Nov. 30, 2004
By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
AP Sports Writer
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) – Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw has seen about enough of Valparaiso.
“That’s the last time I’m coming here,” McGraw quipped after the third-ranked Irish beat the Crusaders 69-59 on Tuesday night.
Jacqueline Batteast had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Megan Duffy added 20 for the Irish (7-0), who needed a 12-4 surge in the final 4:30 to avoid becoming the fourth top-five team to be upset in the last 10 days.
When asked if the game was a wake-up call for her highly ranked Irish, McGraw said, “We get that wake-up call every other year when we come up here. Everybody’s tough at home. There are no easy games anymore.”
That much was evident in Valparaiso on Tuesday.
Betsy Rietema scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half for Valparaiso (1-3), which stayed competitive throughout in a series dominated by Notre Dame.
Coming into the game, the Irish had won the previous 17 games of the series by an average of 20 points.
“It just goes to show that when we put our mind to it, we can compete with the top teams,” said Katie Boone, who had seven points and seven assists. “Of course, it would have been better if we’d gotten over the hump.”
The Irish appeared well on their way to another easy win after Batteast scored 11 of Notre Dame’s first 13 points to key a 21-9 start.
But the Crusaders responded with a 9-2 run keyed by strong inside play from Tamra Braun, and opened the second half with an 8-3 spurt to make a game of it.
Down 53-43 with just under nine minutes to play, the Crusaders went on an 8-0 run to get back in the game. Rietema scored six points during the charge, including a driving layup that cut the lead to two points with 6:18 to play.
But the momentum changed on the next play. Batteast was wide open on a lob pass off the inbounds that quieted the crowd and left Crusaders coach Keith Freeman blaming himself.
“What should have been going through my head is they’re going to run a lob to Batteast,” Freeman said. “It was just one of those situations where I screwed up.”
Batteast got a layup, Teresa Borton hit two free throws to pad the lead, and the Irish held on to narrowly avoid another upset in women’s basketball. Tennessee, Georgia and Texas lost last week, allowing the Irish to climb to No. 3 in The Associated Press poll.
“It was frustrating because I know we were better than the way we played out there,” Batteast said. “They were right there. It just shows how resilient this team is.”
Notre Dame avoided a similar fate by outrebounding Valpo 43-27, making all 18 of its free throws and holding the Crusaders to 35-percent shooting.
“Our 18 offensive rebounds were a terrific stat for us,” McGraw said.
The Irish were also able to limit Valpo forward Jenna Stangler.
She came into the game averaging 21.3 points, but was hounded by Irish double teams all night. Valpo’s top scorer didn’t get a shot off in the first six minutes and finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
“It was pretty hard, especially in the first half,” Stangler said. “It felt like they always had someone glued to me.”
Stangler’s struggles, and Valpo’s lack of depth, ultimately led to the loss despite a spirited effort.
“We need to shoot the ball better,” Freeman said. “That’s about the difference.”
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame is now off to the second-best start in school history (7-0), surpassing the 6-0 debut the Irish made in 1998-99; the school record remains the 23-0 start by the 2000-01 national championship squad … the Irish are now 18-0 all-time against Valparaiso, including an 8-0 mark on the road (5-0 at the Athletics-Recreation Center) … Notre Dame also is now 21-0 all-time against the current Mid-Continent Conference membership … the Irish are 101-31 (.765) in their history against other Indiana schools … Notre Dame is 93-15 (.861) all-time as a top-10 team and 168-40 (.808) when it is ranked at all … the Irish set a new school record Tuesday night, going a perfect 18-for-18 at the free throw line; the old record was .960 (24-for-25) against Marquette on Dec. 1, 1993 … the Irish committed a season-low 10 turnovers this evening, its fewest giveaways since a 10-turnover day vs. No. 5 Penn State in last year’s NCAA East Regional Semifinal in Hartford, Conn. … Notre Dame has held its last six opponents to 65 points or less, and its last three foes have not cracked 60 points … Tuesday’s game was the seventh in the first 18 days of the season for Notre Dame (averaging one game every 2.6 days) … senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast recorded her first double-double of the year and the 33rd of her career tonight; she breaks a tie with Mary Beth Schueth for third place on Notre Dame’s career double-doubles list (Ruth Riley is next with 36, while Katryna Gaither had a school-record 40 from 1993-97) … Batteast also moved into eighth place on the Irish career scoring list with 1,458 points, passing Sheila McMillen (1,439 from 1995-99); up next is Sandy Botham, who had 1,460 points from 1984-88 … Batteast’s 25 points also give her 24 career 20-point games, pushing her into sixth place on the school’s all-time chart ahead of both Shari Matvey (1979-83) and Heidi Bunek (1985-89), who each had 23; Alicia Ratay is next on the list with 26 from 1999-2003 … tonight’s double-digit scoring outing was the 79th of Batteast’s career, lifting her into sixth place in that category at Notre Dame, ahead of Trena Keys (78 from 1982-86); up ahead is Karen Robinson’s mark of 82 from 1987-91 … junior guard Megan Duffy scored a season-high 20 points, the third 20-point game of her career (first since a 22-point night at Georgetown on Jan. 7, 2004) … Notre Dame had two 20-point scorers for the first time since Dec. 4, 2003, when Duffy had a career-high 25 points and Courtney LaVere added 22 points in an 82-64 win over Wisconsin at the Joyce Center.