ST. LOUIS – A championship can’t be won any more poignantly than the way Notre Dame won its first national basketball title of any kind last night. Ruth Riley, the consensus player of the year, became a hero for all time, hitting two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining to give the Irish a 68-66 victory over Purdue in the NCAA women’s championship game.
The 6-foot-5 Riley rose big as The Gipper, Rockne and all the other legendary heroes of the storied South Bend school. And while certainly there were elements of good fortune that decided one of the most dramatic NCAA women’s finals in history, the underdog Boilermakers were not cursing the calls or breaks always presumed in the end to go to the luckiest school on the planet.
On the contrary, Purdue would have been thrilled to take its chances with someone more leprechaun-sized. The senior center finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks as the 34-2 Big East champs, 15-point conquerors of defending champion UConn in the semifinals Friday night, fought off a game and talented team that proved obviously superior to its third-seeded Midwest Regional status when the tournament began.
“I can’t think of any better way to go out,” said Riley, probably because there couldn’t be. She scored the final four points of the game. First, she created a 66-66 tie off a lob pass from Alicia Ratay. Then, after Purdue freshman Shareka Wright’s shot rimmed out with 30 seconds to play, Riley made a difficult catch of another lob by Kelly Siemon, turned and was fouled by Wright.
“Coach [Muffet McGraw] always says “just throw it up” and we practice going after it,” said Riley. “It was all heart at the end of the game and I was just fortunate enough to catch it.
“As crazy as this might sound, I wasn’t really nervous. I was in the same situation [in the Big East final] against Connecticut and did not pull through. But I practiced since then. Today, I was pretty confident in my shot and I just got a lucky bounce.”
Riley’s first free throw crawled over the front of the rim and dropped in. She punched her fist in the air, then after a time-out, received a front-rim to glass bounce into the net on the second one.
Purdue center Camille Cooper caught an inbound pass three-quarters of the way downcourt. She dished back to Boilermakers star Katie Douglas, who shot hurriedly, but not hopelessly, from two feet inside the foul circle. The ball – Purdue’s last chance – hit the rim and spiraled to the side. The ball bounced harmlessly away, denying the Boilermakers their second national title in three years and giving the Irish their first ever.
“It was a storybook season with a really happy ending,” said McGraw. “It’s amazing how the last two games we have shown our character and senior leadership. Kelley Siemon, Niele Ivey and Ruth motivate this team in every way.”
Ivey, a St. Louis native playing on ankle that was rolled in a collision with UConn’s Diana Taurasi in Notre Dame’s comeback semifinal victory, jump-started the Irish from a 32-26 halftime deficit with a steal, two rebounds, a free throw and two layups in the first five minutes after the intermission.
Siemon was tricked by Douglas into a turnover and a 3-point play that gave Purdue its last lead, 65-64 with 1:23 remaining, but stayed composed enough to get the ball to Riley in the final seconds when everyone in the building knew where it was going.
Ratay, who had shaken an 0-for-5, four-fouls-in-25 minutes start to hit a 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining, had twisted out out of a double team with two seconds to go on the shot clock to find Ivey along the baseline to put Notre Dame up 64-63 with 2:07 to go.
Douglas, who touched the ball on 60 of Purdue’s first 72 possessions, was playing on the edge – brilliant on one possession, a little too fast for her own control on the next – so freshmen Shalicia Hurns and Wright had to step up.
Hurns, getting multiple minutes against Riley as Cooper lapsed into inevitable foul trouble, had seven tough field goals and seven rebounds. Wright had 17 points, including a huge three that gave Purdue a 62-59 lead.
But Ratay courageously made that three-pointer. And 16 Purdue turnovers, six by Douglas in the first half, when the Boilermakers blew their chance to increase the lead, eventually took their toll. And in the end, the bell was sounded by Riley.
“I wasn’t worried at all,” said Siemon, “Ruth is a great palyer who comes through in huge situations. And obviously, none was more important than this.”