Jan. 1, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team fought through a rocky first half and used timely free throw shooting down the stretch to register its fourth consecutive victory, 72-64 over Marquette on New Year’s Day at the Joyce Center. The Irish now have won five of their last six games and are a perfect 5-0 at home this season.
Sophomore guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/ Chaminade-Julienne HS) was one of four Irish players to score in double figures on Thursday, connecting for a game-high 18 points. She also dished out a game-best seven assists, marking the sixth time this season she has recorded at least five handouts in a game.
Duffy’s fellow sophomore, forward Courtney LaVere (Ventura, Calif./Buena HS) chipped in with 16 points on six of 11 shooting, while junior center Teresa Borton (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS) matched her season high with 14 points and added a game-best seven rebounds. Junior forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind./Washington HS) rounded out the double-digit quartet for Notre Dame with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Kelley Schwerman was Marquette’s leading scorer with 12 points, while Katie O’Grady came off the bench to log 11 points and five steals, and Sarah Shouse notched 10 points.
Notre Dame (7-4) secured the victory based on two key statistics – rebounding and foul shooting. The Irish won the battle on the boards by a 40-24 margin, including a 20-7 spread in the second half. The hosts also shot a season-best 90 percent (27 of 30) from the free throw line, knocking down 20 of 22 (.909) charities in the second half.
It was evident from the opening tip that Thursday’s game would be closely contested as the teams combined for five ties and five lead changes in the first half. Notre Dame opened up a pair of four-point leads in the early stages, the last coming at 16-12 when Duffy canned a long three-pointer from the top of the key with 11:52 to go in the period.
Marquette (8-3) answered right back with a 23-12 run over the next nine and a half minutes, taking its largest lead of the game at 35-28 on a layup by Shouse with 2:23 to play until the break. Notre Dame cut more than half of the fat off its deficit, scoring the last four points, but a pair of missed layups in the waning moments left the Irish down by three (35-32) heading to the dressing room.
Notre Dame had not won a game this season in which it trailed at halftime, but the Irish seemed determined to reverse that trend in the second half, opening the period on an 8-0 run to take a 40-35 lead on two LaVere free throws at the 17:25 mark. Yet, that momentum quickly dissipated in the face of a strong Golden Eagle squad, which put together an 11-2 burst and grabbed a 46-42 edge with 12:05 remaining.
Backed into a corner, Notre Dame came out swinging and rocked Marquette with a game-turning 14-3 run over the following 5:30, building up a 56-49 lead when Duffy buried a long jumper on the left wing. Batteast helped pace the comeback with six consecutive points in a span of 64 seconds.
Still, the Golden Eagles would not be dismissed easily, closing the gap to four points on four occasions down the stretch, the last time coming when O’Grady made the first of two foul shots with 1:29 to play. However, the Marquette veteran missed her second free throw and Duffy hit a runner in the lane on Notre Dame’s next possession to effectively end the Golden Eagles’ chances for victory. The Irish made eight of their 10 free throws inside the final five minutes, including five of six in the last two minutes to preserve their 25th win in 29 career meetings with Marquette.
Notre Dame will wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule Sunday when it pays a visit to No. 7/8 Purdue for a 3 p.m. (ET) game at Mackey Arena. The contest will be televised nationwide on ESPN2 as part of the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge.
— ND —