November 27, 2000
'Foul play' helps Irish edge Georgia
By FORREST MILLER
 N.D. center Ruth Riley (left) wasn't afraid to get physical with Georgia (AP Photo/MIKE ROEMER) |
Clinging to a 75-73 lead after a Kelley Siemon free throw with 6.1 seconds to play, the Irish had been whistled for only three fouls in the second half -- and thus had three to give before putting Georgia at the free throw line in the championship game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the University of Wisconsin's Kohl Center.
Notre Dame used two of them from Niele Ivey -- with 3.2 seconds left and again with 1.5 seconds, effectively preventing Georgia from attempting a shot. The Irish still had one to waste as Coco Miller forced a shot at the buzzer and fifth-ranked Notre Dame remained undefeated with a 75-73 victory over the sixth-ranked Bulldogs.
"That's something we haven't worked on in practice much,'' said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw. "When we told them to foul, they said, 'No coach, we're winning.' ''
Ivey won the most valuable player award for this tournament and was joined on the all-tournament team by Irish center Ruth Riley. But strong cases could have been made for the other three Irish starters, particularly Siemon who survived a 3-for-10 afternoon at the free-throw line with a critical one with 6.1 seconds to play.
She was also the game's leading rebounder with 11. Siemon said she knew she was going to be hacked on the inbounds play with 6.1 second left.
"I thought about it,'' said Siemon. "I can make them in practice, hopefully it was just nerves.''
Although she knows free throws aren't her strength, she was 7-for-8 in last Wednesday's victory over Wisconsin.
Notre Dame has won four in a row and eight of its last 10 against non-conference top 10 teams.
"It's nice to win a game like this and be able to learn something from it,'' said McGraw, who received immediate postgame telephone calls from athletic director Kevin White and university president Edward Malloy, who were watching the ESPN telecast in Los Angeles with the football team.
Ivey and Riley had 19 points each for the Irish, while Ratay had 16 and Siemon 13. Ericka Haney had eight. Notre Dame had no points off the bench, and the second half was basically a five-person ironman stint with freshman Jeneka Joyce unable to go because of an ankle injury. She played eight minutes in the first half.
Kelly Miller led the Bulldogs (2-2) with 18 points.
Notre Dame was ahead the entire first half, including 22-9 after a Riley basket with 11:50 to go in the half. Georgia tied it for the first time at 35-35 on a Camille Murphy 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the half. It was tied at 38 before Ivey's 3-pointer 12 seconds before halftime put the Irish on top, 41-38.
Georgia went ahead for the first time at 46-45 with 16:16 to play on a Tawana McDonald field goal. After losing the lead twice, Georgia took a 63-57 margin with just over 10 minutes to play.
Notre Dame reeled off nine straight for a 68-63 lead. The Irish lead was 70-65 after a runner by Ivey with 3:50 to play. A 6-0 run by Georgia erased that margin and made it 71-70. A short jumper by Ratay put Notre Dame ahead, 72-71 with 1:31 left, and Ivey added two free throws with 1:12 to go.
Coco Miller's steal and layup with 32 seconds left made it a one-point game at 74-73. Notre Dame threw the ball away against the pressure with 19 seconds to go, but got it back when Riley blocked a Deanna Nolan shot.
"I think I got a hand on it, and it must have gone off of her, because the referee gave us the ball,'' said Riley. The Irish called time out with 7.2 seconds left and set up the intentional-foul strategy that paid off with the victory.
"Beating a top 10 team like Georgia sends a message that we're a national power and could go along way in the (NCAA) tournament,'' said McGraw. "We didn't think they would shoot threes as well as they did (7-for-17).''
Ivey and Riley were joined on the all-tournament team by Kelly Miller of Georgia, Stacey Dales of Oklahoma and Jessie Stomski of Wisconsin.
Niele Ivey scored 22 and Kelley Siemon 20 and Ericka Haney 14 to lead Notre Dame.
"I was really pleased with our defense, but our offensive execution wasn't as good as it could have been,'' said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, whose club was 27-for-36 at the free-throw line.
It was 19th-ranked Wisconsin's gameplan to shut down Ruth Riley and Alicia Ratay, and they were successful at that. But Siemon, Ivey and Haney were problems the Badgers were not equipped to handle.
"In no way did we think Notre Dame was good enough to beat us on our home floor like they did," Wisconsin coach Jane Albright said.
Riley, in a little foul trouble, had nine points to go with five rebounds and four blocks. Ratay had just one basket, a layup, missed her only two 3-point attempts, but was 6-for-6 at the line with eight points.
Siemon's 21 points missed her career high by one. She was 7-for-8 from the field and a matching 7-for-8 at the line. She was particularly proud of the free throws.
Efficient was also a good term for sophomore Alicia Ratay, whose 26 points included 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. And the one she missed she rebounded for a two-point basket followed by a foul that made it a three-point play.