Dec. 2, 2004
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Lindsay Bowen made a game-tying 3-pointer and scored five of her 23 points in overtime to lead No. 15 Michigan State to an 82-73 victory over third-ranked Notre Dame on Thursday night.
Notre Dame’s Teresa Borton tied the game at 73 with 2:11 left at overtime, but the Spartans finished the game on a 9-0 run. Rene Haynes drove inside, Bowen hit a 15-foot jumper, Kelli Roehrig made a pair of free throws and Bowen added free throws in the final seconds.
The Irish (7-1) opened a 67-61 lead when Megan Duffy made a free throw with 36 seconds left. Kristin Haynie scored underneath and added a free throw with 30 seconds left for Michigan State (5-1), but Duffy made a pair of free throws to give the Irish a 69-64 lead.
Bowen was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to cut the lead to 69-67. After Duffy made just 1-of-2 free throws, Bowen hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to tie the score at 70.
Haynie finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Spartans and Roehrig added 14 points. Liz Shimek had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Crystal Erwin scored a career-high 20 points for the Irish, but fouled out with 40 seconds left in regulation. Duffy had 19 points and Jacqueline Batteast scored 16 points on 6-of-25 shooting.
Michigan State opened its biggest lead when Maggie Dwyer made a pair of free throws 25 seconds into the second half to give the Spartans a 43-30. But Roehrig sat down after picking up her second foul and the Irish went on a 17-0 run to open a 47-43 lead.
Roehrig returned and the Spartans used a 9-0 spurt to move ahead 52-47 on a three-point play by Roehrig. Tied at 54, Duffy then hit a 3-pointer to spark a 10-4 run by the Irish.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: With the loss, Notre Dame sees two long winning streaks come to an end — 25 consecutive home victories, as well as 41 consecutive home wins as a top-10 team … in the latter category, the Irish are now 45-3 all-time at home when ranked in the Associated Press top 10, with their last loss coming on Dec. 8, 1998 vs. No. 1 Connecticut (106-81) … during the past 11 seasons, Notre Dame is 52-3 in non-conference home games, with all three losses coming at the hands of Big Ten Conference teams (Wisconsin in 1996, Purdue in 2003 and Michigan State in 2004) … the Irish drop to 5-3 all-time in overtime games at the Joyce Center, although this is their first home OT loss since Feb. 25, 1982 (89-88 in double overtime vs. Nebraska) … Thursday’s game capped off a rugged stretch for the Irish of eight games in 20 days to begin the season, averaging out to one game every 2.5 days … Notre Dame narrowly missed wiping out a 13-point second-half deficit to win, which would have been its first double-digit comeback win since March 1, 2003, when the Irish climbed out of an early 12-point hole to defeat Seton Hall, 62-60 at the Joyce Center … sophomore forward Crystal Erwin made her second consecutive start (first of her career) and set new career highs with 20 points, nine field goals, 15 field goal attempts and 28 minutes played … Erwin started once again in place of junior forward Courtney LaVere, who is out 4-6 weeks after successful arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday morning to repair a torn meniscus she suffered in the Nov. 17 victory over Duke … senior center Teresa Borton blocked a career-best six shots tonight, the fifth-highest single-game mark in Joyce Center history and the most by an Irish player since Amanda Barksdale’s school-record 11 swats vs. Boston College on Feb. 10, 2002 … junior guard Megan Duffy and senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast turned in career-best ironman performances vs. Michigan State — Duffy played all 45 minutes, while Batteast logged 44 minutes of action … Batteast moved into seventh place on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 1,474 points, passing Sandy Botham (1,460 from 1984-88); next up in Trena Keys, who had 1,589 points from 1982-86 … Batteast also grabbed her 800th career rebound this evening, becoming only the sixth Irish player ever to reach that milestone.