Dec. 11, 2004
SOUTH BEND, Ind.- Crystal Erwin scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting and Jacqueline Batteast had 17 points and 10 rebounds, leading seventh-ranked Notre Dame to a 72-58 victory over Washington on Saturday.
The Irish (9-1) opened the game by hitting their first five shots and were in control throughout, shooting 60 percent while holding the Huskies (4-4) to 34 percent shooting. The Irish dominated inside, outscoring the Huskies 42-22 in the paint and outrebounding Washington 38-28.
The Huskies simply couldn’t stop Erwin, as she became the first player to shoot 9-for-9 at the Joyce Center in 18 years. She scored on fast-break layups, in traffic in the lane and even had one remarkably easy basket. After she fell in the offensive end, the play went to the other basket. Megan Duffy had a steal and passed it back down the court to the wide open Erwin for the layup.
Kayla Burt was the only Washington player in double figures with 16 points. Breona Gray added 11 points for the Irish.
The Irish led 36-25 at halftime, but had trouble putting the Huskies away. The Huskies closed to 39-34 when Cameo Hicks scored on a layup three minutes into the second half. The Irish led only 58-51 when Hicks scored with 7:56 left.
But Erwin scored inside two straight times, blowing past Maggie O’Hara along the baseline for a layup on the second basket to ignite a 14-2 run that put the game away.
Duffy had a career-high 10 assists for the Irish, breaking the mark of nine assists she had against Washington a year ago.
TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer