Lady Raiders eliminated by Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — In the span of 45 seconds, Jacqueline Batteast missed an easy basket inside, was called for a charge and missed a 15-foot jumper.
It was an ugly span midway through the first half against Middle Tennessee State. She quickly made up for it.
Batteast scored 23 of Notre Dame’s next 36 points, turning what was a close game at the end of the first half into a rout as the Irish advanced to the round of 16 with a 59-46 victory Tuesday over Middle Tennessee State in the NCAA tournament’s second round.
“She made tough shots look very easy and had a great night,” Middle Tennessee coach Stephany Smith said.
Batteast really got started with 4:30 left in the first half, making a 3-pointer to put fifth-seeded Notre Dame (21-10) ahead 22-21 — giving the Irish their first lead. Two minutes later she scored on a rebound of her own miss, then added a 14-foot jumper as the Irish led 29-26 at halftime.
“When the three went in, I felt pretty good, like all my shots were going to fall,” she said.
They almost did. She missed just one of her eight shots in the second half, finishing 13-of-17 for the night and matching her career high with 27 points.
“I got into a rhythm and just had to keep going with it,” she said. “It was shocking.”
Shocking for the Lady Raiders, too, who scored a single point as they went 10:34 without a field goal as the Irish went on a 22-1 run.
The 13th-seeded Lady Raiders (24-8) tried to slow Batteast by putting different defenders on her, but none of the switches worked.
“I didn’t see anything but a blue jersey, so the person in front of me didn’t really matter,” Batteast said. “I just felt like I could take anybody at any given time.”
The Irish shot 55 percent for the game, including 58 percent in the second half, and outrebounded the Lady Raiders 36-30 on the strength of 12 rebounds by Batteast.
“I wish we could change her jersey over,” Smith said. “She is a great player, but we in the basketball community have known that for a long time.”
Smith said she thinks her team may have been intimidated by the 6,440 fans at the Joyce Center, most of whom were cheering for the Irish.
“It definitely rattled us,” she said.
Notre Dame improved to 15-0 at home this season and have won 20 straight at the Joyce Center.
Krystle Horton, who along with Notre Dame’s Crystal Erwin was ejected for pushing with 1:02 left, led the Lady Raiders with 18 points. Holmes, Middle Tennessee State’s leading scorer at 15.8 points a game, was held to nine on 4-of-15 shooting.
“I just had a very poor offensive night,” Holmes said. “When my shots were just not falling, I began to get very frustrated.”
The Irish advanced to the final 16 for the sixth time in eight seasons. They will play top-seeded Penn State on Saturday in Hartford, Conn. The Lady Raiders failed in their attempt to become just the second No. 13 seed to advance to the final 16.
Irish coach Muffet McGraw said she is confident heading east.
“I think we are playing really well right now,” she said. “Our defense is playing extremely well and offensively we are really in tune.”