Nov. 14, 2004
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By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jacqueline Batteast scored 24 points and Teresa Borton added 13 points and 11 rebounds Sunday to lead Notre Dame to a 73-57 victory over Nebraska in the second round of the Sportsview.tv Preseason WNIT.
The Irish will host No. 6 Duke, which beat South Florida 82-50, in a semifinal game Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ET) at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame (2-0) was in control though most of the game against Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers went on a 13-7 run midway through the first half to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 17-16. But the Irish answered with a quick 6-0 spurt and led 35-26 at halftime. Nebraska (1-1) didn’t threaten again and the Irish led by 20 points several times in the second half.
Batteast, who was in foul trouble in the opener and played just 17 minutes, dominated inside against the Cornhuskers and repeatedly overpowered defenders. She was 10-of-18 from the field and matched her career high with seven assists in 36 minutes. Breona Gray added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Irish, and Borton had her third career double-double.
Courtney LaVere added 10 points as the Irish outscored Nebraska 38-24 inside and outrebounded the Cornhuskers 49-37. The Irish held Nebraska to 32 percent shooting, while making 43 percent of their shots.
Chelsea Aubry led the Cornhuskers with 16 points, and Jessica Gerhart added 13. Kiera Hardy, who had a career-high 28 points in Nebraska’s opening-round victory, was held to four on 2-of-16 shooting.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Tickets for Wednesday’s game with sixth-ranked Duke are on sale now through the Notre Dame athletics ticket office, located on the second floor of the Joyce Center (phone is 574-631-7356). Notre Dame women’s basketball season ticket holders have the option of retaining their seats for the Duke game, provided they purchase their tickets before 5 p.m. (ET) Monday. After that time, all seats will be released and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for youths (21 and younger) and seniors (55 and older) … With Sunday’s victory over Nebraska, the Irish extended their home winning streak to 22 games, the sixth-longest active run in the nation … Notre Dame also has now won 40 consecutive home games and is 44-2 (.957) at home all-time when it is ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll … Batteast’s 24 points marked the 22nd time in her career she has scored 20 or more points in a game … she now has 1,352 career points, putting her just 22 points away from passing Shari Matvey for 10th place on the Irish career scoring list … Batteast’s seven assists tied her career high (Cleveland State on Nov. 26, 2002) … Borton’s double-double was the third of her career and first since Feb. 5, 2002 at Pittsburgh (10 points, 10 rebounds) … Borton’s 11 rebounds also tied her career high, set twice before (last time was at St. John’s on Feb. 17, 2004) … Gray’s 12 points and seven rebounds both were career highs — she had 11 points on March 2, 2004 vs. Syracuse, and twice had six rebounds in a game, most recently last Friday night vs. Illinois State … Notre Dame improved to 130-6 (.956) in the past 10 seasons when it holds opponents to less than 60 points (that stretch coincides exactly with its membership in the BIG EAST Conference) … when the Irish have the lead at halftime, they are now 79-7 (.919), dating back to the start of the 2000-01 season … Notre Dame has won eight of its last nine in-season tournament games and is 11-4 in regular-season tournaments during the past 10 seasons … one late addition to the Illinois State recap from Friday — the 29 assists by the Irish not only were the most they’ve had in four years, they also set a new Preseason WNIT record, breaking the old mark of 28 assists held jointly by Connecticut (vs. Fairfield) and Vanderbilt (vs. Eastern Kentucky) on Nov. 9, 2001.