SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame clogged up the inside, and
Rutgers couldn't hit shots from the outside.
The result was a 67-46 victory for the third-ranked Irish on
Saturday over Rutgers (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) which had made 22.5 percent of its
field goals midway through the second half.
|  | | Notre Dame's Kelly Siemon, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, looks for some elbow room against Rutgers' Linda Miles. |
"I think we played intimidated and it looked like it," Rutgers
coach C. Vivian Stringer said.
Notre Dame (14-0, 3-0 Big East) was in control from the start,
using a 15-0 run to open a 20-4 lead and the Scarlet Knights (8-4,
1-1) never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Rutgers entered the game with the nation's fifth-ranked defense,
holding opponents to 52.9 points a game, but the Irish defense was
more impressive Saturday. The Scarlet Knights couldn't get the ball
inside early against Notre Dame's 2-3 zone, and missed consistently
from outside.
Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw thinks the Irish defense doesn't
get the respect it deserves, but even she was surprised at how
effective it was against the Scarlet Knights.
"Sometimes I look and say, 'We're just playing a 2-3 zone.'
It's not really brain surgery and it's really not that hard to find
the weaknesses in it," she said.
It was for Rutgers, though.
Karlita Washington and Tash Pointer, who guided Rutgers to a
Final Four appearance last season, struggled all game. Washington,
Rutgers' leading scorer, went 2-for-13 from the field for six
points. Pointer, the team's second-leading scorer, went 1-for-8 for
two points.
"Rutgers is kind of a streaky shooting team and we didn't know
what to expect," Irish guard Niele Ivey said. "I think our
defensive perimeter took it away from them."
The 46 points were Rutgers fewest since losing to Connecticut
49-45 last season. Rutgers dropped to 1-3 on its five-game road
trip and 0-4 this season against ranked teams.
"The fans were yelling 'Overrated, overrated,' and they were
right," Stringer said.
After Tammy Sutton-Brown made the game's opening basket, the
Scarlet Knights hit only one of their next 15 shots from the field,
and that also was from Sutton-Brown inside. During one span of
nearly 16 minutes, Rutgers went 0-for-9 from the field and had six
turnovers.
The Irish made 10 of their first 19 shots, including 3-for-5 from
3-point range, taking a 26-6 lead.
Rutgers went to a full-court press, forced some turnovers and
held the Irish to three more baskets in the half, cutting the lead
to 33-21 at the break. But the Scarlet Knights missed their first
nine shots of the second half as the Irish opened a 40-22 lead.
Ruth Riley led the Irish with 22 points and three blocked shots.
Ivey had 15 points and seven assists, Kelley Siemon had 11 points
and nine rebounds, and Alicia Ratay scored 11.
Sutton-Brown was the only Rutgers player in double figures, with
19 points. The Scarlet Knights shot only 31.5 percent for the game,
including going 1-for-16 from 3-point range.
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Rutgers Clubhouse
Notre Dame Clubhouse
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