By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
Notre Dame, Ind. – Alicia Ratay had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Ericka Haney added 17 points as No. 3 Notre Dame defeated Virginia Tech 75-55 Saturday, running the home winning streak of the Irish to 31 games.
Ruth Riley, Notre Dame’s All-American center, injured her right ankle midway through the second half and sat on the bench with her ankle wrapped the rest of the game, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting and six rebounds.
The victory sets up Monday afternoon’s matchup of unbeaten teams when the Irish (16-0, 5-0 Big East) host No. 1 Connecticut. The Irish are 0-11 all-time against the Huskies and 0-9 all-time against top-ranked teams.
The Irish were in control throughout against the Hokies (10-5, 1-3), whom they beat 10 days earlier in Blacksburg, Va., 75-64. The Irish took a 19-4 lead, and the Hokies never got any closer than nine points.
Niele Ivey added 10 points and eight assists for the Irish. Chrystal Starling led the Hokies with 11 points. Notre Dame shot 50.9 percent while holding the Hokies to 34.5 percent.
Notre Dame hit its first eight shots to open a 19-4 lead. Ratay had a pair of 3-pointers during the run, and Haney also scored six as all five Irish starters except Riley scored during the spurt.
The Hokies managed to close to nine points when Sarah Hicks made a 15-foot jumper midway through the half to cut the lead to 27-18. But Riley then scored nine points as Notre Dame used a 16-7 spurt to move ahead 43-25 and led 45-27 at halftime. The lead could have been bigger, but the Irish made just eight of 17 free throws.
The Hokies never challenged in the second half as the Irish led by as much as 75-44 when Ratay hit a 3-pointer with 6:52 left. The Irish didn’t score again as the Hokies got the final 11 points.