WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Irish can clinch Big East with win against Pittsburgh
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Assistant Sports Editor
Tonight, the Irish can make history.
A win in the regular season finale at Pittsburgh tonight ties the Irish with Connecticut for the Big East regular season title — the first ever such title since Notre Dame joined the conference.
"I think we're really excited," said Irish center Ruth Riley. "It'll be the first time for our program to win the Big East. It's exciting for the guys' and the girls' programs."
But despite Pittsburgh's record (8-18, 3-12 in the Big East), the Panthers should prove to be more than a pushover for the Irish.
The Panthers will be celebrating Senior Night tonight, honoring their two graduating starters, forward Celeste Barkley and guard Monique Toney.
The young team is also in a must-win situation as their hopes of making the Big East Tournament rely on winning tonight.
The last time the Panther women met the Irish, the Panthers came in to the Joyce Center and stayed with the Irish for the first 30 minutes of the game. Before the Irish pulled away to win the game 72-58, the Panthers closed to within five points in the second half.
"They're a good team," Riley said. "They played pretty well here."
Sophomore guard Laine Selwyn led the Panthers with 23 points in that game. Her backcourt mate, Brooke Stewart, added 13.
Following the Feb. 7 game, Irish coach Muffet McGraw was upset with her team's effort.
"We just made so many mistakes, we played like freshmen out there," McGraw said after the game.
The one bright spot in that game was the play of Riley, who led all scorers with 29 points to go along with 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. Riley led a late offensive surge despite playing with three fouls.
"I wasn't going to take her out. She was really the only one playing well at that time offensively," McGraw said that night. "She was our offense. She was the only one that shot the ball well."
The Irish shot 47.2 percent for that game, while the Panthers shot only 32.2 percent. Playing on their home court, the Panthers can be expected to improve on that statistic.
"They're going to shoot even better at home," Riley said.
Despite the fact that the first round of the Big East Tournament is Saturday, the Irish are focused on beating Pittsburgh, not worrying about the postseason.
"This is an important game for us and we realize that," Riley said. "We haven't even talked about [the conference tournament]. I don't even know who we'd match-up against in the first round."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 27, 2001
