ND WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Shorthanded Irish top Mountaineers
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
With just under five minutes remaining Tuesday night, a Brandi Batch free throw pulled West Virginia within 59-56 of Notre Dame. The Irish were playing with their leading scorer, freshman Jacqueline Batteast, in street clothes with a knee injury, so the team's 50-game winning streak on the Joyce Center court looked to be in jeopardy.
Then Alicia Ratay took over.
Ratay, who finished with a season-high 31 points, buried a 3-pointer from the left wing on the next possession, then followed up with a 3-point play a minute later.
West Virginia never pulled closer than within eight as the Irish finished off the Mountaineers 72-63.
With the win, the Irish move to 18-7 overall, and 12-2 in the Big East, clinching a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament for Notre Dame.
The ever-modest Ratay, who scored the most points by an Irish player since Ruth Riley's 32 in Notre Dame's NCAA tournament victory over Vanderbilt last spring, said she's just trying to help out, with Batteast sidelined until the Big East Tournament.
"She's such a great scorer that everyone else needs to pick it up a little bit," Ratay said. "So that's what I tried to do."
Ratay wasn't the only veteran who excelled for the home team Tuesday. Ericka Haney, the team's lone senior, scored a season-high 15 points and added six rebounds in 37 minutes. Haney also provided superb defense on Mountaineer guard Kate Bulger, who finished with 17 points on just 6-of-16 shooting from the field.
"I thought Ericka Haney just played a great game," Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said. "I thought start to finish she came out of the gate well, got us on the board, did a great job on the block, taking advantage of the mismatch."
With Batteast out, Haney has found more of an opportunity on offense. The senior, who can shoot the ball from 15 feet as well as drive to the basket and score inside, has found a greater opportunity to do both in recent games.
"When Jackie's on the floor, she's a tough matchup for everybody in the league," McGraw said. "Some teams put a guard on her, so we send her down to the block. Other teams put a post player on her, and so we send her to the perimeter. Now we're doing that same thing with Ericka."
Despite the game's close score late in the second half, the Irish dominated the Mountaineers both on defense and in transition. Notre Dame scored 23 points off of West Virginia turnovers, many coming after each of point guard Le'Tania Severe's six steals.
The Irish held a 47-35 rebounding advantage, as six players finished with at least six rebounds. McGraw was pleased that her team dominated the boards without Batteast, the team's leading rebounder.
"When she's in the game we tend to stand around and watch her go to work, and when she's not in there I think everybody thinks, `Boy, we better get in there and rebound,'" McGraw said. "I think that's what we're doing now. Everybody's getting a little more aggressive hitting the backboard."
Also appearing more aggressive was Severe, who ended up with 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds while playing the entire game. The sophomore showed off her foot speed, twice stealing the ball and driving past opponents for impressive lay-ups.
"We're trying to get her to penetrate and kick, and when they don't come to guard her, then she goes all the way in," McGraw said. "That's what we've been working on in practice. I think she's doing a great job of it."
After the Mountaineers jumped out to a 7-2 lead early and extended it to 12-7 midway through the first half, the Irish went on a 16-2 run to build a 23-14 lead. Ratay and Haney each scored 11 in the first half as the Irish built a 34-26 lead heading into the locker room.
Notes:
* After the Irish committed a costly turnover in the first half, McGraw looked down the bench at backup point guard Jeneka Joyce — who was in street clothes nursing a heel injury — and joked, "`J, you're going to have to suit up for the second half."
When the Irish returned from the locker room for the final 20 minutes, Joyce had her leg taped up and her uniform on. But Joyce's name wasn't on the scoresheet, so McGraw would have been called for a technical if the sophomore entered the game.
"When I got in the locker room she was getting taped and dressed," McGraw said. "Everybody else seemed to know I was joking except for Jeneka."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 20, 2002
