Boston College Athletics
Women's Basketball - Notre Dame Game Notes
February 01, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2001
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The Game:
Boston College enters Saturday's game after losing its conference game against Seton Hall on Wednesday, 59-56, in South Orange, N.J. Currently the Eagles are 8-12 overall and 2-7 in BIG EAST play. The team is currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
The Eagles opened the season with two wins in the Chevrolet Classic before dropping a game to No. 3 Duke at home. BC improved to 3-1 with a road win over Holy Cross, but dropped its next two to No. 5 Purdue and No. 2 Tennessee. The Eagles earned two wins over La Salle and Dartmouth. BC lost to Kent State on the road, before defeating Buffalo at home. BC fell to Fairfield in overtime at home to end the millenium, but then opened the BIG EAST season with a win over St. John's on Jan. 2. The team dropped four in a row to Georgetown, Miami, Rutgers and Virginia Tech but snapped the streak with a win over Providence. Its last games were losses to Syracuse, Villanova and the Pirates.
Two Eagles are scoring in double-figures, led by Becky Gottstein's 15.4 points per game average. Freshman Amber Jacobs is second with a 12.3 average. Gottstein is also the team's leading rebounder with a 8.2 boards per game average. Senior Nicole Conway follows, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.
Notre Dame enters the game with an undefeated record at 20-0 overall and 9-0 in BIG EAST play. The team is ranked first in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
This season, the Irish accumulated wins over Valparaiso, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia and Fordham in November. In December, ND defeated North Carolina, Villanova, Purdue, Western Michigan, Marquette, Southern California and Rice. Last month, it secured victories over Virgina Tech twice, Rutgers, St. John's, Connecticut, Seton Hall, West Virginia and Providence.
Five of the Irish are averaging double figures in scoring, led by All-American Ruth Riley's 18.0 points per game. Alicia Ratay is second witha 13.8 per game mark and Niele Ivey is third at 12.9. Ericka Haney is averaging 12.1 points per game and Kelley Siemon is averaging 10.5 points per game. Riley is also the team's leading rebounder with a 7.3 rebounds per game mark. Siemon is second with a 6.9 average. Ivey averaged 7.2 assists per game.
Against Notre Dame:
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Boston College, 5-3. Two of the Eagles wins have come in since these senior classes have been playing. In the last four games, the two teams have split the meetings with each team taking the home wins.
BC opened the series with a win on Dec, 30, 1983 when BC won 59-55 at home. Notre Dame won the next three meetings: Jan. 6, 1996 at ND (80-51), Jan. 7, 1997 at BC (61-57) and Feb. 12, 1997 at ND (91-64). BC won the next two games, 78-76 at BC on Jan. 17, 1998 and 78-65 at home on Dec. 30, 1998. The Irish have taken the last two meetings, 74-59 at ND on Feb. 3, 1999 and 72-59 in South Bend on Feb. 5, 2000.
The Eagles are 3-1 at home against the Irish and 0-4 in South Bend.
Last Time Out: The Eagles dropped their third-straight game with a loss at Seton Hall on Wednesday, 59-56. After the Pirates took an early lead, BC climbed back and gained its first lead of the game with 5:44 left in the first. With 1:32 left in the first stanza, Becky Gottstein hit a hook shot and Janelle McManus hit a three pointer to take a five-point lead into the break. As the second half started, BC extended the lead to 10, but the Pirates fought back and tied the game with 6:32 to play. BC regained the advantage twice more, but Arminda Moreno scored nine of the Pirates final 13 points to rally for the win.
The Last Game Against Notre Dame - February 5, 2000:
Ruth Riley scored 12 of her 23 points during an 18-5 second-half run as No. 5 Notre Dame defeated No. 18 Boston College, 72-59, on Feb. 5, in the second BIG EAST Television game of the season. Danielle Green netted 19 points and Kelley Siemon added 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds off the bench as Notre Dame outrebounded Boston College 44-31. Freshman Alicia Ratay scored 12 points for the Irish. Notre Dame connected on 15-of-20 attempts from the line and the Eagles were 3-for-6.
Riley, who played only eight minutes in the first half, was on the bench for the final 5:49 after she got her second foul. Notre Dame jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but the Eagles closed the margin to 14-12 on a Jamie Cournoyer jumper with 13:35 left in the half. The Irish rallied and increased their lead to eight points, but Alissa Murphy scored seven points in a 9-2 Boston College run to cut the lead to 31-29 with 3:34 left in the first half. Notre Dame built a five-point lead, but Cal Bouchard hit a three-pointer and added a free throw to narrow Notre Dame's halftime lead to 38-35.
Riley scored 15 of Notre Dame's first 21 points in the second half. Boston College tied it at 38 on Murphy's 3-pointer 25 seconds into the second half. Notre Dame turned to Riley inside and she scored four baskets and sank four free throws as Notre Dame built a 56-43 lead. Green scored nine of the last 13 points to secure the victory for the Irish. Boston College cut the lead to 63-56 on Bouchard's jumper with 2:58 remaining, but Notre Dame answered with nine straight points - five by Green.
Boston College shot just 36 percent. Bouchard led the Eagles with 17 points, and Murphy finished with 14 points. Cournoyer added 13 points.
