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Sisters act The Irish had a prayer -- and then some
If fan support can impact the outcome of a game, Notre Dame certainly seemed to have the edge before the tipoff of their 68-66 victory over Purdue for the NCAA tournament championship. First and foremost, there was a sizeable contingent of men and women of the cloth. That never hurts. Many members of the laity were wearing green and gold T-shirts with "Beat Purdue" printed on the front. It turns out the shirts were left over from when the two schools played last December in South Bend but it looked incredibly organized. Still other groups had formed the words "Niele" and "Kelley" with letters on the front of their shirts in support of seniors Niele Ivey and Kelley Siemon. The Irish also had several VIPs in attendance such as Reverend Edward Malloy, the school's president, Bob Davie, the football coach and former Notre Dame stars Beth Morgan and Karen Robinson Keyes. The cadre of nuns from Friday night was back as well. The were led by Sister Sheila O'Neill, principal of Cor Jesu High School in St. Louis, which is Ivey's alma mater. "We are so proud of Niele," she said. "She's everything we'd want our graduates to be. She has integrity, courage and she knows how to have fun." You said it , Sister. Ivey didn't seem to be having much fun early in the game as the ankle she sprained in the semifinal was bothering her. "I really didn't get into the flow of the game in the first half because I had the cast on my ankle -- the tightest taping job ever," she said after the game. "But I knew that in 20 minutes the tape would be coming off and I just wanted to cut that net down at the same time." She had four of her six steals in the second half. Close not much consolation for PurdueThe two-point margin made this the closest championship game since North Carolina defeated Louisiana Tech 60-59 in 1994 on Charlotte Smith's last-minute shot. Purdue coach Kristy Curry expressed the team's disappointment after the game. "It was a shame that somebody had to lose. We've had a lot of ups and downs and this program has been through so much adversity and I think that's why it hurts so bad right now." The Boilermakers may not have come out on top this time but the performances of freshmen Shereka Wright and Shalicia Hurns makes the future look especially bright for Purdue. Both had 17 points for the game and they showed some spectacular offensive moves. In addition to her fantastic scoring ability, Wright was no slouch on defense either, holding sophomore sharpshooter Alicia Ratay to just three points. The 5-foot-10 forward was also credited with holding Jackie Stiles of SMS well below her average in the semifinal game. Trisha Blackmar's Inside Women's College Basketball column appears every Friday on CNNSI.com during the season.
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