Jan. 7, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team endured perhaps its most difficult loss in several years, falling at Georgetown, 76-73, in their BIG EAST Conference opener on Wednesday night at McDonough Arena in Washington. The Irish led by six points with 55 seconds left, but watched the Hoyas go on an 11-2 game-ending run and score the final seven points of the game to earn their first win over Notre Dame since 1988.
Georgetown’s Bethany LeSueur provided the crushing blow, converting an old-fashioned three-point play with 12.1 seconds to go, giving her team the lead for good. It was the final chapter in a nail-biting contest that saw 14 ties and 14 lead changes. In addition, neither team led by more than six points the entire game.
Sophomore guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS) led all scorers with 22 points for Notre Dame, connecting on six of 10 shots from the floor, including four of eight three-point attempts. It was the seventh double-figure scoring game of the season for Duffy, and her second 20-point game this year. Junior forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind./Washington HS) chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds, but fouled out with 2:56 to play, leaving her one point shy of becoming the 20th 1,000-point scorer in school history.
Junior center Teresa Borton (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, while senior guard Le’Tania Severe (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Fort Lauderdale HS) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and added a season-best six assists. The Irish won the rebounding battle, 45-39, and shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26 of 56), but they were undone by their turnovers. Notre Dame gave up the ball 24 times, with Georgetown converting those giveaways into 25 points.
Rebekkah Brunson notched her seventh double-double of the season for the Hoyas, winding up with 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds before also fouling out on a charge with 2:10 remaining. Mary Lisicky offered up 17 points and LeSueur carded 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals for Georgetown.
The first half was a case of point-counterpoint, as the team constantly jockeyed for the lead. Duffy’s second three-pointer of the game gave the Irish an 11-8 lead, but the Hoyas came right back with an 8-0 run, highlighted by a pair of layups from Carmen Bruce. After a Notre Dame timeout, the Irish responded with six straight points to retake the lead, but that lasted only briefly. Georgetown (7-5, 1-1 BIG EAST) regained a 22-19 lead on Lisicky’s four-point play with 8:48 left in the first half, but Notre Dame then scored five in a row to take a two-point lead one minute later.
From that point on, the two sides traded the lead four times and were tied on four other occasions. A free throw by Brunson and a jumper by LeSueur helped Georgetown eventually take a 33-32 halftime lead, marking the third consecutive time in the series that the Hoyas have led at the intermission.
Batteast helped put Notre Dame back on top early in the second half, scoring six of her team’s first eight points to help build a 41-37 lead. Georgetown answered with a 7-2 run and went in front, 44-43 on a Brunson free throw with 14:57 left. The Irish then scored 11 of the next 16 points and built their biggest lead to that stage at 54-49 when Duffy drained her fourth trey of the night just past the midway point of the second half.
Kate Carlin knocked down a triple of her own on Georgetown’s next possession, but the Hoyas would then score just one basket over the following four minutes . Still, Notre Dame could not put their hosts away and when Brunson converted two more free throws, the score was tied for the 13th time at 58-58 with 4:52 remaining. A three-point play by Batteast and a three-pointer by senior guard Jeneka Joyce (Topeka, Kan./Washburn Rural HS) gave the Irish a 64-60 edge less than a minute later, but the Hoyas rallied again with a Lisicky jumper and a Brunson foul shot pulling them within one.
Notre Dame then appeared to put the game on ice with a 7-2 run, taking a 71-65 lead on two free throws by Severe with 55 seconds to go. In fact, Severe had a chance to pad the Irish advantage with 43 ticks left, but the 80-percent foul shooter missed both of her charities, opening the door for the Hoyas’ comeback. LeSueur converted a layup on the next GU possession and fueled by a full court press, Lisicky came up with a steal and layup to pull the Hoyas as close as 71-69 at the 32-second mark.
Duffy then was fouled by Carlin five seconds later and buried both of her charities, but there were cancelled out when Sarah Jenkins hit a short jumper with 14 seconds left. That set the stage for LeSueur’s heroics, as she subsequently stole the next inbounds pass and canned a runner in the lane while being fouled by Severe. Following an Irish timeout, LeSueur completed her three-point play to put Georgetown in front. Severe raced down court and crossed into the lane, but her finger roll hit the back iron and front rim before coming off. Bruce collected the board and was fouled, nailing two free throws with 2.2 seconds left. Notre Dame had one last chance, but its long baseball pass into the front court was picked off as time expired.
The Irish (7-6, 0-1) will try to bounce back and end their two-game losing streak Saturday at noon (ET) when they play host to No. 16/15 Virginia Tech at the Joyce Center. That game will be broadcast regionally as part of the BIG EAST television package, with Madison Square Garden (MSG) Network airing the contest live and WHME-TV (Channel 46 in South Bend) showing it on a same-day tape-delayed basis at 7 p.m. (ET).
— ND —