Irish need to buckle down, win against Orangewomen
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
Following a week of rest, the No. 1-ranked Irish women's basketball team heads into its toughest stretch of the season this weekend, starting tonight when they travel to Syracuse to take on the Orangewoman.
Notre Dame (22-0, 11-0 in the Big East) looks to improve its play with only five regular season games remaining. Last Wednesday, coach Muffet McGraw's team struggled both offensively and defensively in a 72-58 home victory over Pitt.
"We really need to buckle down and do what we need to do and not just go out there and play well enough to win," said power forward Kelley Siemon. "We need to go out there and play our game. It's February already, March is around the corner."
McGraw attributes her team's lackluster play against Pittsburgh to a shortage of practice time with all five of her starters on the floor.
"I think our problem has been that Kelley has missed a lot of time at practice," McGraw said. "We're trying to rest Ruth a little bit. We're trying to play different combinations."
"This is what most teams went through back in November and December. We're still trying to find those combinations. The last couple of days our goal has been to play the together starters a little bit longer."
Following difficult practices on Friday and Saturday and a weekend off, the team now feels that those combinations are back in the mode that led this team to No. 1.
"We had a great practice yesterday and I think we're really ready for this week," Siemon said. "Defense is what we have to start working on a little bit more and we have been doing that."
The Orangewomen (10-11, 4-7 in the Big East) are coming off a 75-51 loss at conference rival Villanova on Saturday. Senior Leigh Aziz led Syracuse with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Forward Beth Record leads Syracuse in scoring with 13.1 points per game. Paula Moore and Julie McBride come off the bench to score 11 and 9 points per game, respectively.
"They've got a couple of good shooters," said Irish All-American center Ruth Riley. "Their post players are pretty accurate as well. We just have to go in there and play the whole game."
Despite their record, Syracuse has proven to be a tough opponent on their home court. The Orangewomen are 5-3 this season at Manley Field House, including a close 76-63 loss to No. 3 Connecticut.
"Syracuse is a great team at home," McGraw said. "They gave Connecticut a great game. They're a very, very capable team and we really need to go in there ready to play."
Siemon, who has been playing with a fractured hand for a month now, feels that the injury is coming along nicely.
"It's just now really starting to get better," Siemon said. "We played last Wednesday and usually I'd have to take a day off because it's so sore. But now it's so much better I practiced on Thursday."
With Siemon spending more time on the practice floor with her fellow starters, the Irish have begun to recapture the offensive flair that has generated 11 consecutive road victories.
"I saw [Monday] sparks of what we had going for a while there," McGraw said. " I think that we'll be ready."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 14, 2001
