Notre Dame advances to semis with victory over Miami
By TIM CASEY
Sports Writer
STORRS, Conn.
The preparation for the 2000 Big East tournament began eight days ago, following a 77-59 loss to top-ranked Connecticut. The Irish had more than a week to get ready for the stretch run of the season, one they hope leads deep into March. And they knew it began Sunday, with a first-round Big East tournament game against Miami.
The Irish overcame their own poor shooting early on and a tough Miami defense throughout to emerge with a 67-52 victory. But by the way they played against the Hurricanes you could have sworn their focus was elsewhere, presumably on a rematch with the Huskies in the final on Tuesday night.
"We had a week to prepare but we didn't have a week to prepare for Miami — we just had a day to do that," head coach Muffet McGraw said. "I think it was hard to focus on just one team."
That lack of focus almost hurt the Irish.
"We took a couple days off of practice [this week]," McGraw said. "But I think it looked like we took the week off."
Miami, which had lost twice earlier in the season to Notre Dame, played aggressively the entire game. Their full-court pressure and trapping half-court defense forced the Irish to turn the ball over and uncharacteristic 23 times.
"We don't want anybody to outhustle us," Miami guard Sheila James said.
"Because we knew we were the underdogs we had nothing to lose tonight. We played like it was our last game. We left everything out on the floor."
McGraw credited the Hurricanes for their hustle.
"I thought their press really slowed us down," she said. "They did a great job controlling the tempo of the game for the first 30 minutes. We weren't ever really able to get that spurt. "
The teams traded baskets for much of the first half. But Notre Dame took a 32-25 lead into the locker room at halftime despite shooting 37.9 percent from the floor. The Irish also had 14 turnovers in the half.
"I wanted to see us get up big early and clear the bench," McGraw said. "But I knew that wasn't going to happen. We needed to get our timing back."
Notre Dame's fast break offense led to easy points to start the second half.
Danielle Green scored six points, on three driving layups, in the first four minutes of the half to expand the Irish lead to 12 at 41-29.
"Danielle did a great job in transition," McGraw said. "She came out ready in the second half."
Erika Haney added two layins for the Irish to begin the half. And when they weren't scoring in transition, the Irish turned to their center, Ruth Riley, to provide some scoring.
Riley led the Irish with 18 points and 14 rebounds, including seven in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Irish tried to keep their double-digit lead.
"I didn't think she shot particularly well in the first half," McGraw said of Riley. "But overall I thought she had an outstanding game. She really played like an All-American tonight."
Miami narrowed the margin to six, at 53-47 with 7:43 remaining, forcing McGraw to call a full timeout. Following the timeout, the Irish scored on their next three possessions, including a Niele Ivey three-pointer from the top of the key.
Green and Ivey connected on free throws in the final two minutes to provide the final margin.
The two Irish guards were the other Irish players in double figures. Ivey scored 13 points, while Green had 12 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.
Small forward Alicia Ratay shot just two for nine from the field for eight points, and none in the second half.
"I don't question her shot selection because I think she knows what she can do," McGraw said of Ratay. "But I would like to see her shoot a lot more. I could see tonight she was trying to go to Ruth."
Notre Dame needs Ratay to heed her coach's advice tonight when the blue and gold face eighth-ranked Rutgers, which advanced to the semifinals with a 61-32 victory over Villanova Sunday.
The two teams met on Feb. 19, and the Irish came away with a 78-74 overtime victory. In that game, Ratay shot a perfect seven for seven from three-point range.
"That was definitely the most exciting game of the year," McGraw said of the previous Rutgers game. "I thought you saw pretty much everything that could happen in a basketball game, happen in that game."
Though her team struggled a bit against Miami, McGraw understands the bigger picture.
"At this point in the season, I just feel like we're 1-0 in a three-game tournament," McGraw said. "And that's all that matters."
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 6, 2000
