Barksdale leads Irish in victory
By KATIE MCVOY
Associate Sports Editor
On Thursday Muffet McGraw said Amanda Barksdale was due for a breakout game. With the amount of work the junior center was doing, she was looking for the numbers to show up on the score sheet. But, not even McGraw was expecting the performance she got from Barksdale on Sunday.
During a 60-44 victory against the Boston College Eagles, Barksdale set a new school record in blocks and led the Irish to sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the Big East.
"I think [Barksdale] definitely exceeded our expectations today with 11 blocked shots," McGraw said. "She is a great shot blocker, probably the best in the country ... she did a great job of being there, of being a presence in the lane."
Barksdale, who sat out several games early this season due to a stress injury in her right leg, topped her former career best of eight blocked shots. Eight blocked shots had also been the school record. Now, it's 11.
Boston College's size may have had something to do with those 11 blocked shots.
"They had a shorter line-up than we did," Barksdale said.
But more likely was the fact that the Eagles tried to drive the ball into the lane and shoot over Barksdale. In recent games, teams have kept more to the outside. The Eagles, who often drive the ball inside and then kick it out to the outside, tried plenty of shots from in the paint.
"I think that lately teams have been trying to drive around her," McGraw said. "We've been doing some stuff to let her work on people driving in."
Apparently, that included blocking lots of shots. In the first half, Barksdale was on pace to tie her previous career high eight blocks, knocking down four in the first 20 minutes. But in the second half she caught fire, preventing seven shots from even getting near the basket.
"When you get in there [Barksdale] just seems to be trying a lot of things," Eagles head coach Cathy Inglese said.
Barksdale's record-setting blocks, impressive as they were, were only part of a solid Irish defensive effort that held the Eagles to the lowest number of points they have scored all season. As a team, Notre Dame blocked 16 Boston College shots, just two less than the school record.
Coming into Sunday's game, Boston College was the best 3-point-shooting team in the country, hitting upwards of 40 percent. The Irish defense shut down the outside attack, holding them to only 11.8 percent from the 3-point line.
"Notre Dame had some great defense and we just couldn't find the bucket," Inglese said.
A main player in that Irish defense was senior Ericka Haney. With the Eagles' solid core of veteran players, the lone senior had to step up her play on defense to lead the younger Irish team.
"I think my role on the team is to go out and be the defensive stopper and get on the boards," said Haney, who grabbed four rebounds and scored 11 points during the game.
Defensively, the Irish were able to shut Boston College, even though they allowed 27 points on turnovers. The Eagles shot just under 24 percent from the field.
Early in the game, it didn't look like that would be the case. Seven minutes into the first half, Boston College was leading by six points and Notre Dame was shooting approximately 12 percent from the field. But when Jeneka Joyce hit the court, something changed. Joyce, who has not even dressed for the last four games due to an Achilles' tendon injury, had not taken very much shooting practice in the last few weeks. But within the minute she entered the game, she hit a 3-point shot to score the first three of 10 Irish points in the next minute.
"I don't know why my shots were falling after not shooting for awhile," Joyce laughed after the game. "... I was just happy to be out there again."
Those 10 points gave Notre Dame the lead, one of seven lead changes in the first half. With three minutes left in the first half a steal and lay-up by Nicole Conway gave the Eagles a one-point lead. But the Irish responded when freshman Jackie Batteast, who collected her 11th double-double, hit a two-point shot and completed the three-point play on the foul shot. The Irish did not give up the lead for the rest of the game.
The win gives Notre Dame sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the Big East, the spot it formerly shared with Boston College. It also marked the Irish's 49th straight home victory, in front of the third largest crowd in program history.
The Irish will have two days off before facing St. John's on Wednesday at the Joyce Center.
Notes
u Eagles' forward Kim Mackie left the game in the second half after she hit her nose on the floor. Her status for Boston College's next game was unclear on Sunday.
u Junior Alicia Ratay added 11 points on Sunday, to bring her career total to 1,207. With those points, she moved up two positions in the Notre Dame all-time leading scorers, to 12th.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 11, 2002
