Nov. 27, 2004
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jacqueline Batteast scored 18 points and No. 6 Notre Dame survived a scare from unranked Southern California before rallying for a 60-56 victory Friday night.
Notre Dame (6-0) trailed Southern California 45-40 with eight minutes left, but Fighting Irish went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 50-45 lead.
Jamie Funn scored 13 points and Shay Murphy added 12 for Southern California.
Batteast scored 12 in an ugly first half for Notre Dame, which made only 10 of 31 shots but still managed a 29-20 halftime lead.
That’s because Southern California was even worse, shooting 9-of-31 with 12 turnovers.
The Irish defeated the Women of Troy for the sixth time in seven meetings. Notre Dame has won three straight against Southern California in Los Angeles.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame improves to 6-0 for the third time in school history (6-0 in 1998-99; 23-0 in 2000-01) … last season, the Irish did not win their first true road game until Dec. 29 at Colorado State (their fifth such game of the season) … Notre Dame is now 6-1 all-time vs. USC, winning its last six games against the Trojans (3-0 in Los Angeles) … for the third time in the past four meetings, the Irish held the Women of Troy to less than 60 points … after yielding 73 points to Illinois State in the season opener, Notre Dame has held its last five opponents to 65 points or less (including three with less than 60 points) … Notre Dame is 132-6 (.957) during the past decade when it holds opponents to less than 60 points in a game … the last three Irish opponents all have been held to less than 20 percent on three-point shooting (.158, 3-of-19 tonight, including a half-court shot at the final horn) … the Irish are 82-7 (.921) since the 2000-01 season when they lead at halftime … Notre Dame is shooting very well at the foul line in crunch time this season, going 28-34 (.824) at the stripe in the final five minutes (7-of-8 tonight) … the Irish have won 12 of their last 14 games against Pac-10 Conference opponents … tonight’s game was the sixth in the first 14 days of the season for Notre Dame … the Irish are now 92-15 (.860) all-time as a top-10 team … Notre Dame has forced 25 or more turnovers in three of its six games this season, including 54 takeaways in its last two games (30 steals) … the Irish are 5-0 this season when their bench outscores the opposition’s reserves (22-21 tonight) … senior All-America forward Jacqueline Batteast moved into ninth place on the school’s career scoring list with 1,433 points, passing Niele Ivey (1,430 from 1996-2001); next up is Sheila McMillen, who scored 1,439 points from 1995-99 … Batteast also had two blocks tonight, tying her with Shari Matvey for fourth place on the Irish career blocks list with 133 rejections … junior guard Megan Duffy continues to be nearly automatic at the free throw line this season, making 31 of 32 charities (.969); she also has converted 39 of her last 41 free throws (.951) in the past 12 Irish games, dating back to Feb. 28, 2004 at Rutgers … the three Notre Dame freshmen who saw action vs. USC combined for 17 points, including a season-high five points from center Melissa D’Amico and the first career bucket from guard Tulyah Gaines (who returned from a four-game absence due to injury).