NEW YORK (AP) -- Notre Dame added to its finest start and its
domination over St. John's.
Ruth Riley had 23 points and 11 rebounds as No. 3 Notre Dame won
its 15th straight game, 84-49 over the Red Storm on Tuesday night.
|  | | Kelley Siemon has room to shoot with St. John's Latasha Thompson defending in the first half. |
Kelley Siemon added 14 points for the Fighting Irish (15-0, 4-0
Big East), who have won all 10 games in the series against the Red
Storm. Alicia Ratay and Ericka Haney each added 11 points.
"It's tough. Everybody is up for us," Riley said. "We want to
gain in the polls and those who are ahead of us want to stay there.
We're doing a good job of staying focused. We came off a tough game
against Rutgers, and tonight we didn't let down."
Notre Dame dispatched Rutgers (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) 67-46 on Saturday and is
scheduled to face top-ranked Connecticut on Jan. 15. The Irish were
determined not to look back or ahead.
"I know UConn is important. We still have to take it the old
proverbial one game at a time," Riley said.
Rasheedah Brown's 17 points led St. John's (5-8, 0-3), which
lost its third straight. Latasha Thompson scored 14 points.
After Brown's 3-pointer gave the Red Storm their only lead of
the game, 5-4, Riley scored seven points in a 22-4 run that gave
Notre Dame a 26-9 lead at the 11:11 mark.
"Ruth Riley is not an All-American for nothing. She brings a
great deal to the floor and our team got a true idea of what the
Big East is all about," St. John's coach Darcel Estep said. "It's
great for the league to have a player like Ruth Riley. Players make
the conference and Riley is the toughest center to guard in the
entire league."
St. John's closed within 36-20 on a jumper by Brown at 6:34, but
the Irish went on a 13-4 run, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers
by Ratay, and led 49-24 at halftime.
Riley scored 17 of her points in the first half as the Irish put
the game out of reach.
"Ruth had a great game," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said.
"I'm fortunate to have three veterans who take charge. The others
are Siemon and Niele Ivey. They are the three leaders and the rest
of the guys feed off them.
"We've played well as a group, and Ratay's outside shooting is
opening up the inside for Riley."
The Irish went to the bench in the second half and opened up a
84-44 lead on a layup by Monique Hernandez with 2:14 to play.
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Notre Dame Clubhouse
St Johns Clubhouse
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