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Women's Basketball
#14 Irish Wrap Up Regular Season Monday At St. John's
March 2, 2008
Game Notes Package in PDF Format
#14/14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-6 / 11-4 BIG EAST) vs. St. John's Red Storm (15-13 / 6-9 BIG EAST) DATE: March 3, 2008 Storylines No. 14 Irish Wrap Up Regular Season Monday Night At St. John's Despite the usual emotional roller coaster associated with Senior Day, Notre Dame (23-6, 11-4 BIG EAST) earned its eighth win in the past nine games on Saturday, downing Seton Hall, 70-55 at the Joyce Center. The Irish used a 14-2 second-half run to pull free from a stubborn Pirates squad that was battling for its BIG EAST tournament life. Senior guard Charel Allen had a team-high 22 points, while sophomore guard Melissa Lechlitner added 11 points, a game-high six assists and five rebounds. Rankings A Quick Look At The Fighting Irish Notre Dame also ranks in the top 20 in five NCAA statistical categories (as of last Friday), including scoring offense (5th, 78.2 ppg.), assist/turnover ratio (8th, 1.13) and scoring margin (9th, +17.6 ppg.), with nearly half its wins by 30 points. The Irish also rank second in the BIG EAST (16th nationally) in steals (11.83 spg.) and have forced 20 turnovers on 18 occasions. Senior guard Charel Allen, a first-team all-BIG EAST and honorable mention All-America pick last year, is setting the pace for a balanced Notre Dame attack, averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game (15th in BIG EAST). Sophomore guard Ashley Barlow has built upon last year's BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection, ranking second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg.) while tying Allen for ninth in the BIG EAST with a team-high 57 steals (1.97 spg.). Junior guard Lindsay Schrader continues to work her way back to peak form after missing last year with a torn ACL in her right knee. Schrader is third on the squad in scoring (10.9 ppg.) and tops in rebounding (6.1 rpg.), ranking 19th in the BIG EAST in the latter category, as one of the cornerstones of Notre Dame's unique Princeton-based four-guard lineup. While Schrader is back from her ACL injury, freshman forward Devereaux Peters had her season end early with a torn ACL in her left knee, suffered Feb. 10 vs. Pittsburgh. Peters provided a strong spark off the bench, averaging 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. She also scored in double figures 14 times, including a season-high 15 points vs. Villanova and her first career double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) against top-ranked Connecticut. Potent Notables About The Irish A Quick Look At St. John's The Red Storm (15-13, 6-9) have come alive down the stretch, winning three of their last four games, including a 49-47 victory at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Kia Wright was the hero, canning the tying jumper with 33 seconds left, then coming up with a steal that led to her two game-winning foul shots with 10 seconds to play. Junior guard Monique McLean was the lone double-digit scorer for St. John's at Cincinnati, tallying 10 points and grabbing a team-best eight rebounds. McLean leads the Red Storm in scoring (14.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.0 rpg). Wright, a three-time all-BIG EAST selection, is second on the squad in scoring (12.1 ppg) and tops in both assists (4.2 apg) and steals (2.25 spg). Kim Barnes Arico is in her sixth season as the head coach at St. John's, sporting an 83-89 (.483) record with the Red Storm. She's also in her 12th year as a college head coach with a 177-161 (.524) career record that includes a 1-5 mark vs. Notre Dame. The Notre Dame-St. John's Series The Last Time Notre Dame And St. John's Met Ashley Barlow scored 14 points, Melissa Lechlitner dished out a career-high nine assists (the most by a Notre Dame rookie in almost 12 years) without a single turnover. Monique McLean had a team-high 19 points for St. John's, leading four Red Storm players in double figures. Kia Wright and Tiina Sten added 14 points each, while Angel Tate flirted with a double-double before ending up with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds. St. John's knocked down seven of its first nine shots from the floor en route to a pair of five-point leads, the last at 19-14 on a jumper by Wright with 11:38 left in the first half. The Irish came back with five consecutive points, but SJU then tallied eight of the next 12 markers and led 27-23 when Sten drilled a three-pointer from the left wing at the 6:32 mark. Notre Dame then came alive in a big way, ripping off 