Feb 26, 2002
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Mimi Riley scored eight of her 15 points in the final four minutes, and Villanova ended Notre Dame’s 51-game home winning streak with a 48-45 victory Tuesday night.
The Irish (19-8, 13-2 BIG EAST) had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but Allison Bustamante’s 3-pointer from the left corner hit the near rim and bounced away. That made Villanova (18-9, 11-5) the first opposing team to win at Joyce Center since top-ranked Connecticut beat the Irish 106-81 on Dec. 8, 1998.
The home winning streak was the 10th longest in NCAA women’s history.
The victory should help Villanova land an NCAA tournament berth. The Wildcats have won six straight. The loss hurts Notre Dame, hoping to host first-round tournament games.
Nicole Druckenmiller had 10 points for the Wildcats and Riley added eight rebounds as Villanova, which used a patient offense, outrebounded the Irish 36-35. Notre Dame, playing without Jacqueline Batteast for a fourth straight game because of a knee injury, was led by Alicia Ratay with 22 points and six rebounds.
Villanova, which led by as many as seven points in the first half, fell behind 43-40 when Ratay scored on a driving layup with 5:26 left. But Riley, who hit a last-second shot to beat Notre Dame 60-59 earlier this season, drove inside for a basket with 3:56 left, hit a pair of jumpers from the right baseline and then got a rebound of her own miss and scored with 63 seconds left to make it 48-43.
The Irish, who had won nine straight games, cut the lead to 48-45 on a pair of free throws by Ratay. But the Wildcats called two timeouts and ran the clock down to 12 seconds before Riley was fouled. She missed a free throw to give the Irish one last chance.
Notre Dame will be the No. 2 seed and have a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Championship, which begins Saturday at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. The Irish will play Sunday at 6 p.m. (EST) in the BIG EAST quarterfinals against the winner of Saturday’s first-round contest between No. 7 seed Syracuse (16-11, 9-7) and 10th-seeded West Virginia (14-13, 6-10). During the regular season, Notre Dame defeated both Syracuse and West Virginia, downing the Orangewomen, 71-46 on Jan. 29, and toppling the Mountaineers, 72-63 on Feb. 19.
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