Jan. 6, 2001
By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Notre Dame clogged up the inside, and Rutgers couldn’t hit shots from the outside.
The result was a 67-46 victory for the third-ranked Irish on Saturday over No. 9 Rutgers, which had made 22.5 percent of its field goals midway through the second half.
“I think we played intimidated and it looked like it,” Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said.
Notre Dame (14-0, 3-0 Big East) was in control from the start, using a 15-0 run to open a 20-4 lead and the Scarlet Knights (8-4, 1-1) never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Rutgers entered the game with the nation’s fifth-ranked defense, holding opponents to 52.9 points a game, but the Irish defense was more impressive Saturday. The Scarlet Knights couldn’t get the ball inside early against Notre Dame’s 2-3 zone, and missed consistently from outside.
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw thinks the Irish defense doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but even she was surprised at how effective it was against the Scarlet Knights.
“Sometimes I look and say, ‘We’re just playing a 2-3 zone.’ It’s not really brain surgery and it’s really not that hard to find the weaknesses in,” she said.
It was for Rutgers, though.
Karlita Washington and Tash Pointer, who guided Rutgers to a Final Four appearance last season, struggled all game. Washington, Rutgers’ leading scorer, went 2-of-13 from the field for six points. Pointer, the team’s second-leading scorer, went 1-of-8 for two points.
“Rutgers is kind of a streaky shooting team and we didn’t know what to expect,” Irish guard Niele Ivey said. “I think our defensive perimeter took it away from them.”
The 46 points were Rutgers” fewest since losing to Connecticut 49-45 last season. Rutgers dropped to 1-3 on its five-game road trip and 0-4 this season against ranked teams.
“The fans were yelling ‘Overrated, overrated,’ and they were right,” Stringer said.
After Tammy Sutton-Brown made the game’s opening basket, the Scarlet Knights hit only one of their next 15 shots from the field, and that also was from Sutton-Brown inside. During one span of nearly 16 minutes, Rutgers went 0-for-9 from the field and had six turnovers.
The Irish made 10 of their first 19 shots, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, taking a 26-6 lead.
Rutgers went to a full-court press, forced some turnovers and held the Irish to three more baskets in the half, cutting the lead to 33-21 at the break. But the Scarlet Knights missed their first nine shots of the second half as the Irish opened a 40-22 lead.
Ruth Riley led the Irish with 22 points and three blocked shots. Ivey had 15 points and seven assists, Kelley Siemon had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Alicia Ratay scored 11.
Sutton-Brown was the only Rutgers player in double figures, with 19 points. The Scarlet Knights shot only 31.5 percent for the game, including going 1-for-16 from 3-point range.