DENVER — All season, Utah center Lauren Beckman has kept her eye on Notre Dame center Ruth Riley. She's watched Riley whenever possible on TV and has followed her exploits as the Irish climbed to the top of the women's basketball polls.
Now Beckman will get to see the women's college player of the year up close and personal Saturday night when the Utes meet the Irish in the third round of the NCAA tournament. The 6 p.m. game at the Pepsi Center will be broadcast on ESPN.
The 6-foot-5 Riley was the only unanimous selection on the Associated Press all-American team as well as being selected for the Naismith Trophy as the top women's player in the country. Riley averages 17.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, ranks second in the nation in blocked shots with 3.1 per game and is fourth in field goal percentage at 62.7 percent.
"She's excellent," said Ute coach Elaine Elliott. "She's extremely mobile and has a nice touch and good game awareness. And she's huge. She deserves all the recognition she receives."
"She's just a great player," added Beckman. "She's definitely the focus of our defense. We've played great team defense all year, and I'm going to have to get help inside from the perimeter.
While much of Utah's defensive attention will be focused on Riley, the Utes can't ignore the rest of Notre Dame's team. Point guard Niele Ivey averages 12.0 points and 7.0 assists per game and was named third-team all-American, while guard Alicia Ratay leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 53.8 percent, while scoring 13 points a game. Forwards Kelley Siemon and Ericka Haney, average 11.4 and 11.0 points, respectively, and Siemon averages 7.2 rebounds per game.
"They're extremely well-balanced," said Elliott. "They have strengths at every position. They have the best 3-point shooter in the country and extremely athletic players at the four position who can create shots for herself, a three (small forward) who is a great rebounder and a point guard who is an all-American. They don't have any weaknesses."
Actually the one weakness the Irish do have is a lack of depth, and they only go six deep, rather than eight or nine deep like the Utes do. That could favor the Utes in a tightly called game.
Besides getting player of the year honors for Riley, Notre Dame's coach Muffet McGraw was selected as national coach of the year after leading the Irish to a 30-2 record.
NCAA NOTES: The Ute basketball team and coaches left Thursday evening after practicing at the Huntsman Center. The Utes were to practice around noon Friday at the Pepsi Center, a practice that is open to the public . . . Iowa State and Vanderbilt play at 8:30 after the Utah-Notre Dame game and the winners of the two games meet Monday at 7 p.m. . . . Iowa State reportedly will have 5,000 fans on hand Saturday night. That's about the total for the two Utah games Saturday and Monday at the Huntsman Center.
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