Jan 26, 2002
Audio
- Irish Head Coach
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Jacqueline Batteast scored 26 points and Alicia Ratay added 22 as they scored all but two of Notre Dame’s second-half points and the Irish extended their home win streak to 47 games with a 64-57 victory over No. 16 Virginia Tech on Saturday.
The victory was the first for the Irish (11-7, 5-2 Big East) against a ranked team since beating No. 9 Purdue in the NCAA title game last April. The Hokies (15-4, 6-2) dropped their second straight after winning 12 straight.
The Irish made 16 of 17 free throws in the second half after going 0-of-2 in the first half. The Hokies shot 4-of-10 for the game.
After trailing 30-24 at halftime, Virginia Tech closed to 30-29 on a 3-pointer by Ieva Kublina, who led the Hokies with 20 points. But Notre Dame answered with a basket inside by Batteast and a four-point play by Ratay.
The Hokies cut the lead to 40-37 on a 16-foot jumper by Kublina with 12:48 left. The Irish then went on a 10-0 run, capped by a three-point play by Batteast, who scored six during the run. The Hokies, who had one turnover in the first half, had three turnovers during the run by the Irish and never got closer than six points again.
The Irish, who had a 37-33 rebounding edge, won despite being outshot 40.4 percent to 39.6 percent.
The Irish never trailed, taking an 8-2 lead to start the game by hitting 4 of 8 shots while the Hokies went 1-for-8. When Kelsey Wicks hit back-to-back 3-pointers the Irish went ahead 21-11, with Batteast accounting for 13 of those points. But the Hokies, behind five points by Lisa Guarneri, used a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 23-20.
The Irish led 30-24 at halftime after Ratay hit a 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer.