Women's Basketball: WVU Travels to Notre Dame
February 25, 2005 11:32 AM | General
February 25, 2005
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| Bulger |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team draws a tough assignment Saturday afternoon facing No. 10-rated Notre Dame at the Joyce Center.
The Irish are 23-4 this year and are near the top of the Big East standings with an 11-3 conference record. Notre Dame shows impressive non-conference wins against Duke, Ohio State, Colorado State, USC, Washington and Purdue and have also won inside the league against Connecticut and Rutgers. Notre Dame’s four losses this year have come against Michigan State, Villanova, Connecticut and most recently at Rutgers on Feb. 19.
The Irish have been idle this week and should be well rested to face a West Virginia team that is coming off a 99-59 laugher against Providence last Tuesday.
In that game, Meg Bulger scored 28 points in a little over a half worth of work. Bulger leads the conference in scoring with an average of 20.5 points per game and is also averaging better than 20 points per game in league play.
Sherell Sowho is averaging 12.6 points per game and is looking to get back on the floor after missing the Providence game due to sickness. Senior guard Yolanda Paige is averaging 11.3 points and 9.1 assists per game.
For Notre Dame, 6-foot-2 senior forward Jacqueline Batteast is one of the nation’s best, averaging 17.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Batteast is also second on the team in assists averaging 3.0 per game.
Five-foot-seven junior guard Megan Duffy also averages double digits at 11.7 points per game and leads the Irish with an average of 5.4 assists per contest.
Notre Dame has played tough defense this year, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.2 percent from the floor and average just 56.9 points per game.
The last time these two teams met in Morgantown last year West Virginia came away with a 64-51 victory. Notre Dame leads the series by an 11-1 count.
West Virginia (16-9, 7-7) is in the midst of a tough stretch of games to end the season. Following Saturday’s trip to South Bend, the Mountaineers will wind up the regular season at home against Connecticut on Tuesday, March 1.
Saturday’s game at Notre Dame will get underway at 2 pm and will air on MSN stations WHIS (Bluefield), WSWW (Charleston), WTCS (Fairmont), WAJR (Clarksburg) and Yahoo Sports! on the Internet.
Comcast will televise the game live in Detroit and tape delay at 4 pm on Comcast Sports Net Chicago. The game will also air on Direct TV Channel 640.
