Notre Dame pulls away from San Diego in first round
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
The No. 2-seeded Notre Dame women's basketball team (26-4) opened NCAA tournament play with an emphatic 87-61 win over San Diego (17-13).
The Irish owned the game from start to finish. They jumped out to a 10-1 lead on two quick baskets by junior All-American Ruth Riley, two free throws by freshman Alicia Ratay and two buckets by senior Julie Henderson.
They never looked back.
"My teammates knew that [Jessica] Gray was a little shorter than me," Riley said. "So they were looking for me inside, and I was just happy I was able to connect."
The Irish increased their lead throughout the first half. Senior guard Niele Ivey scored nine of her 14 points in the first half, and Riley laid in 12 of her 14 in the opening period.
San Diego was no pushover, though, as they orchestrated a 16-7 run in which six Toreros scored.
"They never quit," Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. "Every time we thought we could put them away in the first half, they came back. We have to get away from the point of being up 15 and letting them back in the game. And that's where we need to get that killer instinct."
At halftime, Notre Dame led San Diego 42-31, a gap the Irish thought should have been greater.
"We really didn't feel like we were doing much on defense," Riley said. "We needed to pick it up a lot with our intensity and getting out on the shooters."
In the second stanza, the Irish clamped down defensively. They held the Toreros scoreless from the field for nearly eight minutes.
"That was exactly what we were looking for," McGraw said. "We had some miscommunication in the first half, and they got some open looks. We wanted to work on our switches a little bit more and get a hand in their face. I think that with a hand in their face, that's why they shot so poorly for those eight minutes."
Senior guard Danielle Green finished off the stretch with an off-balance driving lay-up that extended the lead to 66-40.
"I was looking for Ericka [Haney]" Green said. "She was open for a second there and then I looked back again and a defender was on her. I was already up in the air, and I just threw it up in there. It was just all reaction."
McGraw enjoyed the luxury of giving her bench significant playing time.
Four players scored in double digits for the Irish — Riley, Green, Ivey and reserve Kelley Siemon with 13. All 12 players on Notre Dame's roster scored in the game.
"It's definitely important that we get our bench involved in the game," McGraw said. "It's the NCAA tournament. We want to get them some experience so that if we need them, we're able to use them later on."
Notes:
u The Irish shot a stifling 63.6 percent from the field, led by 7-for-8 shooting by Riley.
u Ratay, the team's second-leading scorer, only scored four points in the contest, all from the charity stripe.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, March 21, 2000
