Dec. 20, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second time this season, and the third time in her career, Notre Dame senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast (South Bend, Ind./Washington HS) has been selected as the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. The 6-foot-2 wing also was tapped for the honor back on Nov. 22 and is the second player this season to be named BIG EAST Player of the Week multiple times, joining another two-time winner, Jessalyn Deveny of Boston College.
Batteast was the hero in Notre Dame’s win at Marquette on Sunday afternoon, drilling a three-pointer from the right side as time expired to give the No. 7/5 Irish a 50-47 victory over the Golden Eagles. In addition to burying Notre Dame’s first buzzer-beating shot in nearly a decade, Batteast collected her third double-double of the season (and 35th of her career) with game highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds. She also scored the 1,500th point of her career early in the first half, becoming the seventh player in school history to reach that milestone (she now has 1,525 points), and she moved into fifth place on the Irish career rebounding list with 827 caroms (one more than Margaret Nowlin’s tally of 826 from 1988-92).
For the season, Batteast leads the BIG EAST in scoring (19.1 ppg.), and also ranks among the conference leaders in rebounding (9th – 7.3 rpg.), assists (8th – 3.6 apg.), free throw percentage (5th – .842), double-doubles (tie-3rd – 3) and 20-point games (tie-1st – 4).
Notre Dame (10-1) is in the midst of an 11-day Christmas break, its longest regular-season hiatus since a 15-day stoppage from Dec. 13-28, 1997. The Irish return to action on Dec. 30, when they travel to DeKalb, Ill., for a 7 p.m. (CT) matchup at Northern Illinois.
— ND —