the opening
round, while last season, Notre Dame's Joyce
Center played host to another such upset when
13th-seeded Middle Tennessee downed No. 4 seed
North Carolina, 67-62.
BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE
Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw ranks fifth
among active Division I coaches in terms of NCAA
Tournament winning percentage, owning a .677 mark
(21-10) in her previous 11 appearances in the
event. The remainder of the top five is:
Tennessee's Pat Summitt (.833, 85-17),
Connecticut's Geno Auriemma (.828, 53-11), Duke's
Gail Goestenkors (.722, 26-10) and Stanford's
Tara VanDerveer (.691, 38-17). All records
require a minimum of 20 NCAA Tournament games
played.
THE BEAST OF THE BIG EAST
Notre Dame is 137-31 (.815) in regular-season
competition against the rest of BIG EAST
Conference, owning the best conference winning
percentage of any current member of the BIG EAST
since joining the circuit for the 1995-96
campaign. The Irish also have finished either
first or second in the BIG EAST nine times in
their 10-year membership, and claimed a share of
their first-ever regular-season conference
championship in 2001.
When including postseason competition
(BIG EAST and NCAA tournaments), Notre Dame is
151-41 (.786) against league opponents - when
factoring in these 24 postseason tilts, the Irish
are 76-8 (.905) at home, 61-26 (.701) on the road
and 14-7 (.667) at neutral sites all-time vs. BIG
EAST foes.
POLLING PLACE
Notre Dame is 187-45 (.806) all-time when it is
ranked in the Associated Press poll at tipoff
(the Irish were 11th in the final AP poll
released earlier this week). When playing at
home, Notre Dame has been especially strong,
going 87-10 (.897) as a ranked host after posting
a 14-2 record at the Joyce Center this season.
Conversely, the Irish are 75-26 (.743) on the
road and 25-9 (.735) at neutral sites all-time as
a ranked team.
Notre Dame was ranked in all 19 AP polls
this season and spent 16 weeks in the top 10,
with the latter mark tying for the second-most
top-10 appearances for a season in school history
(16 in 1998-99; 18 in 2000-01). This year's final
No. 11 ranking is the first time the Irish have
appeared in the year-end AP poll since 2000-01,
when they were second following a 78-76 loss to
Connecticut in the BIG EAST Championship title
game. However, Notre Dame bounced back nicely
that year to win its first-ever national
championship.
McGRAW AMONG ACTIVE COACHING LEADERS IN AP POLL APPEARANCES
With Notre Dame's No. 11 ranking in this year's
final Associated Press poll, Irish head coach
Muffet McGraw has moved into 18th place among
active Division I coaches, having piloted her
team to 128 AP poll appearances. That's one more
than Old Dominion's Wendy Larry (127), with
retiring Colorado head coach Ceal Barry (142) and
Texas A&M mentor Gary Blair (146) just ahead of
McGraw.
SOLID AS A ROCK
The Irish have fielded just two different
starting lineups this season, a testament to the
team's consistency throughout the campaign. In
fact, four players - senior All-America forward
Jacqueline Batteast, senior center Teresa Borton,
junior guard Megan Duffy and sophomore guard
Breona Gray - have started every game for Notre
Dame this season. The fifth starting spot has
been split between junior forward Courtney LaVere
and sophomore forward Crystal Erwin, due in part
to LaVere's knee surgery and subsequent recovery
period earlier this season.
Batteast's regularity in the starting
lineup is especially notable. Assuming she starts
Saturday's NCAA Tournament first-round game vs.
UC Santa Barbara, she will break Katryna
Gaither's school record with her 96th consecutive
start, dating back to the opening game of the
2002-03 season against Cleveland State (Gaither
started 95 in a row from 1994-97).
TOUGH STUFF
Junior guard Megan Duffy is on pace to shatter
the Notre Dame single-season records for total
minutes and minutes per game this year. Duffy
presently has amassed 1,148 minutes played and is
averaging 37.0 minutes per night, with nine
40-minute games to her credit (including a
career-long 45-minute ironman performance vs.
Michigan State on Dec. 2). The school record for
total minutes is held by Beth Morgan (1,227 in
1996-97), while Mary Gavin owns the Irish
minutes-per-game record (35.1 in 1986-87).
For her career, Duffy is averaging 31.2
minutes per game, which would rank fourth in
school history just behind her current teammate,
senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast
(31.6).
BALANCE IS KEY
Notre Dame has had nine of the 11 players on its
roster score in double figures at least once this
season, with seven of them earning a share of
team-high scoring honors in a game. The Irish
also have had eight different players claim
team-high rebounding honors in a game, while five
separate players have led the squad in assists.
In addition, four of Notre Dame's five
current starters have at least two double-doubles
to their credit this season. Senior All-America
forward Jacqueline Batteast leads the way with
six double-doubles, followed by two each for
senior center Teresa Borton, junior guard Megan
Duffy and junior forward Courtney LaVere.
