WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Severe finds familiar foe in Selwyn
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
When Le'Tania Severe takes the court at Pittsburgh tonight, her assignment on defense will be a familiar one.
The Panthers' point guard, junior Laine Selwyn, played against Severe when the Irish sophomore was the point guard at Florida's Ft. Lauderdale High School and Selwyn was dishing out passes for rival Coral Springs. The two also played together on an AAU team one summer and remain good friends.
"It'll be a nice match-up," Severe said. "It'll be something that I got to do in high school and I'd like to do again."
But the match-up at the point is more than simply old friends being reacquainted. While the Panthers have struggled all season long to the tune of a 6-14 record (1-8 in Big East play), Selwyn has emerged as one of the few bright spots.
She averages 6.80 assists per game, tops among Big East point guards. Connecticut All-American Sue Bird sits a close second with 6.80 assists per contest, while Severe is sixth with 5.15.
"She's playing really well," Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said of Selwyn, who also averages 14 points per contest. "She's improved a lot since last year and she's, I think, the key to their team."
Severe's season has been up and down. After opening the season as the team's starting point guard, the sophomore moved to the bench in late December after a couple of sub-par performances.
She played well off the bench, but with classmate Jeneka Joyce out with an Achilles heel injury, Severe was forced back into the starting lineup last week against Syracuse. She responded with two points and a career-high nine assists in 30 minutes.
"That little time that I was not starting gave me a little time to focus a little more," Severe said. "I realize that I need to be there in the beginning of the game. I just adjusted mentally to be effective."
For Notre Dame, a win Tuesday night would be important in a historical context as well as within the context of this year's Big East season. A win would mark the 500th for Notre Dame women's basketball, a mark achieved by only 49 other NCAA programs.
A win also would move the Notre Dame into a tie with Boston College for second place in the Big East.
The Irish host the Eagles on Sunday.
For the Irish, who didn't win a road game until January this season, the team is finally able to settle in and go into a road game confident they can, and should, come out with a victory.
"I think that we're kind of getting in a rhythm now where we're looking forward to the games more," McGraw said. "Before, I think we worried about a lot of things going into games. Now, we just worry about ourselves. We don't worry as much about what the other team's going to do to us so much as we have to take care of ourselves."
That said, McGraw is not underestimating her opponent, despite its less than stellar record which includes a six-game losing streak entering tonight's game.
"They're playing the defending national champs," McGraw said. "This is the Super Bowl for them, that's what I told the team. This is a game that they think they can win. They're going to come out and play hard for 40 minutes. We have to win the game."
Notes:
uJoyce, who has missed the last three games with an Achilles heel injury, suited up for practice Monday but did not take the court. McGraw says Joyce will make the trip to Pittsburgh, but she is not expected to play.
uFreshman forward Katy Flecky, who started and scored Notre Dame's first seven points Saturday at Seton Hall, could again see significant time tonight.
"She's our best high-post player, she's a great passer and she can score on the block," McGraw said of the Colorado native. "If Pitt does some things with trapping and all and we need to get the ball to somebody, I think she'll be somebody who'll get some time."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 5, 2002