19 unanswered points during the next 4:15, with Allen scoring nine of the last 11 points in the run. Her transition layup with 2:17 to go in the half gave the Irish their largest lead to that point at 42-27. St. John's made a dent in the margin with a 7-2 spurt to end the period, but still trailed by 10 at the break. The lead remained static for the first four minutes of the second half, as McLean getting her team within 47-37 on the second of two foul shots at the 15:46 mark. Notre Dame then fired up its perimeter shooting, connecting on 4-of-5 three-point tries during a 14-2 run that essentially put the game on ice. Lechlitner started the long-range assault, with Allen sinking one and Barlow adding a pair of treys in the three-minute spree, boosting the Irish lead to a game-high 22 points (61-39) with 12:44 to play. St. John's battled valiantly, but could not get closer than 14 points the rest of the night. The Last Time Notre Dame And St. John's Met At Carnesecca Arena Tara Walker added 14 points and Monique McLean had 13 for the Red Storm, who lost their first 15 meetings with Notre Dame. Melissa D'Amico had 14 points for the Irish, who were coming off a 62-51 loss to No. 1 Tennessee less than a week earlier. Megan Duffy had 13 points and became Notre Dame's 21st 1,000-point scorer, while Crystal Erwin added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Irish, who finished with a 41-21 edge on the boards. Walker had two three-pointers in the first 56 seconds of the second half to give St. John's the lead for good at 38-37. The Red Storm extended the lead to 54-44 on a jumper by Danielle Chambers with 9:14 to play. But D'Amico and Lindsay Schrader each had six points in a 19-10 run that brought Notre Dame within 64-63 on a jumper by D'Amico with nine seconds to play. Greeba Barlow of St. John's hit a jumper with 2.8 seconds to go and Notre Dame was unable to get off a potential game-tying shot. Other Notre Dame-St. John's Series Tidbits Boldly Going Where No Irish Player Has Gone Before By comparison, the Irish men's basketball program has had only two players reach this milestone -- Chris Thomas (2001-05) and David Graves (1998-2002). However, steals were first kept as a statistic in 1978-79, while individual assists were first kept in 1983-84. Road Warriors Twenty Questions Chart Toppers A full recap of Notre Dame's positions on the NCAA statistics charts (and its relation to the national leaders) can be found on page 11 of this notes package. The latest NCAA statistics report will be released Monday afternoon. Thirty Deeds Notre Dame's 10 30-point wins this year have tied the school record originally set during the 2000-01 national championship season. However, in that campaign, only eight of those 30-point victories came in the first 28 games. What's more, the Irish had a streak of four consecutive 30-point wins from Nov. 20-Dec. 2. The last time Notre Dame did that was Jan. 20-30, 1999, when the Irish had four straight 30-point victories, all during BIG EAST Conference play -- at Seton Hall (87-47), home vs. St. John's (99-60), at Syracuse (94-61) and at Providence (97-59). Put A Tiger In Your Tank The Irish currently rank third in the BIG EAST Conference in scoring (and fifth in the nation as of last Friday) at 78.2 points per game, having tallied at least 80 points 15 times this season. What's more, Notre Dame also has the fourth-highest scoring average through 29 games in program history, and highest since the 1998-99 squad averaged 82.3 points at this juncture on the way to the single-season school scoring record (81.0). What's more, Notre Dame has scored at least 90 points seven times this season, tying the school record first set in the 1996-97 NCAA Final Four season, and later matched in 1998-99. In fact, during the six seasons prior to the current one (2001-02 through 2006-07), Notre Dame had a combined total of four 90-point games. Notre Dame also ranks second in the conference (and ninth in the nation) in scoring margin at +17.6 points per game. If it holds up, that margin would go down as the second-largest in school history for an entire season. The 2000-01 team won by an average of 21.4 points per game during its 34-2 run to the national title. McGraw's Shock Troops While Irish women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw may not quite be following Rockne's philosophy to the letter, she could easily rotate in much of her second unit and not see much decline in productivity. In fact, Notre Dame's bench is averaging 29.4 points per game (compared to 48.8 ppg. by the starters) and has outscored 28 of 29 opponent benches this season (all but the second DePaul game) by an average of +15.0 points per night. Prior to her season-ending knee injury on Feb. 10 vs. Pittsburgh, freshman forward Devereaux Peters was leading the way for this year's Irish "shock troops". The Chicago native averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.96 blocks per game (tops in BIG EAST and 45th in the nation) with a .522 field goal percentage (10th in the conference). Peters came off the bench in 21 of 23 games this year, piling up a season-high 15 points and seven steals vs. Villanova before collecting her first career double-double (10 points, season-high 12 rebounds) on Jan. 27 against top-ranked Connecticut. Youth Movement All three Irish rookies have done their part to help Notre Dame to its 23-6 record, with each one averaging at least 12 minutes and having scored in double figures at least four times. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 10 vs. Pittsburgh, Peters was fourth on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg) and scored in double digits 14 times, while also leading the BIG EAST (45th in the nation) in blocked shots (1.96 bpg). Mallory is averaging 6.8 points per game, leads the team with 32 three-pointers and is coming off a 14-point (season-high 4-5 3FG), seven-rebound effort last Wednesday vs. South Florida. Bruszewski, who will miss 7-10 days after left hand surgery on Feb. 25, is logging 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, collecting her fourth double-figure scoring performance of the season with 10 points and six rebounds on Feb. 10 vs. 15th-ranked Pittsburgh. Spreading The Wealth Double Trouble Notre Dame also has had at least three double-figure scorers in all but four games (Purdue, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 16 West Virginia, No. 5/4 Rutgers) this year, with a season-high seven in double digits at Georgetown (the most in one game for the Irish since Feb. 6, 1997 vs. Syracuse). What's more, the Irish fielded five double-figure scorers in three consecutive games from Nov. 20-27. It's believed to be the first time in school history (and certainly the first time in the Muffet McGraw era) the Irish have pulled off that feat of three straight games with five double-digit scorers, although records are incomplete prior to the 1983-84 season. Protecting The Pill The Irish took ball protection to a new level in their loss at No. 3 Maryland on Nov. 16. Notre Dame set a school record with only three turnovers against the Terrapins, with two of those giveaways coming on offensive fouls. The previous school record for fewest turnovers was six, set on Feb. 12, 2006 at DePaul. With only three turnovers, it probably comes as no surprise that Maryland did not register a steal against Notre Dame. However, what is surprising is that it was the first time in the 31-year history of the Irish program that an opponent did not record a steal against Notre Dame. Several opponents had only one steal vs. the Irish, with the most recent being Boston College on March 19, 2006 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (played at West Lafayette, Ind.). Piping Hot Turnovers Notre Dame has made even the strongest ball-handling teams struggle this season. In fact, Villanova came into its Jan. 16 game at the Joyce Center leading the nation with only 11.2 turnovers per game. However, the Wildcats left town with 24 turnovers, their highest single-game giveaway mark in more than six years (Dec. 1, 2001 at Temple). The Five-Finger Discount Individually, the Irish have seven players with at least 30 steals this season. Senior guard Charel Allen and sophomore guard Ashley Barlow share the team lead with 57 steals, also tying for eighth in the BIG EAST (1.97 spg). Notre Dame tied Connecticut for the BIG EAST title in steals last season (9.69 spg. in league play; 10.47 overall), the first time the Irish won a conference steals crown since 1989-90, when they led the Horizon League with 10.93 steals per game. Keeping It On The Plus Side Off And Running Even in its defeat at third-ranked Maryland on Nov. 16, Notre Dame made a statement early with a 10-0 run in the first five minutes of action and led by as many as five points in the first half before the Terrapins rallied back for the win. Allen Climbing Irish Points Ladder Polling Station Notre Dame has been ranked in the AP poll for 156 weeks during the program's history, with every one of those appearances coming in the Muffet McGraw era. McGraw currently ranks 14th among all active NCAA Division I head coaches for weeks in the AP poll, and also stands 25th all-time in that category. The Irish also were in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll