The news that the father of Irish coach Muffet McGraw had died early Saturday stunned her and took the joy out of 10th-ranked Rutgers' 59-48 win over Notre Dame, its fifth win against a top 10 team this season.
``Oh my God! Are you sure?'' a visibly upset Stringer said moments after ending her news conference. ``Is she still here? I want to go talk to her.''
By that time, McGraw was already in a car with her sisters, Peg, Kathy and Patty, headed to Philadelphia to be with their family in the suburb of West Chester.
Notre Dame assistant sports information director Chris Masters said that McGraw's father, Joseph G. O'Brien, died in a Philadelphia-area hospital after a lengthy illness that was complicated recently by pneumonia.
Muffet McGraw was told of his death later in the morning, before the game started at noon. Her players weren't informed until after the game, Masters said.
McGraw never let on that anything was wrong after the Irish (23-4, 11-3) were held to a season-low point total and had their 10-game winning streak snapped by Rutgers (20-5, 11-2).
``That was the best defense we've seen all year,'' McGraw said. ``They were physical with us. We weren't able to get into anything.''
The Irish shot 33.3 percent for the game, weren't able to take a 3-pointer until less than five minutes were left and committed 23 turnovers, matching their season high.
Chelsea Newton had 14 points and eight assists and Cappie Pondexter added 13 as the Scarlet Knights stayed unbeaten at home (12-0) and moved into a first-place tie with Connecticut, a half game ahead of Notre Dame. The No. 11 Huskies beat Syracuse 85-49 Saturday.
``Right now we are playing and playing well together,'' Newton said. ``We are playing as a team. We have to continue to stay together.''
If Rutgers wins its final three games, it would be the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament.
``We talked about this with the team, that the winner was probably going to get the No. 1 seed,'' said McGraw, who led Notre Dame to a national title in 2001.
Jacqueline Batteast and Megan Duffy had 14 points apiece to lead Notre Dame, which was held two points below its previous low, set in a loss to Connecticut and a win over Marquette.
Still Notre Dame had a chance. Trailing 32-19 at the half after hitting only five field goals and shooting 25 percent, the Irish opened the second half with an 11-1 spurt by combining a box-and-one defense on Pondexter with a few good plays inside.
A layup by Courtney LaVere got the Irish to 33-31 with 15:05 to play, and it seemed they would get a chance to tie the game when Rutgers fumbled the ball in the final seconds of the next possession.
However, freshman Matee Ajavon managed to pick up the loose ball and threw in an off-balance floater. The basket started a 12-2 run that featured a steal and layup by Ajavon and a basket and 3-pointer by Newton, who had 12 points in the second half.
``That starts with me at the point,'' said Duffy, who had 10 turnovers. ``I had two or three turnovers in a run that led to uncontested layups.
Pondexter was the difference in the first half, hitting all five of her field goals, including two 3-pointers, in helping Rutgers jump to an early lead it never lost.
Batteast, the Big East's second-leading scorer, was 3-of-14 from the field. She also was cut above the right eye in the game.
Rutgers also has beaten LSU, Connecticut, Texas and Tennessee when they were ranked in the top 10 this season.
However, the accomplishment seemed trivial to Stringer an hour after the game. When told Muffet McGraw had left the arena, Stringer stopped for a second.
``I'm going to go see my mother,'' said Stringer, whose mother has been ill with pneumonia in recent weeks.
posted by Chris O. @ 2/19/2005 03:21:00 PM
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