Feb. 24, 2001
By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. –The emotions of senior day got to coach Muffet McGraw and she passed it on to her team.
“I couldn’t control my emotions before the game and I think it overflowed into some of the players,” McGraw said. “It was an emotional day just to look at them walking out and knowing there’s not many opportunities for them to play at home and all that they’ve given me personally.”
The No. 2 Irish overcame their worst home performance of the season, making just one of their first nine shots, to beat Georgetown 65-53 Saturday to extend their school-record home winning streak to 36 games.
The player who seemed most affected by emotions was guard Niele Ivey. She missed her first eight shots and picked up her fourth foul early in the second half. Ivey, a fifth-year senior, admitted that the pregame ceremony was too much for her.
“I was trying not to cry, but then I saw Coach McGraw and tears started running down my face, then my mom started crying. I’m a very emotional person,” she said.
Ivey managed to settle down, though and give the Irish (25-1, 14-1 Big East) the emotional spark they needed to win.
The Irish led 33-28 when Ivey picked up her fourth foul with 16:20 left. With Ivey on the bench, Georgetown (15-12, 6-9) went on an 11-2 run to open a 39-35 lead. But Ivey came back in with 12:26 left and hit a 3-pointer and passed inside to Ruth Riley for a layup to begin a 10-2 run to give the Irish a 45-41 lead.
“The key was getting Niele back in the game and running,” McGraw said.
Georgetown cut the lead to 51-48 when Katie Smrcka-Duffy made a pair of free throws with 6:28 left. But Alicia Ratay hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 13-3 run for the Irish the put the game away.
“We didn’t come in and roll over,” Smrcka-Duffy said. “Some things didn’t go for us. We missed some shots and we let them score too many points.”
The 12-point victory was the second closest at home this season for the Irish, who have won games by an average of 21.1 points this season. The closest was a 72-61 win over Purdue in December.
The Irish, who trailed at halftime only once all season, trailed for much of the first half, but led 29-26 at halftime.
Ruth Riley had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Irish, Kelley Siemon had 13 points and seven rebounds, Ratay had 12 points and eight rebounds and Ivey added nine assists.
Smrcka-Duffy led the Hoyas with 19 points, Rebekkah Brunson scored 12 points, all in the opening 13 minutes, and Ilic scored 10.
A sellout crowd of 11,418, the second ever at Notre Dame, was on hand to salute the senior class, which posted the best four-year winning percentage (.826) in school history. The only home losses for the seniors came against Connecticut when they were freshmen and sophomores. The win Saturday was the 100th for the seniors
In upsetting Connecticut earlier this year, the only other home sellout in school history, the Irish recorded their first ever win over a top-ranked team and rose to No. 1 for the first time ever. This year’s team also had a school-record 23-game winning streak before losing at Rutgers on Feb. 17.
Saturday’s game probably won’t be Notre Dame’s last at the Joyce Center this season, though. The Irish are expected to host a first-round NCAA game.