for the 16th consecutive time last week, staying even at 14th. Last week's ranking ties the season-high for Notre Dame and is its highest poll position in two years, when the Irish were tabbed 12th by the coaches prior to the aforementioned losses to St. John's and Seton Hall. More Polling Data Clutch When It Counts Among those with a minimum of 10 attempts, senior guard Tulyah Gaines leads the way with an .842 free throw percentage (16-of-19) in crunch time. Also worth noting -- sophomore guard Ashley Barlow is 23-of-28 (.821) in her career when toeing the line down the stretch. A Six-Figure Season Notre Dame also finished with an average attendance of 7,016 fans per game, its highest since the 2002-03 campaign (7,132 per game). The school record for average attendance is 7,825 in 2001-02. Crowded House In addition, the Jan. 27 audience marked the first time the Irish have attracted three crowds of 10,000 fans in the same season, as 10,825 fans took in the Dec. 2 win over Michigan. Start Me Up The last time Notre Dame got off to a 13-2 start was the 2004-05 season, when the Irish won their first seven games (including the Preseason WNIT title) before a Dec. 2 overtime loss to 15th-ranked Michigan State. Notre Dame (which rose as high as third in the national polls that season) then reeled off six more wins before suffering consecutive loss at Villanova (59-54) and home vs. No. 16 Connecticut (67-50). However, the Irish rebounded with a 10-game win streak, finishing the year at 27-6 and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame posted a 13-2 record on three other occasions, also doing so in 1999-2000 (27-5, NCAA Sweet 16), 1998-99 (26-5, NCAA second round) and 1977-78 (13-4, program's first varsity season when playing at AIAW Division III level). We're Going Streaking! Notre Dame also won six consecutive road games earlier this season (Nov. 20-Jan. 2). That was the longest run for the Irish away from the Joyce Center since a 10-game run from Nov. 17, 2000 to Feb. 14, 2001, a streak that ended with a 54-53 loss at No. 11/14 Rutgers (one of only two defeats for the Irish on their run to the NCAA title). No Easy Road With the addition of Maryland to the docket in the Preseason WNIT semifinals (75-59 loss on Nov. 16), the Irish faced four of the top five teams in last week's Associated Press poll at some point this season. Besides the Terrapins (No. 5), Notre Dame also played No. 1 Connecticut (lost 81-64 on Jan. 27 at the Joyce Center), No. 3 Tennessee (lost 87-63 on Jan. 5 at the Joyce Center), and No. 4 Rutgers (lost 57-51 on Feb. 19 in Piscataway, N.J.). Three of the top five teams in the poll have combined to win five of the past six national championships, with Tennessee currently holding the hardware after defeating Rutgers in last year's title game. ND To Host NCAA Tourney Games In '09, '10 Notre Dame has played in the NCAA Tournament on its home floor five times before, most recently defeating Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) and Middle Tennessee in 2004 to make the program's sixth NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. All told, the Irish are 6-1 in NCAA play at the Joyce Center, winning six in a row since an 81-76 first-round loss to Minnesota in 1994. Irish Fans Crave A Big Mac Attack This season's burger watch ended at eight, as the Irish hit the 88-point mark in both exhibition wins, along with regular-season victories over Miami (Ohio), Boston College, Canisius, Valparaiso, Marquette and USF. It's probably not a surprise that the Notre Dame player with the most "Big Mac baskets" this season has the same initials as that of the tasty burger -- freshman guard Brittany Mallory, who sent the crowd home happy (and presumably with full bellies) four times. Friends In Need A loyal supporter of the Irish for many years, Patricia has assisted Notre Dame's coordinator of basketball operations Stephanie Menio with numerous marketing and promotional activities, and also coordinated regular bus trips for fans to see the Irish on the road. Patricia's OIT colleagues have created a web page to update supporters on her progress: http://oit.nd.edu/patricia. Notre Dame also lost a treasured friend on Jan. 22, when longtime Joyce Center clock operator Mark Tulchinsky passed away. Mark was a dedicated educator in the South Bend Community School Corporation, most recently serving as principal at Tarkington Traditional School. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mark, his wife, Nan (the official scorer for Notre Dame basketball), and the Tulchinsky family. Next Game: BIG EAST Championship
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