Feb. 26, 2005
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Seniors Teresa Borton and Jacqueline Batteast gave Notre Dame fans one last performance to remember.
Borton scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting in her final game at the Joyce Center and Jacqueline Batteast added 15 points, helping the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish dominate inside in an 82-57 victory over West Virginia on Saturday. It was Notre Dame’s 11th win in 12 games.
“We’re starting to look sharp. We’re starting to peak,” Irish coach Muffet McGraw said.
The Fighting Irish (24-4, 12-3 Big East) took control with a 13-0 run late in the second half and never let the Mountaineers (16-10, 7-8) get back in the game, outshooting West Virginia 70 percent to 33 percent after the break.
“They just dominated us in the second half,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said.
Megan Duffy, who had 10 turnovers in a loss last week at Rutgers, added 12 points and 10 assists for the Irish, her second career double-double – but the inside play and free-throw shooting were key. Notre Dame outscored the Mountaineers 46-22 inside, had a 39-30 rebounding advantage and outscored West Virginia 15-6 from the free-throw line.
“We thought we had a good game plan coming in and all of a sudden we quit defending the post,” Carey said.
Seniors Batteast and Borton left the game together with 3:38 remaining and got hugs from McGraw.
“They built our program back to where it was when they were freshmen, and that’s a monumental task,” McGraw said.
The 24 victories are the most for the Irish program since the 2000-01 team went 34-2 and won the national championship the season before Batteast and Borton arrived.
Batteast, who became the fourth Irish player to moved past the 1,800-point mark, smiled frequently throughout the game.
“I knew if I smiled it would be harder to cry,” she said.
Borton added nine rebounds and five blocks.
Ten of the 11 Notre Dame players who got into the game scored, giving the Irish the most points against a Big East opponent this season. The Irish had scored 75 points three times, most recently in wins against Pittsburgh and Providence earlier this month.
“If you look down the stat line, everybody contributed,” Duffy said.
The Irish also held Meg Bulger, who averages 20.5 points, to nine points on 4-of-19 shooting.
“They made it difficult by switching on everything,” Bulger said. “We just had nothing on offense by not moving.”
Yolanda Paige and Sherell Sowho had 16 points each to lead the Mountaineers.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame improves to 12-1 all-time against West Virginia, including a 7-0 record at the Joyce Center … the Senior Day crowd of 7,935 not only was a season high, but also the 14th-largest home audience in school history — Notre Dame now has had crowds of 5,000 or more fans in 65 of its last 67 home games (the final two Preseason WNIT games this year were priced and sold separately from the season ticket package and required a game-day purchase) … the Irish posted their highest point total vs. WVU since an 87-64 victory at Morgantown, W.Va., on Jan. 24, 2001 … Notre Dame has scored at least 70 points against West Virginia in 10 of their 13 series matchups and has held the Mountaineers under 60 points on six occasions … the 25-point margin of victory was the largest for Notre Dame over WVU since an 89-54 win at Morgantown on Feb. 20, 1999 … the Irish closed out their home schedule with a 14-2 mark, only one win shy of the school-record 15 home victories set on three occasions (1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2003-04) … Notre Dame continues to set its seniors out the right way, jumping to 16-2 on Senior Day in the Muffet McGraw era (1987-88 to present), including victories in 16 of the past 17 Senior Days (48-45 loss in 2002 vs. Villanova); all-time, the Irish are 23-5 (.821) on Senior Day … Notre Dame also remains especially resilient when it comes to shaking off a double-digit loss — the Irish are 36-5 (.878) in games following a double-figure defeat since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, including a 23-1 (.958) record in “bounce back” games at home … Notre Dame seasonal trend update: 18-0 when leading at the half, 16-0 when the Irish bench outscores the opposition’s reserves, 22-1 when outshooting the opponent, 11-0 when shooting 45 percent or better from the field (5-0 when over 50 percent), 18-2 when holding the opposition under 60 points, 15-1 when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent, 13-1 when having at least three double-figure scorers and 13-1 when scoring at least 70 points (3-0 in 80-point games and 91-3 in such contests since 1995-96) … the Irish bounced back from their season-high 23-turnover game at Rutgers by nearly cutting their giveaways in half — junior guard Megan Duffy highlighted that effort with a 10-assist, two-turnover game vs. West Virginia after being saddled with three assists and 10 turnovers at Rutgers … Duffy collected her second career double-double (both this season) and her fourth double-digit assist game of the year with her 12-point, 10-assist day … Duffy’s four double-figure assist games are the most for an Irish player since Niele Ivey had five 10-assist outings in 2000-01 … Duffy also nailed three three-point field goals, tying her with former teammate Jeneka Joyce (2000-04) for seventh place on the Irish career triples list (92) … senior center Teresa Borton tied her season high with 18 points, while adding five blocks (one off her career high of six, set on Dec. 2 vs. Michigan State); she now has 48 swats this year, moving her into ninth place on the Irish single-season list ahead of Katryna Gaither (46 in 1994-95) … Borton also tied Gaither for fourth place on Notre Dame’s career blocks shart with 141 … senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast made her 92nd consecutive start vs. West Virginia, putting her four away from breaking Gaither’s school record for consecutive games started, set from 1994-97 … Batteast cracked the 1,800-point mark for her career with a three-point play early in the second half and now has 1,809 markers at Notre Dame … in addition, Batteast has 494 points this year and is poised to become only the fourth player in school history to score 500 points in a season twice, joining Notre Dame’s top three all-time scorers — Beth Morgan (518 in 1993-94; 626 in 1995-96; 696 in 1996-97), Katryna Gaither (590 in 1994-95; 613 in 1995-96; 776 in 1996-97) and Ruth Riley (514 in 1998-99; 518 in 1999-2000; 672 in 2000-01).