No. 8 Notre Dame Wins Easily

West Virginia put its energy into stopping Notre Dame center Ruth Riley, but the Mountaineers’ plan backfired in a Big East Conference game at South Bend, Ind.

Alicia Ratay scored 12 points and Danielle Green added 10 as No. 8 Notre Dame defeated West Virginia, 75-54, Wednesday night.

“We didn’t move on the pass. We were a step behind all day,” West Virginia Coach Alexis Basil said. “We spent too much time on Riley and Ratay.”

The Fighting Irish (10-2, 1-0) tried to get the ball inside to the 6-foot-5 Riley with mixed success. Employing mostly a zone defense, West Virginia collapsed two and three players on Riley when she got the ball and managed to hold her to nine points. She entered the game averaging 15.5 points a game.

With Riley struggling, the Irish went to their guards, Ratay, Green and Niele Ivey.

Notre Dame forced West Virginia (5-7, 0-2) into 22 turnovers, which were turned into 27 points.

Val Zona led West Virginia with 12 points and Mandy Ronay had 10.

No. 10 Iowa State 79, Missouri 67--Stacy Frese scored 22 points as the Cyclones won their sixth in a row in a Big 12 Conference game at Columbia, Mo.

Angie Welle and Megan Taylor added 18 points each for Iowa State (10-2, 2-0), which ended Missouri’s nine-game win streak.

The Cyclones were 19 of 26 from the free-throw line and Missouri (10-2, 0-1) made only five free throws.

Amanda Lassiter scored a career-high 22 points for Missouri, including 17 in the second half. Julie Helm added 13 for the Tigers.

No. 11 Rutgers 65, Miami 45--Shawnetta Stewart scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half as the Scarlet Knights rolled to an easy Big East Conference victory at Piscataway, N.J.

Stewart left the game seven minutes into the first half because of a bruise to her left thigh. She returned in the second half and, after a few tentative minutes, began to assert herself with drives to the basket and long-range shots.

Rutgers (9-2, 2-0) built a 37-21 first-half lead, mainly from the free-throw line, where it made 13 of 16. The Scarlet Knights finished 16 of 21 from the line.

Miami (6-5, 0-1) made a 17-3 run in the second half, cutting the deficit to 40-38 with 13:43 to play. Stewart and Davalyn Cunningham scored six and five points, respectively, in a 13-5 run that gave Rutgers a 51-43 lead with 8:44 to play.

No. 13 Texas Tech 63, Santa Clara 54--Keitha Dickerson had 19 points and 12 rebounds in the Lady Raiders’ victory at Lubbock, Texas.

Katrisa O’Neal added 18 points for Texas Tech, which overcame an 11-point second-half deficit.

Santa Clara (9-3) had a 31-27 lead at halftime and increased the lead until Texas Tech (11-1) started chipping away.

Aleah Johnson’s layup with 6:39 left gave Texas Tech its first lead since the opening minutes.

Annie Garrison led the Broncos with 19 points, and Katie Pursley added 10.