Irish return to normal scene with trip to West Virginia
By TIM CASEY
Assistant Sports Editor
Since the now-legendary Connecticut victory, the Irish saw the illuminated No. 1 arise on top of Grace Hall, answered the proverbial "How does it feel to be the top team in the nation?" roughly 7,312 times and stole the campus spotlight away from some guys named Murphy, Humphrey and Brey.
The added attention may not wear off for a while and the record may stay unblemished, as Notre Dame (18-0 overall, 7-0 in conference) faces the Big East also-rans in the coming few weeks.
The Irish return to the normal women's basketball scene starting with tonight's game at West Virginia. Instead of a sold-out Joyce Center atmosphere, Notre Dame will compete at the 14,000 seat West Virginia Coliseum. The average attendance for Mountaineer home games (467 fans) comprises just 3.4 percent of the stadium's capacity.
With the Irish coming to town, look for the season attendance record (579) to be broken.
"We've had a target on our back all year," coach Muffet McGraw said. "And we're still supposed to win every game so everybody's going to be out gunning for us. We could be ranked 201 but people are still going to want to beat us because we're Notre Dame."
One main reason for the early-season success has been the Irish's stifling defense. They rank second in the country in scoring defense (54.5 points per game) and have held the previous 18 foes to a nation's best 33.5 percent shooting from the floor. Notre Dame has shut down their opponents by mainly utilizing two aggressive zone sets.
"As long as we can stay out of foul trouble, that makes it (the defense) better," McGraw said. "Everybody's a year smarter and a year stronger in the zone."
The same can be said for the players' offensive production.
While Ruth Riley, Alicia Ratay and Niele Ivey gain most of the publicity, the contributions from the other players have benefitted the Irish. In the 72-47 win over Seton Hall on Sunday, forward Ericka Haney scored a team-high 17 points, and Meaghan Leahy, Kelley Siemon and Jeneka Joyce provide an added dimension.
"You can't guard everybody," McGraw said. "It seems like whatever teams have decided to give up, that's what we've been good at. It's like Ôpick who you want to beat you.' "
Unfortunately for the Irish, Siemon, who broke her left hand in the Jan. 13 game against Virginia Tech, will sit out of tonight's contest. The senior forward will be re-examined on Tuesday and may play against Providence on Jan. 31. Leahy will replace Siemon at power forward.
"It's going to be a month before it gets better," McGraw said of Siemon's injury. "There's no sense in aggravating it any further. We'll figure out what we can do in the meantime."
Notre Dame must contain West Virginia's three-point shooting. Freshman Kate Bulger (15.0 points per game) and senior Darya Kudryavtseva (14.7 points) are among the Big East's top ten scorers. They are both good three-point shooters, with Bulger's 49.3 percent (37-of-75) ranking sixth in the country. Kudryavtseva has hit 35-of-80 from beyond the arc. As a team, West Virginia shoots 42.3 percent (112-of-265) on three-pointers.
Notre Dame is the only Big East squad with a higher percentage on threes. The Irish are shooting a nation's best 54.1 percent (86-of-59), with Ratay (41-of-67 for 61.2 percent) and Ivey (34-of-61 for 55.7 percent) ranking as the top two three-point shooters in the country.
"We've been playing well all year, we've been playing knowing that we can win all year," McGraw said. "But actually doing it (beating Connecticut) gives you that added boost. It's a great feeling."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 24, 2001
