Notre Dame And Purdue Women's Basketball Squads Square Off In Intrastate Battle
Dec. 7, 1999 SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- A pair of star players take center stage at Mackey Arena on Wednesday as Ruth Riley leads seventh-ranked Notre Dame against Katie Douglas and No. 18 Purdue. Riley, who is averaging 14.8 points, had 32 points on Saturday as Notre Dame (4-1) downed Liberty, 85-68, to win the Wachovia Women's Invitational Tournament. The junior center also pulled down seven rebounds as she was named MVP of the four-team tournament. "I was disappointed with how I started the season, getting into foul trouble a lot," said Riley, who has averaged only 20.8 minutes per game. "I felt like coming in that was the first thing I needed to take care: playing smart and being able to stay in the game." Riley has an excellent scoring partner in freshman guard Alicia Ratay. She is averaging 18.4 points per game and shooting 52.6 percent. Ratay added 17 points and five assists in Saturday's victory, hitting 6-of-10 shots. Purdue's Douglas, a sophomore, is averaging 22 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists. The defending national champions snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday by edging Indiana State, 69-67, in the Big Four Classic at Bloomington. Candi Crawford had a layup with 21 seconds to play as Purdue (5-1) rallied from a 10-point deficit. Camille Cooper had 23 points and 11 rebounds and was named Big Ten Player of the Week after averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds in two games. Purdue has a 20-game winning streak at Mackey Arena, the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Grambling and Kent. The Boilermakers lead the all-time series 8-2 and posted a 70-65 victory over the Fighting Irish in the regional semifinals of the 1998 NCAA tournament.
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