ND Women's Basketball: Irish look to extend streak without Batteast
By: KATIE McVoy
Associate Sports Editor
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have a lot going for them as they head into a conference face-off against the Irish. They have home-court advantage in an arena the Irish have struggled in before, and they have a solid defense and talent that could take off at any moment.
And the Irish will be playing without their leading scorer.
Notre Dame, who is on a six-game winning streak, will be playing in Saturday night's game without Jackie Batteast, who has a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament. She tore the ligament during Wednesday's victory against St. John's and will be re-evaluated on a weekly basis.
With Batteast out of the line-up, freshmen Katy Flecky and Teresa Borton are the probable choices to start in her position.
"Katy or Teresa, we'll go with one of those two," said Irish head coach Muffet McGraw. "We feel like we need someone who can score on the block and rebound."
Flecky had her first career double-double on Wednesday off the bench, and Borton has hit double figures in scoring on several occasions this season.
Despite the fact that playing without Batteast is not the best possible scenario, it does provide some other Irish players a good opportunity to get some playing time.
"I think everybody's ready to step up and pick their games up," senior Ericka Haney said. "There are a lot of people who haven't had the opportunity to play a lot."
"I think, actually, it's a great opportunity right now," McGraw said. "I feel that at this point in the season sometimes you rely too heavily on someone, so this is a great time for Kelsey [Wicks], Allison [Bustamante] and Katy [Flecky] I've been saying all year I've got too many good players, I can't get them all in the game. Now I can get them in the game."
Rutgers (7-16, 4-8) is 11th in the Big East. However, their solid defensive play may prove to be tough competition for the Irish.
"They play great defense and they want a low-scoring game," McGraw said. "And [Wicks], [Bustamante], and [Flecky] are more offensively-minded so I think it's going to be a great opportunity for them, hopefully if [Rutgers] plays zone, to get a lot of threes."
But Rutgers' biggest advantage is playing on its home court. The Scarlet Knights are 5-2 all-time against the Irish on their court, and handed Notre Dame its first loss of the season last year at Louis Brown Athletic Center.
"I think Rutgers is a very hostile place to play," Haney said. "Every year we've gone there, it's always been a hard test. I think we have to be focused and ready to play. I think that will be the key to the game."
Like Notre Dame, Rutgers has a sole senior this year. Five freshmen are on the Scarlet Knights' roster, and the fact that they're rebuilding is pretty clear. After finishing last season 25-8, the Scarlet Knights are only 7-16 this season.
But McGraw thinks that the talent on the Rutgers team could break out at any time, and for that reason, her team has to stay focused.
"They're very talented," McGraw said. "They have a lot of freshmen, a lot of new players and they haven't seemed to gel as a team yet. So I think they have the talent. They have the talent and at any time they could put it together."
Tip off is at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Note:
Freshman guard Allison Bustamante is probable for Saturday. After suffering a sprained ankle in Wednesday night's game, she was on the court for practice on Thursday.
Junior guard Jeneka Joyce is still questionable for play. Still bothered by an Achilles injury, she sat out practice on Thursday.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 15, 2002
