No. 1 Notre Dame gets brief scare from Providence
By TIM CASEY
Assistant Sports Editor
Niele Ivey extended her hand, deflected the ball from Providence's Brooke Freeburg, gained possession, dribbled over half-court and threw a one-hop bounce pass to Ericka Haney for an easy right-handed lay-up.
The steal, with 2:58 remaining in the first half, broke current assistant coach Coquese Washington's career record. But more importantly, it led to a 21-20 advantage, Notre Dame's first lead of the night.
That's not a misprint.
For over 17 minutes on Wednesday, Providence (7-11 overall, 1-7 in the Big East) combined an aggressive defense and patient offense to frazzle the nation's number one team. The Irish (20-0 overall, 9-0 in the Big East) ultimately rebounded for a 64-44 win but their dominating performance over Connecticut seemed a distant memory.
"We scared them a little bit, didn't we?" Providence coach Jim Jabir said. "I think that there's not just talent on their side but a lot of swagger. If that announcer said `your No. 1 team in the country' one more time, I think I was going to choke him."
The swagger was replaced by shock for the first 20 minutes.
In the half, the Irish shot 9-for-28 (32.1 percent), committed 12 turnovers, had 4 assists and played the final eight minutes without Ruth Riley. With 6:16 left, Notre Dame trailed 18-11, its largest deficit of the season.
"I wanted to go home right there," Jabir said. "Time couldn't go fast enough."
Notre Dame went on a 17-2 run to close the half but led by only six with 8:10 remaining before scoring 16 straight points. The Irish turned to Riley in the second stanza. The senior center scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the final 20 minutes. She also added 14 rebounds and five blocks.
Providence double-teamed Riley in the first half so at halftime McGraw decided to spread the court and give her All-American more room down low. Notre Dame's perimeter players also made better passes to the post, resulting in easy baskets for Riley. Her second-half performance was typical for games against the Friars. As a sophomore, Riley scored 36 and 41 points in Notre Dame's two easy wins over Providence.
"She told me she was graduating on schedule," Jabir said. "I was very pleased with that."
Another senior, Niele Ivey also turned in her normal night's work on the defensive end. The aforementioned steal (the 309th of her career) gave Ivey a new Notre Dame record and the Irish never trailed for the rest of the game. She finished with four steals, six rebounds and four assists but shot just 4-for-12 from the field for 12 points.
Ericka Haney added 17 points and nine rebounds, while seldom-used freshmen Le'Tania Severe's all-around play (7 rebounds, 2 assists and solid defense in 26 minutes) impressed the coaches. With forward Kelley Siemon likely out again for Saturday's Boston College game, McGraw said Severe will practice with the starters during the next few practices.
"She was player of the game," McGraw said of Severe. "That's what we need her to do [play defense and rebound]."
The unexpected contribution from Severe was a microcosm of the Irish's night. Against the conference's worst team, they struggled for their 33rd straight win at home. And as the winning streak continues, the attention and criticism will increase, not an ideal situation for McGraw.
"It's been overwhelming," McGraw said. "There's been a lot of phone calls and a lot of talking, just a lot more interest nationally from people. We've not been in that position before. Initially, we were just so excited about it. I would talk to anybody. Now, it's time to get back to business."
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 1, 2001
