Irish jump back into the game following a week's rest
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
Following a week-long layoff the Notre Dame women's basketball team began a stretch of three games in seven days with a 75-61 victory at Syracuse Wednesday night.
The Irish used a balanced attack, with four of five starters scoring in double figures, led by center Ruth Riley's 24 points. Riley added 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
"That's what we've been missing lately and I'm glad to see that back again," said Irish head coach Muffet McGraw. "We can't rely on Ruth for all the scoring, so it's good for everybody to chip in a little bit."
Despite Riley's game-high total, the All-American struggled from the field, connecting on only eight of 18 attempts. Riley also turned the ball over two times. A tough Syracuse post defense can be credited for limiting Riley.
"Basically, we did an overall good job," Syracuse forward Beth Record told the Associated Press following the game. "I think we made her [Riley] flustered a little bit. We played tough on her."
With the Orangewomen playing tough defense on Riley as well as guards Alicia Ratay and Niele Ivey, forward Ericka Haney was left open. Haney took advantage of the opportunity, scoring 16 points — including a perfect six-for-six from the free-throw line.
Haney's frontcourt mate Kelley Siemon chipped in 12 points of her own, her first game in double figures since Jan. 15.
"I thought Ericka Haney had a great game," McGraw said. "Kelley shot really well. Those two really had a good game."
Siemon was less than thrilled with her play following the game. The senior forward pulled down only 4 rebounds in 30 minutes while still playing with an injured hand.
"I don't have a lot of grip on my left hand," Siemon said. "I have to go up a little bit holding my right hand, which can get kind of frustrating. That's something that bothers me because I'm used to getting some boards and now I'm not getting so many."
Ratay spent most of Tuesday in the infirmary suffering from food poisoning, but still managed to score 10 points and pull down 5 rebounds.
"She had to be a little bit weak and I probably played her too long," McGraw said. "I think she looked pretty good out there."
Point guard Niele Ivey chipped in nine points and three steals, but still does not consider ] her play to have returned to its early-season level.
"Personally I feel like I'm still waiting for it to click like it did at the beginning of the year," Ivey said.
Each of the starters played at least 30 minutes, with only freshmen guards Jeneka Joyce and Le'Tania Severe playing significant minutes off the bench.
"My concern right now is that the starters get back to the level they were playing at for the Connecticut game," McGraw said. "I need to play them together a lot for that to happen."
The Irish jumped out to a 37-27 lead at halftime, led by Riley's 11 first-half points. Syracuse — playing without injured seniors Leigh Aziz and Jakia Ervin — hit five three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
The Orangewomen never let the Irish break away. Record led the way, scoring 18 second-half points to finish with a game-high 25 for the night. Record also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
The downfall for Syracuse was its defense. The Orangewomen sent the Irish to the line 15 times in the final 20 minutes. The Irish converted 12 of those free-throw attempts.
"We played two halves," Syracuse coach Marianna Freeman told the Associated Press. "Had it not been for the free-throw line, it could have been a much different story. We didn't win the ballgame, but we played very, very hard."
The Irish return to Notre Dame today before departing to New Jersey Friday night to take on Rutgers on Saturday. McGraw feels that the short gap between games will prove to be an advantage.
"At the beginning of the year we were playing three games a week and we were playing really well," McGraw said. "I think that this team likes to play and I think that we're a better team when we play a lot of games. I think we'll play a lot better against Rutgers."
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 15, 2001
