Feb. 5, 2015
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
Inside The Game: #4 Notre Dame 75, Virginia 54
February 5, 2015 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Purcell Pavilion)
It Was Over When: The Fighting Irish went on a 12-0 run in a four-minute span down the stretch to turn an 11-point lead with 5:44 remaining into a game-high 75-52 advantage with just more than 90 seconds left, putting the game out of reach. Notre Dame converted six free throws and three layups in the game-closing run, attacking the rim as it did all night while building up a 50-18 edge in paint points.
Game Ball Goes To: Freshman forward Brianna Turner, who had her way with the Cavaliers in the post. The Pearland, Texas, native registered her sixth double-double of the year (fifth in ACC play) with a game-high 26 points and team-best 13 rebounds. Turner went an impressive 11 of 14 from the field, while adding two blocks and a steal. Her six double-doubles are not only tied for the ACC lead among freshmen, but also put Turner in fifth place in school history for double-doubles by a freshman.
Unsung Hero: Sophomore guard Lindsay Allen continues to do her job as the floor general for the Fighting Irish, as she scored buckets (12 points), hit the glass (six rebounds) and dished the rock (four assists), while shooting with efficiency on the offensive end (5-7 FG, 1-1 3FG). She also had a team-high two steals for Notre Dame.
Unofficial Play of the Game: With 14:54 left in the second half, Virginia had trimmed the Notre Dame lead to 49-42, but Allen made sure that was as close as the Cavaliers would get, driving hard to the basket for a closely-contested scoop layup. She then gathered a defensive rebound on UVa’s next possession and raced up the court before dishing off to Turner for a layup — a quick four-point spurt in 34 seconds and Virginia wouldn’t get closer than nine points the remainder of the evening.
Stat Of The Game: Despite an off-night shooting the ball, junior guard Jewell Loyd scored 14 points and tallied her 500th point of the year, making her the fastest Notre Dame player to 500 points in one season, doing so in 24 games, two quicker than Katryna Gaither in 1996-97.
Additional Notes: The Fighting Irish picked up their 13th 20-point win of the season … Notre Dame’s senior class of guards Madison Cable and Whitney Holloway, and forward Markisha Wright, earned its 129th win under the Golden Dome (now 129-9, .935), one shy of the Class of 2013 (Skylar Diggins and Kaila Turner) for the second-most wins by one senior class in program history (last year’s class of Natalie Achonwa, Ariel Braker and Kayla McBride posted a 138-15 record from 2010-14) … the Fighting Irish improve to 116-28 (.806) in the month of February since the 1995-96 season, including an active 21-game winning streak, and they are 65-6 (.915) in February home games during that 20-year span … Notre Dame has won 55 of its last 58 games against conference opponents (regular season and postseason) and has logged 23 consecutive home wins against league opponents … Notre Dame earned the 849th win in the program’s 38-year history, moving to 849-319 (.727) since achieving varsity status in 1977-78 … the Fighting Irish even the all-time series with Virginia at 2-2 after the Cavaliers made their first visit to South Bend … Notre Dame is 7-1 (.875) all-time at home against teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia (having won seven in a row since a 1989 loss to Old Dominion), and 13-8 (.619) overall against Virginia schools, including an active seven-game winning streak … the 54 points were the fewest Notre Dame has allowed in its abbreviated series against Virginia, while the 21-point margin of victory was the largest for the Fighting Irish and second-largest in the series (UVa posted a 68-40 win over Feb. 22, 1981, in Chicago) … Notre Dame has held its last four opponents to 63 points or fewer, including three to fewer than 60 points — the Fighting Irish are 12-0 this season and 304-15 (.953) since the 1995-96 season when holding their opponents below 60 points in a game … Turner posted her sixth double-double (fifth on the Fighting Irish freshman single-season list and tied for the ACC lead among rookies this year), as well as her sixth 20-point game of the season … Turner now had 54 blocked shots this season, the third-most by a Notre Dame freshman and most since Ruth Riley’s 71 rejections in 1997-98.
Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame heads to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Sunday for a 1 p.m. (ET) contest at ACC foe Boston College. Fans can watch the game online live and free of charge through BC’s Eagle Vision multimedia platform (more information can be found by CLICKING HERE). Radio coverage of the game will be available live in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and free of charge worldwide online through the official Notre Dame athletics multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv).
–Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director
–Russell Dorn, Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director