Riley Shoots Notre Dame Past Providence

Ruth Riley scored a school-record 41 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead seventh-ranked Notre Dame to its eighth consecutive victory, a 97-59 Big East Conference win over Providence Saturday night at Providence, R.I.

Riley made 18 of 22 shots and five of seven free throws, helping Notre Dame (17-2, 9-2 Big East) to its best start in school history.

Riley scored 26 points in the first half as Notre Dame held Providence (3-16, 2-10) to 29% shooting and took a 51-34 halftime lead.

Riley broke the record of 40 points set by Katryna Gaither against Ohio University on Nov. 29, 1996. Riley’s 18 field goals also broke Gaither’s single-game record of 17.

“It’s a great honor to have that record,� Riley said. “My sister was at the game the night [Gaither] scored 40. When she told me about it, I said, ‘Forty points in a college game? That’s awesome.’ �

Even without playing the final 9:15, Riley fell just a point short of the Big East single-game record of 42 points, set by Cozette Ballantine of St. John’s against Providence on Feb. 13, 1991.

Riley’s previous career-high, 36 points, also came against Providence--at South Bend on Jan. 10 in a 79-56 Notre Dame victory.

“She is so strong and supplements that with her great soft touch,� Providence Coach Jim Jabir said. “We couldn’t move her and we couldn’t double-down quick enough.

“She is a fundamentally tough athlete to defend.�

Chrissy Vozab scored 11 points for Providence, which has lost eight of its last nine.

Sheila McMillen and Danielle Green added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Notre Dame.

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Betty Lennox scored 21 points and fellow reserve Takeisha Lewis had 20 as No. 3 Louisiana Tech (17-2, 3-0) cruised to a 110-50 victory over New Orleans (8-10, 1-3) at Ruston, La., for its 50th consecutive regular-season win in the Sun Belt Conference. . . .Becky Hammon had 36 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead No. 6 Colorado State (22-1, 7-0) to a 91-55 Western Athletic Conference victory against Nevada Las Vegas (11-7, 3-4) at Fort Collins, Colo.

Julie Lake made 15 of 16 free throws and finished with 21 points as No. 10 Texas Tech (19-2, 8-1) cruised to a 65-42 Big 12 victory over Baylor (11-9, 3-5) at Lubbock, Tex. . . . Tasha Pointer scored 18 points as No. 13 Rutgers (18-4, 10-1)--rebounding from a one-point loss three days earlier to fifth-ranked Connecticut--earned a 61-48 Big East victory over Villanova (9-10, 5-6) at Piscataway, N.J.

No. 16 Iowa State (15-3, 7-1) used its height for a 44-33 rebounding advantage over Missouri (9-9, 2-6) in an 80-54 Big 12 victory at Columbia, Mo. . . .Kristi Rohr of No. 25 UC Santa Barbara (15-3, 6-0) scored 21 points in an 85-59 Big West victory over UC Irvine (8-11, 4-4) at Irvine.