November 4, 1998
Notre Dame, Ind. —– Senior guard Sheila McMillen (Rochester, Ind.) scored a game-high 27 points as she connected on nine three-pointers to lead six Notre Dame players in double figures as the Irish defeated Visby-Sweden 111-82 in the first of two exhibition contests.
Three Notre Dame players recorded double-doubles. Sophomore center Ruth Riley (Macy, Ind.) had 19 points and 13 rebounds; Danielle Green (Chicago, Ill.) added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Niele Ivey (St. Louis, Mo.) had 18 points and 15 assists.
Freshman Ericka Haney (Toledo, Ohio) had 11 points in playing 22 minutes and senior Diana Braendly (Staten Island, N.Y.) rounded out the double figure scoring as she netted 10 points.
Notre Dame shot 51.8 percent from the field hitting 44 of 85 field goal attempts. The Irish had 29 assists in the game and committed just 13 turnovers. Visby shot just 32.4 percent from the field in the first half, but connected on 48.1 percent of their shots in the second half and finished the game with hitting 39.3 percent from the floor.
Visby had four players in double figures. Mikaela Braf scored 24 points as she nailed six of 12 shots from the field and canned 12 of 17 free throw attempts. Hanna Bjorklund and Marie Soderberg each chipped in 13, while Anne Kettunen scored 10.
Bjorklund also was the team’s leading rebounder as she grabbed 11 boards.
Notre Dame led 51-32 at the half and led by as many as 34 points (84-50) in the final second-half stanza. Visby’s only lead was at 6-4 with 17:17 left to play in the first half.
The Irish play their final exhibition game next Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. when they play host to Estonia before opening up the regular season on Saturday, November 14 at home against LSU.