Dec. 8, 2002
* For the third time in four games this season, Notre Dame fielded a starting lineup with three sophomores on the front line — forwards Jacqueline Batteast and Katy Flecky, along with center Teresa Borton. Junior Le’Tania Severe and senior Alicia Ratay made up the Irish backcourt. Notre Dame is 3-0 this year with that starting lineup combination.
* The Irish even their all-time series record with Arizona State at 1-1, picking up their first win in the state of Arizona in three career visits.
* Notre Dame is only the third BIG EAST Conference team ever to defeat Arizona State in nine career games. The others were Rutgers (1998-99) and West Virginia (1988-89).
* The Irish win snaps Arizona State’s school-record 13-game home winning streak, and hands the Sun Devils their first loss in six games this season.
* Notre Dame now is 12-13 (.480) in its history against the Pacific-10 Conference, having won its last three games against that league.
* Saturday’s 29-point margin of victory was the second-largest ever for Notre Dame against a Pac-10 school (record: 95-65 vs. Arizona, 11/20/00), and its largest ever on the campus of a Pac-10 institution.
* The 29-point win was the largest for the Irish away from home since an 89-33 win over Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the 2001 BIG EAST Championship (March 4, 2001) at Storrs, Conn. It also was the largest win for Notre Dame on an opponent’s floor since an 84-49 victory at St. John’s on Jan. 9, 2001.
* The 81 points scored at Arizona State were the most for Notre Dame on the road since an 86-66 win at Georgetown on Feb. 23, 2002.
* Since opening last season with five consecutive losses away from home, Notre Dame has won nine of its last 11 games outside the Joyce Center, including the last seven in a row. The only blemishes on that record came last January with a one-point loss at Villanova and a setback at eventual national champion Connecticut.
* The 17 points scored by Arizona State in the first half were the fewest scored by a Notre Dame opponent in the opening 20 minutes since Feb. 16, 2002, when the Irish held Rutgers to only 15 first-half markers in a 57-52 victory.
* After making only one of its first 10 shots in the opening five minutes, Notre Dame shot a sizzling 64.2 percent (34-of-53) for the remainder of the game.
* For the fourth consecutive contest, the Irish shot better than 50 percent from the field, finishing at 55.6 percent (35-63) for the game. The last time Notre Dame topped the 50-percent mark in four straight games was Jan. 3-21, 2001, when the Irish turned that trick in six consecutive outings.
* Also for the fourth game in a row, Notre Dame had at least four players score in double figures. The last time the Irish had that kind of balance over such an extended period was March 6-24, 2001, when they lost in the BIG EAST Championship game at Connecticut (four in double digits), then defeated Alcorn State (five), Michigan (four) and Utah (four) in the NCAA Tournament.
* Arizona State shot 28.4 percent from the field, the lowest by an Irish opponent this season. Notre Dame has held all four of its opponents under 40 percent shooting this year, the first time that has happened since Dec. 6, 2001-Jan. 2, 2002, when the Irish held seven consecutive foes (Purdue, USC, Western Michigan, Marquette, Rice, DePaul and Miami) under 40 percent from the floor.
* Notre Dame plucked a season-high 50 rebounds at Arizona State, its highest total on the glass since a 51-rebound effort vs. St. John’s on Feb. 13, 2002.
* Sophomore forward Jacqueline Batteast scored a season-high 24 points, only two away from her career best of 26 points, which she set last season vs. Providence and Virginia Tech. She also matched her career high by making 10 field goals and tied her season best with three steals.
* Sophomore center Teresa Borton tied her season high with a team-best nine rebounds, one off her personal best, which she set against Providence and Pittsburgh last year. Borton also connected on 7-of-10 shots, including all five of her attempts in the second half. For the season, Borton now is shooting a team-best .639 from the field (23-36), a figure which includes a 3-for-8 outing at Valparaiso.
* Freshman guard Megan Duffy dished a season-high seven assists and corralled a season-best five rebounds in a personal-high 26 minutes of action. Duffy’s seven assists were the most by an Irish freshman since Alicia Ratay dropped seven dimes against Butler on Dec. 1, 1999.
* Senior guard Alicia Ratay started for the 101st time in 102 career games, moving her into a tie with Sandy Botham (1984-88) for eighth place on the Notre Dame all-time games started list. Ratay will pass Botham, and catch current Irish assistant coach Letitia Bowen (1991-95) for seventh place with her next starting assignment.
* The 29-point margin was the largest home setback for Arizona State during the seven-year Charli Turner-Thorne era (1996-97 to present). It also was the largest home loss for ASU since a 98-56 defeat at the hands of USC on Feb. 15, 1996.
* Notre Dame improves to 104-2 (.981) since the start of the 1995-96 season when holding the opposition under 60 points.
* The Irish move to 83-3 (.965) since the start of the 1995-96 season when scoring at least 80 points.