March 22, 2015
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Irish NCAA Tournament Central | Notre Dame 1st/2nd Round Central
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Michaela Mabrey scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, Taya Reimer and Brianna Turner added 14 points each as top-seeded Notre Dame beat No. 9 seed DePaul 79-67 Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Fighting Irish had a 51-32 rebounding edge, with Turner pulling down 11 rebounds and Reimer had 10, and Notre Dame (33-2) held DePaul to 36 percent shooting to win their 19th straight to advance to the Sweet 16 for the sixth straight season. DePaul (27-8), which had won eight straight, fell a win shy of advancing to the round of 16 for a second straight season.
Mabrey was 5 of 7 from 3-point range for her first double-digit scoring game since scoring 20 against Boston College on Feb. 8.
Megan Podkowa led the Blue Demons with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jessica January had 12 points and five assists.
The victory was a stark contrast to when the rivals played in December, when the Irish took advantage of poor free-throw shooting by DePaul and Jewell Loyd scored a career-high 41 points to rally the Irish to the overtime victory. Loyd was 3-of-15 on Sunday and finished with 10 points. Brittany Hrinko, who scored 32 points for DePaul in the December loss, was 3 of 16 shooting and finished with 11 points.
The Irish also got 11 points and seven assists from Lindsay Allen, but it was the inside game that was key. The Irish outscored DePaul 18-12 on second-chance points as Turner, who missed the first game with a dislocated shoulder, teamed with Reimer and Kathryn Westbeld, who had eight points and seven rebounds, to dominate inside.
Mabrey hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 12-0 run in the first half to give the Irish the lead and had a pair of free throws during an 8-0 run in the second half that stretched the lead to 57-44 on a layup by Reimer midway through the second half. Madison Cable later hit a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 68-49 and eventually extended the lead to 77-55 on a basket by Turner with less than three minutes left.
Notre Dame had trouble adjusting to DePaul’s pressing early, turning the ball over four times on five possessions as the Blue Demons took a 10-6 lead. The Irish continued to be flustered by DePaul as the Blue Demons scored 11 points off six Irish turnovers, opening a 20-12 lead when Centrese McGee scored a basket inside.
But Loyd got the Irish going moment later with a 14-foot jumper to cut the lead to 24-19. After Taya Reimer scored on a rebound Michaela Mabrey hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 12-run and give 29-24 lead. DePaul was 0 of 6 shooting during the run with three turnovers.
Loyd hit a pair of free throws with 2 seconds left in the half to give the Irish a 37-31 lead.
TIP-INS:
Notre Dame: Notre Dame has won eight straight home games in the NCAA Tournament since losing to Minnesota in the first round in 2009. … Loyd became the second Notre Dame player to score 700 points in a season with 705. The school record is 776 set by Katryna Gaither in 1996-97. … DePaul is Notre Dame’s second most frequent opponent with 41 games. Connecticut is first with 43 games.
DePaul: The Blue Demons finished with a school-record 364 3-pointers in 35 games this season. The previous record 314 in 36 games last season. … DePaul has never beaten a team ranked No. 2 or higher. Its previous biggest upsets were against No. 3 Stanford in 2010 and No. 3 Louisiana Tech in 1996. … Hrynko finished with 1,970 career points, fifth most in school history.
UP NEXT:
Notre Dame plays winner of Monday’s game between Stanford and Oklahoma