STORRS, Conn. (AP) – With or without Ruth Riley, No. 2 Notre
Dame was too much for Georgetown.
Riley, the Big East player of the year, had a comfortable
courtside view Sunday of the Fighting Irish's 89-33 victory, the
most lopsided win in Big East tournament history. Coach Muffet
McGraw was able to rest her starters early and often.
|  | | Notre Dame's Ruth Riley, center, gets by Zsuzsanna Horvath, left, and Santia Jackson even in her limited role against Georgetown. |
"We are exactly where we want to be right now," McGraw said.
"The way we're playing at both ends of the floor, getting good
production off the bench ... I couldn't be happier."
Top-seeded Notre Dame (27-1) plays Virginia Tech in Monday's
semifinal. The fourth-seeded Hokies advanced earlier Sunday with a
73-67 win over Villanova.
Niele Ivey scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half for
Notre Dame. Teammates Kelley Siemon and Alicia Ratay had 14 points
each.
The 6-foot-5 Riley logged just 15 minutes and finished with nine
points and seven rebounds. Her understudy, sophomore Amanda
Barksdale, had a team-high six blocks and nine rebounds, as the
Irish dominated the boards, 45-25. Notre Dame outscored Georgetown
83-16 in the post.
"We've worked a lot with Ruth not being on the floor," McGraw
said. "Niele and Kelley are really playing well and we knew we
were going to get a lot of good shots and score in transition.
Plus, Mandy (Barksdale) gave us a huge lift defensively."
Ivey was 3-of-5 from behind the arc, all in the first half.
Notre Dame leads the conference in 3-point accuracy, and made 56
percent on 9-of-16 shooting Sunday.
The 56-point margin was the biggest in tournament history.
Georgetown struggled with its own dubious numbers. The Hoyas'
10-point first half was the worst ever in the tournament.
The two last played on Feb. 24, resulting in a 12-point Notre
Dame win. This one was never close.
"To break it down and analyze it is the last thing on my
mind," said Georgetown coach Patrick Knapp. "Notre Dame shot the
ball better compared to the first game and it didn't go in for
us."
Rebekkah Brunson, the conference's rookie of the year, led
Georgetown (16-14) with 16 points.
Brunson hit a quick turnaround jumper to open the game. The
Hoyas then missed their next 18 shots, and with seven minutes left
in the opening half, had shot just 6 percent.
At the same time, the Fighting Irish were heating up. Two
baskets by Erica Haney and a jumper by Riley in a 71-second stretch
put the Irish up for good. Ratay hit Notre Dame's six 3-pointers in
the half. Her final 3-pointer gave the Irish a 35-4 lead 3:37
before the break.
Georgetown ended a 16-minute field-goal drought on a jumper by
Santia Jackson on the next possession.
The Hoyas shot 25 percent for the game, hitting 13-of-53 from
the floor. Brunson was 6-of-13. Hoya scoring leader Katie
Smrcka-Duffy had two points on 1-of-8 shooting and hit her only
bucket with 2:32 left.
"Whenever the ball was thrown to me, Notre Dame had a person
right there," Smrcka-Duffy said. "Anytime you lose it's bad, so
the score isn't what matters."
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Georgetown Clubhouse
Notre Dame Clubhouse
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Starling comes off bench, leads Hokies past Villanova
Big East Conference tournament schedule
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