No. 5 Irish look to soar over No. 18 Eagles
By KERRY SMITH
Assistant Sports Editor
The road to the Big East championship will get a little rockier for the women's basketball team this weekend.
When the Irish play host Saturday to the Boston College Eagles, the first ranked team to come to the Joyce Center this season, the meeting will be the first in a series of uphill Irish battles before tournament time in March.
Blowing out their opponents by double digits in each of their conference tests this season, the Irish have advanced through their Big East schedule with ease, showing why they are the team to beat.
But all that could change as the Irish face a slew of tougher teams in the coming weeks. Top conference teams like Boston College, Rutgers and Connecticut are three of Notre Dame's final seven opponents.
"We're taking it one game at a time," said junior forward Kelley Siemon. "But this game does hold a little bit of leverage because it is our first game against a ranked opponent in a while and starts out a stretch of good opponents to end the regular season."
Ranked 18th in the nation, Boston College has won 14 out of its last 15 games and poses the biggest threat so far to Notre Dame's undefeated conference record.
Come Saturday, the two squads that meet on the court at the Joyce Center will be much more evenly matched than Notre Dame would like.
And that's something the No. 5 Irish squad is not used to.
"We're not nervous about the game," said Siemon. "We're really excited to see how we measure up and how far we've come and how far we need to go,"
Both squads are averaging scores in the 70s — the Irish have tallied an average of 77.2 points per game, just four more points than the Eagle offense.
The two teams have both have held their opponents to just 60.2 points a game — making a blowout by either team on Saturday unlikely.
I think it's a game that is going to go right down to the very end," said Siemon. "We're expecting a good game."
Despite the close matchup, the Irish squad is on a roll and is becoming more formidable with each notch they put in the win column.
With 14 straight wins, the Irish could tie a school record for most consecutive wins with a victory over the Eagles and bolster their 18-2 record.
The Irish squad is also clinging fast to a 17-game home-winning streak — the longest in the program's history.
But Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw will need top performances from her entire squad in order to keep the streaks alive.
Center Ruth Riley has led the Irish under the basket all season. Riley, the top scorer and rebounder on the Irish squad, has dominated her opponents in the paint.
The junior All-American candidate hasn't done it alone.
She has had some help off the bench from freshman Amanda Barksdale. The 6-foot-3 reserve center registered her best career performances in the last two games and has come alive on defense with 30 blocks on the season.
Siemon has also played a big role for the Irish off the bench. She played her best basketball of the season in Notre Dame's 90-60 routing of Providence Tuesday with a career-high 23 points.
"[Tuesday] was a good opportunity for a lot of players to get some good playing time," said Siemon. "We got into some foul trouble at the post so I got to play a couple extra minutes and I capitalized on the opportunity."
The trio of Niele Ivey, Danielle Green and Alicia Ratay in the Irish back court has kept opponents' defenses scrambling.
Notre Dame's strength in the paint coupled with a sharp-shooting group of guards will keep the Eagles on their toes.
Eagle guard Cal Bouchard leads the Boston College offense, averaging 16 points a game. Three other Eagle starters are averaging in double-digits.
The notion of home court advantage rings true in Notre Dame's series with Boston College.
The two teams met twice last season and split victories with each squad winning on its own turf and that's precisely the way the Irish are looking to keep it this year with a win Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 4, 2000
