Friday, March 30, 2001
Women's Final Four Notebook
Irish sweep awards from AP
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Ruth Riley remembers watching Notre Dame in the 1997 Final Four as an eager recruit and wishing she could be there playing. Thanks in large measure to Riley's contributions, Notre Dame is in another Final Four and this time, she'll get her wish.
Riley received The Associated Press player of the year award Thursday as part of a sweep for the Irish. Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw was chosen the coach of the year.
Tonight, the two will lead the Irish against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
McGraw had already signed Riley when she took Notre Dame on its '97 Final Four trip to Cincinnati. It made quite an impression on the 6-foot-5 center watching back in Macy, Ind.
“It was so exciting to watch, knowing that was where I was going to go,” Riley said. “You just can't help but wish that you were a year older and be a part of that already. But I think it showed a lot of potential. It showed me that was possible for where I was going.”
Riley edged Southwest Missouri State's Jackie Stiles for the player of the year award, with 30 votes to 26 for Stiles, and became the first player from a school other than Connecticut or Tennessee to receive the honor, which was started in 1995.
McGraw, in her 14th season at Notre Dame, received 60 votes from AP member newspapers. Tennessee's Pat Summit was second with 12.
“It's a team award and I think that's the way we look at it,” McGraw said. “I would not be here if it was not for my staff and my team.”
TIMES CHANGE: Back in 1982, Summitt took the Lady Vols to the first Women's Final Four, 37 members of the media showed up, along with 9,531 fans who paid $7 apiece to get in.
This year, the 20th Women's Final Four weekend, there are more than 600 media members in St. Louis, and thousands of fans were unable to get tickets, which sold for $100 apiece.
“We just promoted the game, and now, you know, the game is promoting itself,” Summitt said.
TICKET, PLEASE: The demand for tickets was high for Southwest Missouri State fans — the Springfield, Mo., school is just 215 miles from St. Louis. “We get calls from people we don't even know wanting tickets,” said the Lady Bears' Tara Mitchem.
The 2001 Women's Final Four is the event's 10th sellout in its 20-year history. It will be played at the Savvis Center, which with 21,000 seats is the largest venue in which the tournament has been played.
But more tickets should be available next year — the tournament will be played in a domed stadium for the first time, the Alamodome in San Antonio.
NCAA Tournament coverage at Cincinnati.com
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Women's Final Four Notebook