Jan. 31, 2001
By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – For a while it looked as though Notre Dame’s first game at home as No. 1 might be its last.
The Irish fell behind Providence by seven points early – their biggest deficit all season – and played sloppily, turning the ball over nine times in the first 12 minutes.
But Notre Dame (20-0, 9-0 Big East) ended the first half with a 15-2 run and Ruth Riley scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half as the Irish beat Providence 64-44 Wednesday night for their 20th straight victory.
“We scared them a little bit, didn’t we?” Providence coach Jim Jabir said as he entered the interview room.
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said things have come a little too easy for the Irish this season, and when they faced adversity in the first half they didn’t handle it well.
A basket by Providence’s Jen Gombotz scored with 6:14 left in the first half gave Providence (7-11, 1-7) an 18-11 lead. The biggest previous deficit for the Irish was six points against Georgia in the fourth game of the season.
Making the matter even worse for the Irish is that Riley, their leading scorer, was already on the bench with two fouls and didn’t play the rest of the half.
“I wanted to go home right there,” Jabir joked.
But Niele Ivey started the Irish resurgence, hitting a 3-pointer with 4:34 left. She then stole the ball and sent Ericka Haney on a fastbreak layup to give the Irish the lead, hit a 10-foot jumper and added another free throw as the Irish took a 26-20 halftime lead – their fewest points at halftime since scoring 19 points against then No. 1 Connecticut nearly a year ago.
“Once we got the lead we got a little more comfortable and we got our confidence back,” McGraw said. “But we were shaken.”
Riley settled the Irish down in the second half with her dominating inside play, scoring 10 of Notre Dame’s 11 points during one stretch. She kept scoring even though the Friars double-teamed and triple-teamed her, leaving other Irish shooters open.
“We couldn’t make a shot,” McGraw said. “They were daring us to shoot 3s. I don’t think anyone’s done that to us.”
The Irish shot a season-low 36.7 percent, well below their previous low of 43.3 percent against North Carolina on Dec. 3. But they put the game away late with a 16-0 run.
Haney had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Irish. Ivey had 12 points and four steals and Riley added 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Jenese Wilcox led Providence with 12 points and eight rebounds and Dani Trippany had 11 points.
Jabir said his team couldn’t handle it when the Irish began to play better.
“Our confidence is very fragile,” he said. “Notre Dame just turned it up a little bit. There’s not just a lot of talent on that side, but a lot of swagger. If that announcer said ‘We’re the No. 1 team in the country’ one more time, I think I was going to choke.
“But you know what? If I was the No. 1 team in the country, I’d probably be saying it too.”
The 20 straight victories by the Irish matches the school record set last season as they became just the seventh team to put together back-to-back seasons with 20-straight wins.