Batteast leads romp over Army with 18 points
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
Coming off two consecutive losses for the first time since 1997, the schedule makers delivered the No. 23 Irish women's basketball team just what the doctor ordered Monday night — a home game against Army.
And Notre Dame (2-2) didn't let the opportunity to feast on a vulnerable opponent pass by, sending the Black Knights (1-4) home in dominating fashion, taking the game 89-57.
"I think we can celebrate now," Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said after her team's third game in six days. "We're not thinking that we're not going to lose another game for the rest of the year, but now that we're experiencing great moments that are translating into great games, I think we're building our confidence."
Much of that confidence came from the solid play of freshman Jacqueline Batteast. The 6-foot-1 South Bend native led the Irish with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in 28 minutes.
"I thought she came out and played really well," McGraw said. "We're really expecting a lot from her and I think that she did everything we wanted her to tonight."
In fact, the only area from which Batteast struggled was from behind the 3-point line, where she hit only two of eight attempts. For the game, Notre Dame launched 28 shots from behind the arc, a school record.
"I'm happy with the way that I rebounded. If that's how I'm going to have to help the team win then I'll stop shooting 3s," Batteast joked.
Sophomore point guard Le'Tania Severe, also new to the starting lineup this year , added 13 points and four assists in 26 minutes.
"She's pushing the ball, she's finding the open man and she made some shots tonight because she was open but she's looking to set everybody else up," McGraw said. "She's being a great leader for us."
Alicia Ratay scored 12 points in 23 minutes, with her points coming on four 3-point field goals. Other than freshman point guard Jill Krause, every player on the Irish roster scored at least one basket. Junior walk-on Karen Swanson netted five points late in the game, tying a career-high and drawing cheers from adoring fans. Sophomore Jeneka Joyce and freshman Kelsey Wicks added seven points apiece off the bench.
"Having the bench come in and play well allowed us to play people a little bit less, which really helped us," McGraw said.
A 3-pointer from Elkhart native Amy Saal pulled the Black Knights within 15 points early in the second half, but after that the Irish lead kept growing.
Notre Dame finished with a 10-3 run to improve to 85-1 all-time when holding an opponent under 60 points.
At the start of the game, the Irish got out to a quick 7-0 lead behind a Ratay 3-pointer and two lay-ins by Batteast. Notre Dame built that lead to 13-5, but couldn't maintain focus against a Black Knights squad that has already fallen to the likes of Columbia, Hofstra and Davidson.
After a Le'Tania Severe 3-pointer gave the Irish a 18-10 lead, Army fought back behind an Amy Saal three-point play and a Christina Canelli 3-pointer to close the gap to 18-16. After Notre Dame took a 30-second timeout, Army stole the ball and Saal hit a 5-footer to knot the game at 18.
"In transition, we really had a problem remembering what we were doing," McGraw said. "That was when they got a bunch of open shots. At that point we decided we would just play man-to-man and I think the full-court pressure really helped us."
Then the Irish decided enough was enough. Ratay hit two consecutive 3-pointers, keying a 15-2 run which put Notre Dame up 33-20. Each team managed nine points apiece over the final five and a half minutes, and the Irish went into the locker room with a 47-31 advantage.
Ratay contributed 12 first half points, while Batteast and Severe put in 11 apiece in the opening 20 minutes. Batteast grabbed nine rebounds in the first half.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 27, 2001
