Irish still hungry despite biggest win in program history
By TED FOX
Sports Writer
I think many of us had two things in common besides registering for classes last Monday: we went to the women's basketball game against Connecticut, and we expected the No. 1 Huskies to run their winning streak to 31 games.
The 92-76 Irish win surprised everyone but the women wearing the gold uniforms, a fitting color for such a big time win.
"The difference in the game was in our attitude," coach Muffet McGraw said. "We believed that we could win."
Despite its 0-11 mark before Monday's win against its Big East nemesis, McGraw has seen a winning attitude all year long, especially from the older players. "From the beginning of the year, it was like: "We're going to beat UConn this year. We're seniors. We haven't done it yet. This is it. We've got them at home, and let's take care of business.'"
Notre Dame couldn't have taken care of business much better. Consider the following: Notre Dame employed a six-player rotation while UConn attacked with eleven, often applying full-court pressure. That meant that three Irish players, Niele Ivey, Alicia Ratay and Ruth Riley, played all 40 minutes.
Think it affected their play?
Well, let's see.
The starting backcourt went 5-for-7 from behind the arc, and Ivey added 10 assists to go with her 14 points.
Then there's Ruth Riley, the All-American, who proved that status over and over again in the face of an overmatched UConn defense. Twenty-nine points, eight of 11 from the floor, a perfect 13 of 13 from the line, 12 boards, five blocks, and too many perfect passes thrown out of double and triple teams to even count.
The one still playing on my own highlight reel came in the first half, thrown from the block around a triple team down the baseline to Ratay for a wide-open three in the corner.
If that sentence sounds jumbled and confusing, then it accurately represents what trying to make that decision and pass in one second is like.
Unless, of course, you're an All-American, and you and your entire team are taking everybody's No. 1 to school. Then you just mark it up as three more points (she hit the shot) and go play defense.
So what was Coach McGraw's master strategy to come away with probably the biggest win in the history of the program? New shoes? Passing out leis to the students? The halftime game between a motley crew of corporate mascots, including everyone's favorite, the deflating chicken?
Not quite.
"We didn't really talk about it a lot," McGraw said. "It was just in the air."
While the Irish still haven't reached their goal of winning the Big East Conference, they're a lot closer than they were just a week ago. Coach McGraw didn't appear worried that her team might let up after beating UConn: "This team's focused."
The coach reflects the attitude of her team, and the team reflects the attitude of its coach. Right from the start of her head coaching days at Notre Dame, McGraw and her teams won a lot. But the coach was never satisfied.
"We won 20 games every year almost," McGraw said, "but it just was never enough."
The Irish didn't join the Big East until the 1995-96 season, and the team felt the frustrations of playing in conferences, first the North Star and then the Midwestern Collegiate, that didn't provide automatic berths into the NCAA Tournament.
"Joining the Big East Conference," McGraw said, "I think turned our whole program around."
Since joining the Big East, Notre Dame has made it to the "Big Dance" every year, going all the way to the Final Four in 1997. Despite all this success, and a third-ranked national poll rating going into Monday's game with UConn, Notre Dame still wasn't even the best team in their conference.
Now, even though the Irish are still just 1-11 against the Huskies, UConn's aura of invincibility is gone.
"Just finally getting over that hump and knowing we can beat this team," as McGraw described it, was a big deal for the Irish.
Many observers probably still think the once defeated UConn Huskies will win the Big East Tournament, in no small part because it will be played in Storrs, Conn. on UConn's home floor. When asked what the three toughest places to play in women's college basketball are, McGraw didn't hesitate before saying: "Storrs is definitely one."
On her side, she has a team she describes as confident, focused, and fun to be around. Add its evident talent, and Irish women's basketball has a chance to pick up some great hardware this year.
It got a big win in that journey on Monday. But neither the players nor their coach look like they'll be happy to take their big win and leave.
That just wouldn't be enough.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 22, 2001
