NCAA Women's Basketball Scoreboard: Recap

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Syracuse 84, Notre Dame 79

Posted: Monday March 04, 2002 01:15 AM

Syracuse Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • Syracuse Message Boards: • NCAA

Notre Dame Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • South Bend Message Boards: • NCAA

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Jamie James scored 23 points and Leaf Newman added 19 as Syracuse upset 25th-ranked Notre Dame, 84-79, to advance to the semifinals of the Big East Conference tournament.

James made 7-of-14 shots and Newman keyed a 24-4 second-half spurt with 11 points. Syracuse (18-11), which put itself in position for its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1988, used the burst to take a 76-60 lead with 3:52 left.

But Notre Dame (19-10) did not give up as it responded with a 19-5 spurt, making it 81-79 with 18.3 seconds remaining on Alicia Ratay's seventh 3-pointer of the game.

However, James made two free throws with 16 seconds to play and Ratay threw up an airball on the final posssesion.

Ratay led the defending national champions with 29 points.

Notre Dame has lost two straight after a nine-game winning streak.

Syracuse, which will play Boston College on Monday, pulled off the biggest upset since No. 13 seeded Pittsburgh defeated No. 5 seed Villanova in the 1996 quarterfinals.