Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Notre Dame
Eagles Fall To No.1 Notre Dame, 81-65
February 03, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2001
Postgame audio
B. Gottstein, N. Conway and M. Leahy
Coach Inglese
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) - Top-ranked Notre Dame set a school record with its 21st straight win as it beat Boston College 81-65 behind Ruth Riley's 24 points and 13 rebounds Saturday.
The Fighting Irish, in their second week in the No. 1 spot, led only 46-40 with 15 minutes left in the game. But the 6-foot-5 Riley got the next two baskets on turnarounds, and Notre Dame led by at least eight points the rest of the way.
The Fighting Irish (21-0, 10-0 Big East) trailed only once at 6-4 and took their biggest lead, 79-60, on Riley's last point, a free throw with 1:28 to go.
Notre Dame broke its record of 20 straight wins set last season and became only the seventh team in NCAA history with 20-win streaks in consecutive seasons.
Boston College (8-13, 2-8) was led by Nicole Conway and Becky Gottstein with 16 points each. Boston College suffered its eighth loss in nine games.
Riley, the Big East leader in points, field goal percentage and blocks, had plenty of help. Niele Ivey scored 16 points and Alicia Ratay and Jeneka Joyce added 11 each for Notre Dame.
"If it's one-on-one, [Riley will] score 50 points," Boston College coach Cathy Inglese said. "You really have to do some things, when you double down. ... When you do that, they have some really nice scorers on penetrations and from the perimeter."
"That," Inglese said, "is what makes them No. 1."
"I personally don't think we were scared to play them. We typically play well against the better teams," said Gottstein, who had 16 points for BC. "Some of us said before the game we really had nothing to lose."
Conway, who Irish coach Muffet McGraw said way the player of the game for BC, also scored 16 for the Eagles - and BC trailed by just 62-54 with 6:52 left - but they lacked Notre Dame's firepower as the Fighting Irish got the next eight points, four each by Riley and Ratay.
"We're a hard-to-guard team," McGraw said. "We've still got some tough games on the road but we're playing pretty well at home."
Trailing 39-30 at halftime after being outscored 10-4 in the last six minutes, the Eagles started strong in the second half. Conway's basket from the left corner cut the lead to 46-40 with 15:02 left.
Boston College had stayed close for most of the first half, using a collapsing defense to control Riley as it trailed by only 29-26 with six minutes left.
But a turnaround by Riley with 5:20 remaining began a 10-2 run that made the score 39-28 with 31 seconds to go. Conway's two free throws drew the Eagles to within nine points at intermission.
It was another strong first-half finish for the Fighting Irish, the only unbeaten team in Division I. On Wednesday night, in their second game at No. 1, they ended the half with a 15-2 run and went on to beat Providence 64-44.
Boston College suffered its fourth straight loss and eighth in its last nine games. It has lost to the No. 1, 2, 4 and 5 teams this season.
