Dec. 21, 2002
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
* For the sixth time in seven games this season, Notre Dame started the same lineup — sophomore forwards Jacqueline Batteast and Katy Flecky, sophomore center Teresa Borton, junior guard Le’Tania Severe and senior guard Alicia Ratay. The Irish are 5-1 this season when that starting combo takes the floor.
* Notre Dame picks up its 32nd consecutive non-conference home win, extending a streak that dates back more than six years (Dec. 9, 1996 – L, 81-69 vs. Wisconsin).
* The Irish have now won 79 of their last 82 home games, including 54 of their last 55 at the Joyce Center.
* Notre Dame improves to 6-1 for the seventh time in school history and the fourth time in the last seven seasons. It’s also the fifth 6-1 start for the Irish in the 16-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw.
* Notre Dame now is 70-4 (.946) all-time when playing at the Joyce Center as a ranked team. The Irish came into today’s game ranked 12th in the nation in the AP poll and 11th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
* Today’s victory clinched at least a .500 record for Notre Dame in the month of December. The Irish now have finished .500 or better in 40 of the last 41 months of action, dating back to December 1994. The only blemish was last March, when Notre Dame went 1-2.
* Notre Dame is now 99-29 (.773) all-time against teams from the state of Indiana, including a 3-0 career mark vs. IPFW. This was the first game between the Irish and Mastodons in 23 years, 10 months and 27 days (Jan. 24, 1979), the longest hiatus between series games in school history.
* Irish head coach Muffet McGraw improved her all-time record at Notre Dame to 348-128 (.731), putting her two wins away from becoming just the second Irish basketball coach (men’s or women’s) to record 350 victories at Notre Dame. Digger Phelps carded 393 wins while at the helm of the Irish men’s squad from 1971-91.
* For the fifth time this season, Notre Dame shot at least 50 percent from the floor, making exactly half their shots today vs. IPFW (30-60). The Irish are 5-0 this season when they top the 50-percent mark.
* Today’s game marked only the second time all season Notre Dame did not have at least four players scoring in double figures (ND had three vs. IPFW). The Irish also had three in double digits at DePaul on Dec. 11.
* Notre Dame canned a season-high eight three-point field goals this afternoon. Coming into the IPFW game, the Irish had made only 15 triples all season.
* Notre Dame dished out a season-high 26 assists, with five players collecting a game-high four handouts.
* The Irish registered 15 steals vs. IPFW, the third time in as many home games this year that Notre Dame has collected at least 15 thefts, and ND is averaging 17.3 steals per game at the Joyce Center this season.
* The Irish forced 28 IPFW turnovers this afternoon. In three home games this year, Notre Dame has caused an average of 27.7 turnovers by the opposition.
* Notre Dame had two players (Courtney LaVere and Alicia Ratay) score 20 points in the same game for the first time since Jan. 26, 2001 vs. Virginia Tech (Jacqueline Batteast – 26, Ratay – 22).
* Freshman forward Courtney LaVere tossed in a season-high 20 points, topping her previous best of 18 points set in Notre Dame’s season-opening win over Cleveland State. LaVere is averaging 18 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in three home contests this season.
* With 20 points today, senior guard Alicia Ratay moved into sixth place on Notre Dame’s career scoring list with 1,472 points, passing Sandy Botham (1,460 points from 1984-88). Next up for Ratay is Trena Keys, who carded 1,589 points from 1982-86.
* Ratay also collected the 79th double-figure scoring game of her career, passing Trena Keys for fifth place on the Irish career list in that category. In addition, Ratay notched the 21st 20-point outing of her career, just two behind Shari Matvey (1979-83) and Heidi Bunek (1985-89) for fifth place in school history in that department.
* With three free throws made (in three attempts), Ratay now has made 289 free throws in her career, breaking a tie with Niele Ivey (286 from 1996-2001) for fifth place on the Irish all-time list.
* Ratay made a season-high 5-of-6 three-point field goal attempts vs. IPFW. She now has 223 career triples and needs eight treys to tie Beth Morgan for second place on the Notre Dame career list of three-point field goals made. Ratay also has attempted 462 three-pointers in her career, just seven tries behind Niele Ivey for third place in school history. Ratay lifted her school-record career three-point percentage to .483, which also would surpass the current NCAA record of .467 held by Harvard’s Erin Maher.
* Sophomore center Teresa Borton set new career highs with 11 rebounds and four assists this afternoon. Her previous bests were 10 rebounds (twice) and four assists (at Providence, 1/19/02).
* Freshman guard Megan Duffy registered a season-high four steals, topping her old personal best of two thefts (done twice before).
* Sophomore guard Kelsey Wicks dished out a career-high four assists, breaking her previous career-best of three handouts, set back on Dec. 7. at Arizona State.
* Sophomore guard Jill Krause set a new career standard with three rebounds (previous: two vs. Army, 11/26/01) and eight minutes played (previous: seven vs. Cleveland State, 11/26/02), and tied her career-high with two points (done twice before).