THE SEASON FOR SHARING
One of the key elements in Notre Dame's success
this season has been its penchant for
distributing the ball well. In fact, the Irish
have 494 assists (15.94 apg.; third in the BIG
EAST and 36th in the nation as of March 14) on
747 field goals made (24.1 per game), including a
Preseason WNIT-record 29 handouts in the season
opener vs. Illinois State.
Junior guard Megan Duffy leads the way at
5.52 assists per game (second in the BIG EAST and
27th in the nation), with at least five dimes in
19 contests this year, four double-digit assist
games (most by an Irish player since Niele Ivey's
five in 2000-01), and a career-high 11 assists
vs. Rutgers on Jan. 23. Duffy also was second in
the BIG EAST with 6.19 apg. in conference play.
GETTING IT ON THE PLUS SIDE
The Irish currently are just shy of the
break-even point with an assist-to-turnover ratio
of 0.996 this season (494 assists, 496
turnovers). If that figure moves back into the
black, it would mark the second time since
turnovers became an official statistic in 1987-88
that Notre Dame has finished with more assists
than turnovers in a season. The Irish also pulled
off that feat in 2000-01, winding up with a 1.15
assist-to-turnover ratio (650 assists, 567
turnovers) during their run to the national
championship.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Irish are 12-3 away from home this season and
have 11 true road wins, tying for the
third-highest total in school history (13 in
1996-97; 12 in 1998-99; 11 on three other
occasions - most recently in 2000-01). In fact,
Notre Dame won its first five road games this
year, marking only the second time ever the Irish
opened with five or more road victories (they won
10 in a row to begin the 2000-01 campaign).
Accenting Notre Dame's play on the road
has been its defensive prowess. The Irish are
holding opponents to 53.3 ppg., a .347 field goal
percentage (288-for-829) and a .250 three-point
percentage (63-for-252) away from home and have
allowed more than 60 points only twice in their
15 games away from home this year (61 by Syracuse
on Jan. 19; 67 by Connecticut on March 7 in the
BIG EAST Championship semifinals).
PINE TIME PLAYERS
Notre Dame is 18-0 this year (9-0 vs. BIG EAST
Conference opponents) when its bench outscores
the opposition's reserves. For the season, the
Irish understudies are averaging 16.8 ppg.,
compared to 14.0 ppg. for Notre Dame opponents.
Freshman guard Charel Allen has been the top
Irish reserve this season, logging 7.9 ppg.
Notre Dame's bench play has been
especially important during the past 15 games
(13-2 record). The Irish are getting an average
of 19.3 ppg. (290 total points) from their
reserves in that stretch, compared to 14.3 ppg.
(214 total points) from the opposition's bench.
Allen (9.3 ppg., 140 total) has been the key
bench contributor in that stretch with six
double-figure games - 17 points at Syracuse (Jan.
19), 16 points at Pittsburgh (Feb. 5), 14 points
vs. Georgetown (Feb. 12) and at Seton Hall (March
1), and 11 points at No. 9/10 Connecticut (Jan.
30) and vs. West Virginia (March 6).
THE FIVE-FINGER DISCOUNT
Notre Dame ranks second in the BIG EAST
Conference in steals this season, averaging 9.29
thefts per game (288 total). The Irish have come
up with at least 10 steals in 13 games and had a
season-best 20 thefts on Nov. 22 vs. Colorado
State, the most by a BIG EAST team this season.
Individually, junior guard Megan Duffy is
tops in the conference in steals (2.71 spg.),
while her 84 total steals ranks as the
fifth-highest single-season mark in school
history (Niele Ivey holds the record with 95
swipes in 1999-2000). Duffy's backcourt mate,
sophomore Breona Gray, and senior All-America
forward Jacqueline Batteast are tied for second
on the team with 1.19 steals per game (37 total),
while freshman guard Charel Allen (35) also has
at least 30 steals this year.
LOTS OF FREE STUFF
When given the opportunity, Notre Dame has taken
advantage of its trips to the free throw line
this season. The Irish lead the BIG EAST
Conference and rank 34th in the nation (as of
March 14), shooting 74.2 percent from the charity
stripe. In fact, they set a school record by
going a perfect 18-for-18 on Nov. 30 at
Valparaiso, which also matches the best mark by
any team in the country this season.
Notre Dame has been led at the gift line
by junior guard Megan Duffy (.902, 120-133),
freshman guard Charel Allen (.848, 67-79) and
senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast
(.794, 123-155). Duffy currently ranks first in
the BIG EAST and third in the nation in free
throw percentage, while Batteast is second in the
conference and has shown the greatest improvement
among all Irish players this season with nearly a
17-percent jump from last year's career low .627
mark.
One side note about Duffy's free throw
prowess - the Irish junior struggled at the line
ea
