Irish survive, thanks to leadership and persistence
JOE HETTLER
Sports Editor
MANHATTAN, Kan.
If Notre Dame proved anything in their win against Arizona Sunday night, it was simply that the NCAA tournament is all about surviving.
Sure, the Irish could have used a seeing-eye dog in the first half en route to shooting an atrocious 19.4 percent.
Then there was Jacqueline Batteast's 1-for-16 performance from the field. (For those scoring at home, that equates to an impressive 3.9 percent shooting percentage.)
And yes, Notre Dame was outrebounded 52-43, including giving up a 28-15 edge on the offensive glass.
But the only stat that matters is points — 59-47. Advantage Notre Dame.
Despite only shooting 29.1 percent for the game and looking sloppy at times with ugly shots and turnovers, the Irish upset the Wildcats to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"It's hard to believe you can win a game when you give up 52 rebounds, 28 offensive to the other team. I don't know how it happened, but I thought defensively we made a lot of stops," Irish coach Muffet McGraw said.
Notre Dame was able to win the game thanks to great play down the stretch by Alicia Ratay, solid defense and the fact that Arizona couldn't, as their coach Joan Bonvicini put it, "throw a pea in the ocean" from the perimeter after their atrocious 2-of-25 3-point shooting performance.
Notre Dame's victory can also be attributed to experience. The Irish didn't get flustered when shots didn't fall or they had a turnover. They simply moved onto the next play and didn't dwell on the negative.
Batteast was a great example of this experience. After missing 9-of-10 shots in the first half, the forward didn't hang her head.
She didn't quit, although that would have been the easy option.
Instead after missing two easy layups in a row in the second half, Batteast just looked at the Irish bench, then laughed, as if to say, "It's been that kind of night."
But she still played good defense and pulled down nine rebounds and even was complimented by Bonvicini for her defensive effort in the game.
She sucked it up when things went bad.
However, on the other bench, Arizona's star freshman Shawntinice Polk showed how important experience and maturity can be to a player.
After missing all five of her shots in the first half and picking up four fouls with eight minutes still left in the game, you could see the mounting frustration on Polk's face. She missed a free throw with 4:25 left in the game and threw her arm across her body in disgust.
Her immaturity was what showed, while Notre Dame's poise came through when things got tough.
That difference made all the difference in the outcome of the game.
So for all the things they didn't do well at times, the Irish definitely did enough things right to pull out the victory.
And that's all that matters.
Just ask Arizona.
They'll be watching the second round of the tourney from their comfortable dorm rooms, while the Irish try to reach the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2001.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Contact Joe Hettler at jhettler@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 24, 2003
