Dec. 22, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Freshman forward Jacqueline Batteast tallied her fourth double-double of the season, and second in as many games, finishing with game highs of 11 points and 12 rebounds to spark Notre Dame to a 60-33 win over Marquette Saturday afternoon before 7,132 fans at the Joyce Center. It was the third consecutive win for the Irish (5-4), who have allowed just 43.3 points per game during that stretch while extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 43 games.
Junior center Amanda Barksdale was a force on both ends of the floor, nearly compiling a triple-double with a career-high-tying 10 points, eight rebounds and a career-best eight blocks. The latter figure also tied the school record for rejections in a game, a mark she now shares with Ruth Riley (vs. Duke, 11/21/98) and Shari Matvey (at Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 3/15/80).
Led by Barksdale, Notre Dame held the Golden Eagles (5-6) to opponent season lows of 33 points and 18.5 percent shooting (10-of-54) – the 33-point defensive effort also ties the fourth-lowest opponent total in school history. In addition, the Irish held a commanding 54-33 rebounding edge and recorded a season-high 13 blocks on the way to their 22nd win in the last 23 games against Marquette.
Early on, Saturday’s game bore a striking resemblance to last season’s matchup between the two clubs. A year ago, Notre Dame jumped out to a 19-2 lead before the Golden Eagles held their ground and played the Irish even the rest of the way. This time, Notre Dame raced out to a 22-4 advantage, forcing Marquette to misfire on its first 12 shots before Katie Alsdurf ended the drought with a three-point field goal 12:34 into the game.
The Irish wound up taking a 37-13 lead at the half behind their defense, which allowed Marquette to shoot just 13.6 percent (3-of-22) in the opening 20 minutes. It also marked the third consecutive game in which Notre Dame had allowed less than 25 points in the first half – opponents are averaging 15.7 points in the opening half over that three-game stretch.
The trend continued into the second half, as the Irish went on a 9-2 run to kick off the period and take their largest lead at 46-15 with 13:27 to play. Meanwhile, Marquette missed 12 of its first 13 shots before putting together an 8-2 spurt which cut the lead to 25 points. However, that would be as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way, as Notre Dame maintained control.
After missing most of the first half with foul trouble and grabbing just one rebound, Batteast completed her double-double in the second frame with 11 points and 11 boards. Along with Barksdale, she helped drive the Notre Dame post offense which held a commanding 36-8 scoring edge over its Marquette counterparts. In all, 10 different Irish players cracked the scoreboard in the victory.
Notre Dame will have the next five days off for the Christmas holidays before returning to action Friday, Dec. 28, for a 7 p.m. CST (8 p.m. EST) contest against Rice at Autry Court in Houston, Texas.
– ND –