Feb. 14, 2016

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By Chris Masters

Inside The Game: #3 Notre Dame 90, #19/17 Miami 69
Feb. 14, 2016 – Notre Dame, Ind. (Purcell Pavilion)

It Was Over When: Sophomore forward Kathryn Westbeld knocked down a foul-line jumper with 6:07 left in the second quarter, giving Notre Dame a 33-16 lead and forcing Miami head coach Katie Meier to burn a timeout. Westbeld’s basket capped a 16-6 Fighting Irish run that began in the latter stages of the first quarter and the Hurricanes would not get any closer than 15 points the rest of the afternoon.

Game Ball Goes To: Sophomore forward Brianna Turner, who locked down the paint to the tune of 15 points (on 7-of-10 shooting), six rebounds, a season-high six blocks and a career high-tying three assists, all in just 24 minutes of action.

Unsung Hero: Freshman guard Marina Mabrey helped keep Notre Dame flying high even when junior point guard/captain Lindsay Allen went out with her second foul just 4:03 into the contest. Mabrey finished with 14 points, a career high-tying six rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover in 24 minutes of court time.

Unofficial Play of the Game: With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Miami was attempting to press Notre Dame to cut into a 40-22 deficit. However, after Khalia Prather’s basket for the Hurricanes, the Fighting Irish quickly inbounded the ball and found graduate student guard Madison Cable with a long lead pass on the left wing. Cable went high to snare the ball and while in mid-air, she fired a pinpoint pass to sophomore forward Brianna Turner, who caught the ball in stride for an easy layup and a 20-point Notre Dame lead.

Stat Of The Game: Notre Dame posted its second sellout of the season, as well as its 41st sellout since 2009-10 and the 47th sellout in program history. The Fighting Irish have won 19 of their last 20 home games played before a sellout crowd at Purcell Pavilion.

Additional Notes: Notre Dame set a school record with its 32nd consecutive home win in conference play, topping the previous mark of 31 in a row set from Dec. 12, 1998-Feb. 19, 2002 when the Fighting Irish played in the BIG EAST Conference (the current run began exactly four years ago on Feb. 14, 2012, with a 66-47 win over then-BIG EAST foe Providence) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame also has won 26 consecutive home games overall (beginning with a 70-50 win over Michigan on Dec. 13, 2014), the third-longest streak in program history and longest since a 34-game run from Dec. 8, 2012-Dec. 3, 2014 ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish are off to a 24-1 start for the fourth time in five seasons and the fifth time in program history (also 2000-01, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 7-1 this season against ranked opponents and 46-6 (.885) against Top 25 teams during the past four years ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish are 50-1 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents (43-1 regular season, 7-0 postseason) since joining the conference in 2013-14 ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame improves to 7-1 all-time in its Pink Zone/Play4Kay games ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 30 consecutive games in the month of February and are 125-28 (.817) in February games since 1995-96, including a 70-6 (.921) home record in that time ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 10-0 when playing on the ACC-Regional Sports Networks (Raycom) television package in the three seasons it has been a conference member ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish move to 17-4 all-time against Miami (8-2 at Purcell Pavilion) and post their second-highest point total ever against the Hurricanes (trailing a 93-58 win on Feb. 25, 2004, at Purcell Pavilion) ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 35-6 (.854) all-time against Florida schools, including a 14-3 (.824) mark at home, and the Fighting Irish have won 15 of their last 16 games against teams from the Sunshine State ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame had at least four double-digit scorers for the 16th time this year (15-1 record), rising to 133-6 (.957) in such games since the start of the 2009-10 season and including wins in 103 of their last 105 outings ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish bench outscored its opposite number for the 23rd time in 25 tries this year and tallied at least 40 points for the sixth time this season ââ’¬¦ Turner had a season-high six blocks, one off her career best which she set three times last year ââ’¬¦ Turner matched her career high with three assists, having first posted that total on Jan. 18 in a win over No. 18/15 Tennessee at Purcell Pavilion ââ’¬¦ Mabrey’s six rebounds tied her career high that she logged twice this season (most recently on Jan. 7 at Virginia).

Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame embarks on its final road swing of the 2015-16 regular season with a two-game trip that begins at 7 p.m. (ET) Thursday when the Fighting Irish travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to take on Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The game is not slated to be televised, while radio coverage will be available in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and free of charge around the world through the official Notre Dame athletics online multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv).

– ND –

Chris Masters, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2001 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s basketball and women’s golf programs. A native of San Francisco, California, Masters is a 1996 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, earned his master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).