Irish face Hoyas on Senior Day
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
On Saturday afternoon, Irish fans will have a chance to say goodbye. The 1 p.m. matchup with Big East rival Georgetown marks the regular season's final home game, and the five graduating Irish players will be honored for Senior Day.
Festivities throughout the day will honor Ruth Riley, Niele Ivey, Meaghan Leahy, Kelley Siemon and Imani Dunbar.
Tradition dictates that each of the seniors will start — the five seniors consist of two guards in Dunbar and Ivey, two forwards in Siemon and Leahy and center Riley — but head coach Muffet McGraw is unsure if she will replace normal starters Alicia Ratay and Ericka Haney with Leahy and Dunbar, who normally come off the bench.
"It's been a tradition that we have used in the past, but that's not set in stone right now," said Irish coach Muffet McGraw. "With five of them, it's a little bit different than we normally play."
The game has been sold out since Feb. 9. Only 500 seats are reserved for students, so the packed house should mark only the second capacity crowd for an Irish women's game ever. A crowd of 11,418 fans attended Notre Dame's upset of No. 1 Connecticut on Jan. 15.
"It's just great to know how many people appreciate the effort and hard work they've put in for the last four years," McGraw said. "It's a chance to see them in their last home game."
The Irish are coming off an 81-43 assault of the Miami Hurricanes at the Joyce Center on Friday night. Center Ruth Riley led the Irish, scoring 20 po
ints while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds in only 25 minutes.
Freshman guard Jeneka Joyce had the best game of her young career off the bench for the Irish. Joyce scored 13 points in 23 minutes, dishing out a pair of assists and sinking two key three-pointers.
The game marks the first time this season that the Irish take on the Hoyas. Georgetown sits in eighth place in the conference, sporting a 6-8 Big East record, 15-11 overall.
The last time these two Catholic school rivals met, the Irish dominated. Notre Dame topped Georgetown 87-56 in front of 4,324 fans at the Joyce Center. Ivey nearly had a triple-double for the Irish, leading the attack with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Katie Smrcka-Duffy was the only Georgetown player in double figures in that game, scoring 23 points on six-of-14 shooting.
This season, the Hoyas are led by Duffy and freshman Rebekkah Brunson. Duffy, a senior, averages 16.9 points per contest. She has led Georgetown in scoring 15 different times this season.
"Duffy on the perimeter is one of the best players in the league," McGraw said. "She can score a lot of points. She played really well here."
Brunsen averages 15 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. Big East coaches have named Brunsen, Georgetown's prize freshman, Rookie of the Week six separate times this season. Her rebounding skills will be needed, as the Irish out-rebounded the Hoyas 40-33 in their last meeting.
"She's a very skilled player and is having a great year," McGraw said.
Point guard Lesley Walker averages 8.7 points and 4.6 assists per contest. Walker is 20 for 46 from three-point range this season. The Hoyas also sport a deep bench.
"They have a good point guard in Walker. They have a pretty good bench, probably seven deep," McGraw said. "I think that they're going to present some problems for us.
"Hopefully we'll have two more after this, but this could be it for a lot of people so it's great that they're going to go out like this," McGraw said.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 23, 2001
