Jan. 9, 2005
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – Jackie Adamshick had 25 points and Kate Dessart Mager scored the winning jumper to lead Villanova to a 59-54 upset over No. 4 Notre Dame on Sunday.
Betsy McManus made four free throws in the final 25 seconds for Villanova (9-4, 2-0 Big East), snapping Notre Dame’s six-game winning streak.
The Fighting Irish (13-2, 2-1 Big East) never had an answer for Adamshick in the first half or Dessart Mager in the second. The two combined to go 16-for-30 from the floor with seven rebounds.
Dessart Mager – who scored all of her 14 points in the second half – made a turnaround jumper for a 51-49 lead with 1:39 left and the small, boisterous crowd erupted.
She and McManus each added two free throws before Notre Dames’ Jacqueline Batteast hit a 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds left to make it 55-52. It wasn’t enough, though, as Villanova sealed the game at the free-throw line.
Batteast scored 22 points and Teresa Borton added 17 for Notre Dame. The Irish shot 44 percent from the floor, but Villanova scored 19 points off 20 Irish turnovers.
After missing her only shot in the first half, Dessart Mager went 5-for-6 in the second half and scored six straight points in one stretch that helped the Wildcats take a seven-point lead.
When the Irish pulled to 44-43, Adamshick delivered with a 3-pointer from the left side.
But Adamshick – who shot 11-for-23 and fell two points shy of matching her career high – didn’t score again. The Irish got baskets from Teresa Borton and Courtney LaVere to make it 47-47.
Dessart Mager and Batteast swapped baskets before Dessart Mager hit the winner.
Notre Dame seemed poised to turn the game into a blowout early until Adamshick started a Villanova run with six straight points, and later added a nice spin around two defenders in the lane for an easy layup to cut it to 21-19.
She scored the final two baskets of the first half and helped force a Notre Dame shot-clock violation on its last possession to give the Wildcats a 25-24 halftime lead.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Villanova continues its recent hex over Notre Dame, defeating the Irish for fourth time in their last six meetings … the past five regular-season games between Notre Dame and Villanova have been decided by a TOTAL of 13 points (2.6 ppg.), with the outcome of all five games still in doubt inside the final minute … the Irish see their five-game road winning streak snapped; however, Notre Dame still continues to play strong defense on the road in spite of the loss (allowing 51.5 ppg., .328 FG%, .176 3FG%) … the Irish have held seven consecutive opponents and 10 of their last 11 foes to less than 60 points … Sunday’s loss marked a rarity for Notre Dame — it’s only the seventh time in the past decade the Irish have lost when allowing less than 60 points and three of those losses have come to Villanova (139-7, .952 overall; 10-1 this season) … Notre Dame has held 10 of its last 11 opponents under 40 percent shooting; in fact, only three teams have shot 40 percent vs. the Irish all year (Illinois State – .446, Ohio State – .442 and Valparaiso – .411) … Notre Dame also trailed at the half for only the fourth time this season (2-2 in those games) … the Irish attempted a season-low 43 shots … Notre Dame made both of its three-point attempts, the second time this year it’s been perfect beyond the arc (5-5 vs. #6 Duke) … the Irish tied their season low with 11 assists, although junior guard Megan Duffy had seven of those assists without a turnover while playing all 40 minutes … Villanova tied a Notre Dame opponent season low with 27 rebounds … senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast moved into fifth place on Notre Dame’s career scoring list with 1,601 points, passing both Trena Keys (1,589 from 1982-86) and Karen Robinson (1,590 from 1987-91) … Batteast also jumped into third place on the Notre Dame career blocked shots chart with 142 rejections, supplanting Katryna Gaither’s 141 blocks from 1993-97 … in addition, Batteast registered the 27th 20-point game of her career, moving past former teammate Alicia Ratay (26 from 1999-2003) into fifth place in school history for career 20-point games … Batteast made the 101st start of her career (and 79th in a row), tying Sandy Botham (1984-88) for ninth place on the Irish career starts list … senior center Teresa Borton tied her season high with 17 points for the second consecutive game (12-15 FG in those contests).