Jan. 4, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) – Angela Clark scored 18 points and St. John’s held on to beat No. 12 Notre Dame 66-63 Wednesday night, the Red Storm’s first victory over the Fighting Irish.
Tara Walker added 14 points and Monique McLean had 13 for the Red Storm (11-2, 1-1 Big East), who lost their first 15 meetings with Notre Dame (9-3, 0-1).
Melissa D’Amico had 14 points for the Fighting Irish, who were coming off a 62-51 loss to No. 1 Tennessee last week. Crystal Erwin had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Notre Dame, which finished with a 41-21 advantage on the boards.
Walker had two 3s in the first 56 seconds of the second half to give St. John’s the lead for good at 38-37. The Red Storm extended the lead to 54-44 on a jumper by Danielle Chambers with 9:14 to play.
But D’Amico and Lindsay Schrader each had six points in a 19-10 run that brought Notre Dame within 64-63 on a jumper by D’Amico with 9 seconds to play.
Greeba Barlow of St. John’s hit a jumper with 2.8 seconds to go and Notre Dame was unable to get off a final shot for a chance to tie.
Megan Duffy had 13 points to become Notre Dame’s 21st 1,000-point scorer. She has 1,005.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame loses back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 9 and 12, 2005, when the Irish fell on the road at Villanova (59-54) and at home to Connecticut (67-50) … the Villanova game also represents the last time the Irish lost to an unranked opponent … Notre Dame drops its conference opener for the fourth time in 11 games since joining the BIG EAST in 1995-96; it’s just the second loss in the past seven league lidlifters for the Irish, and first since a 76-73 setback at Georgetown on Jan. 7, 2004 … Notre Dame also falls in its first game of the calendar year for only the second time in the past 12 opportunities, dating back to the 1994-95 season (other loss was 71-54 to No. 7/6 Purdue exactly two years ago on Jan. 4, 2003 at the Joyce Center) … Wednesday’s game marked a number of firsts in the Notre Dame-St. John’s series — besides being the Red Storm’s first-ever win over the Irish in 16 tries, it’s the first time SJU has scored more than 65 points and ND has scored less than 65 points in a series contest … the loss to St. John’s is only the third for Notre Dame all-time against a New York school, dropping the Irish to 36-3 (.923) against the Empire State (17-3 away from home) with the other two losses coming vs. Syracuse … Notre Dame shot a season-high 56 percent from the field (28-of-50) marking the ninth time in 16 series games the Irish have posted a .500 field goal percentage against SJU; it’s also Notre Dame’s best shooting night since Feb. 26, 2005, when the Irish shot 58.2 percent (32-of-55) in a Senior Day win over West Virginia at the Joyce Center … St. John’s came into the game as the No. 2 rebounding squad in the BIG EAST (44.5 rpg.), but the Irish held the Red Storm to less than half their average with an opponent season-low 21 rebounds … the +20 rebounding margin was the second-best of the year for Notre Dame, topped only by a +21 figure (54-33) in the season opener vs. Michigan on Nov. 18 at the Joyce Center … the Irish gave up a season-high 24 turnovers, their worst total since Jan. 28, 2004, when they had 26 giveaways, but still won at No. 17/16 Miami, 59-50 … Wednesday’s game represented the first time the Irish lost when two things occurred — they led at halftime (now 8-1 this year) and they had three or more players score in double figures (now 9-1) … senior guard Megan Duffy became the 21st player in school history to score 1,000 career points, reaching the milestone on an old-fashioned three-point play with 14:01 remaining …sophomore center and Manorville, N.Y., native Melissa D’Amico, playing in front of a large crowd of supporters, netted a team-high 14 points, the third time this season she had led the Irish in scoring and her eighth double-digit game of the year … junior forward Crystal Erwin notched her second career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 12 rebounds — ironically, Erwin’s only prior double-double also came against St. John’s (14p, 10r on Jan. 26, 2005 at the Joyce Center).