Diggins and Domers get it done in D.C.

Ron Bailey, Publisher

Notre Dame builds lead, withstands comeback against Hoyas.

January 11, 2011 - With 7:03 to play Tuesday night, Georgetown looked on the verge of finishing a prodigious comeback, as the Hoyas, down 21 at halftime were just 10 points away from equaling the score against Notre Dame, ranked second nationally. Further buoying the team’s hopes was the fact junior guard Sugar Rodgers had just hit a three pointer, great news since she didn’t make a shot in the first half.

But as head coach Terri Williams-Flourney noted afterward, “Teams in the BIG EAST are too good for you to get buried by in the first half”; her squad would whittle the deficit to 10 twice more over the course of approximately two minutes, but during the last 5:14 were outscored 18-8, producing Notre Dame’s 80-60 win, and G’Town’s McDonough Arena.

Diggins pulling up for a fast break, second half jumper.

Rodgers finished with 13 points, plus five rebounds, but also notched that number of turnovers. “Not to take anything from Brittany (Mallory, Notre Dame’s primary defender on Rodgers), but Sugar made bad, rushed decisions, trying to make a play” commented Williams-Flourney on her star guard’s first half play. Some of those shots were three pointers – Rodgers finished 2-11 from beyond the arc.

The Hoyas shot 27.8% overall, 21.7% from three point land, work that led Williams-Flourney to opine “shots just weren’t going down”, particularly in the first half (18.4% overall then, including a number of point blank misses, early). A trio of seniors scored 10 points, with forwards Tia McGee and Adria Crawford plus guard Rubylee Wright contributing that, along with eight rebounds/three assists, nine rebounds, and four boards/five helpers, respectively, for the 17th/18th ranked team in the land.

Notre Dame got 22 points, three rebounds and four dimes from all-everything junior guard Skylar Diggins. Senior guard Natalie Novosel finished with 21 points, seven caroms and five helpers, while sophomore guard Kayla McBride chipped in 16, seven and two. Rounding out Notre Dame’s double digit scorers was fifth year, senior center Devereaux Peters’ 10 points; she also contributed eight rebounds. For the game, Notre Dame shot 56.8% overall, taking only nine three pointers and making two (22.2%).

Not coincidently the Hoyas’ comeback gathered even more steam when Diggins received her fourth foul, necessitating a benching. After being reinserted, with 6:30 on the clock, Diggins completed a lay up and two free throws, plus a jump shot, another layup and free throw. Notre Dame outscored G’Town 20-12 during the segment.

As much as her offense was useful, it was Diggins’ floor generalship that led Notre Dame; she guarded, captained the team and generally stabilized the squad. “I just wanted to be smart” said Diggins of her focus then, which included “executing the offense”. She also didn’t react emotionally to chippiness, of which she explained as “It’s part of the game, nothing personal”.