ND Womens Basketball: Irish hope for swift results
By: KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
After a 76-48 lost to Boston College Wednesday night, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said her team needed to learn from the game and move forward.
Notre Dame gets a chance to do just that when West Virginia visits the Joyce Center Saturday.
"At this point in the season we can't linger too long on a loss," McGraw said. "We have to turn around and get ready for our next opponent."
When the Irish take on the Mountaineers, spectators will see a battle between two teams who don't have much to lose, but have a lot to win. Both teams are coming off difficult losses and are looking to regain some respect and some momentum.
"We just have to go home and do better," sophomore Jacqueline Batteast said.
And the Irish are looking to do just that.
Notre Dame's loss to Boston College hurt them more than just in the loss column. Junior guard Le'Tania Severe suffered a shoulder injury that will keep her out indefinitely.
That's bad news for an Irish team that has been struggling to keep itself together this season. The Irish, who have lost four straight home games for the first time in school history, seemed to find their rhythm again when they won at Villanova on Saturday, but that rhythm fell very short when Severe exited the game Wednesday night. The Irish lost their spark and lost another game.
But Saturday, the Irish want to put that loss behind them and focus on getting a win.
After four consecutive home losses, the Irish have something to prove to their fans. And, despite their recent success on the road and their recent failures at home, Notre Dame would still rather play in front of a friendly crowd.
"It's always good to play at home," freshman Courtney LaVere said. "We haven't been successful, but a home game I'll take any day."
West Virginia has been suffering from similar problems and similar inconsistencies. The Mountaineers are coming off a loss to Pittsburgh and, like the Irish, fell to Boston College in recent Big East action.
But the Irish have an advantage, they already found the Mountaineers weak spot once this year and defeated them 66-59 in early January. Notre Dame used a big second half comeback to take over the Mountaineers and pick up a road victory.
Notre Dame and West Virginia tip off at 5 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 31, 2003
