Jan. 7, 2006
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Heta Korpivaara scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half, including six points during a decisive 17-6 run, to lead Seton Hall to a 74-61 upset of No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday.
The loss was the third straight for the Irish (9-4, 0-2), their longest losing streak in eight years. The victory was the first for Seton Hall (5-8, 0-2) against a ranked team since beating No. 23 Notre Dame 51-48 in South Orange on Feb. 8, 2004.
Korpivaara made a pair of free throws with 11:20 left to give the Pirates a 45-44 lead, then added another pair of free throws and a 17-foot jumper to make it 51-46. The Pirates extended the lead to 58-50 when Shantel Brown made a 3-pointer and led by 10 when Monique Blake scored off her own miss.
The Pirates, who outrebounded the Irish 32-14 in the second half, made 12 of 14 free throws during the final 1:50 to hold on for the victory.
Jadis Rhodin had 13 points and six rebounds for Seton Hall and Amber Harris and Brown had 12 points each. Harris also added 11 rebounds and the Pirates had 14 second-chance points compared to just five for the Irish.
Tulyah Gaines led Notre Dame with 12 points, Crystal Erwin had 11 points, despite going 1-for-7 from the free throw line, and Charel Allen added 10 points.
It was Notre Dame’s second straight loss against an unranked team. The Irish lost 66-63 at St. John’s on Wednesday. They also lost to top-ranked Tennessee 62-51 on Dec. 31.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame suffers its third consecutive loss, the first time the Irish have dropped three in a row since Dec. 3-8, 1997, when Notre Dame fell at Rutgers (80-67), home to No. 3/2 Connecticut (78-59) and at No. 17/19 Wisconsin (89-77) … that 1997-98 season also is the only other time Notre Dame has opened BIG EAST play with two losses … the Irish fall at home to an unranked BIG EAST Conference opponent for the first time since Jan. 11, 2003, when Miami won 80-70 at the Joyce Center (also the last time Notre Dame lost its first BIG EAST home game of the year) … it’s the first time a ranked Irish team has lost consecutive games to unranked opponents since Feb. 26 and March 3, 2002, when No. 21/25 Notre Dame lost its regular-season finale at home to Villanova (48-45), then was upset by Syracuse (84-79) in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Championship at Piscataway, N.J. … Seton Hall earns just its fourth win all-time over Notre Dame and second in South Bend (first since a 62-55 decision on Dec. 11, 1993 — the initial matchup in the 18-game series) … the Pirates scored their second highest point total ever against Notre Dame, topped only in their 88-79 overtime loss to the Irish on Jan. 2, 1996 in South Orange, N.J. … the 13-point margin is the largest ever for SHU over Notre Dame, exceeding the seven-point spread in the teams’ first-ever contest … the Irish have lost consecutive home games for the first time since Jan. 4-20, 2003, when they endured a program-long four-game home losing streak (vs. Purdue, Miami, Rutgers and Connecticut) … after winning its first eight games when leading at the half, the Irish have lost their last two such games (ND 32-27 vs. Seton Hall) … the minus-18 rebounding margin was the largest of the season for Notre Dame, topping the 15-point deficit vs. No. 1 Tennessee; in the last four games, the Irish rebounding margin has swung from plus-15 (Valparaiso) to minus-15 (Tennessee) to plus-21 (St. John’s) to minus-18 (Seton Hall) … SHU set opponent season highs for free throws made, attempted and percentage (23-29, .793) … Notre Dame had a season-low nine turnovers, three days after its highest giveaway total in two years (24 at St. John’s) … the 47 second-half points scored by the Pirates were the most by a Notre Dame opponent in either half this season (previous high was 39, done most recently by Purdue on Dec. 7) … sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines earned her fourth career start (all this year) and responded by matching her career best with 12 points (also at Northern Illinois on Dec. 30, 2004), her third career double-digit game and second of the season; Gaines also set new personal standards for assists (5; previously 4 vs. Washington on Dec. 11, 2004), steals (4; previously 3 on four occasions, last vs. Arkansas Statre on Dec. 17, 2005), free throws made (8; previously 4 on three occasions, last vs. Michigan on Nov. 18, 2005), free throws attempted (12; previously 7 vs. Michigan on Nov. 18, 2005) and minutes played (30; previously 27 at Northern Illinois on Dec. 30, 2004) … sophomore guard Charel Allen came off the bench to score 10 points, her fourth double-figure game of the year and first since Nov. 27 vs. No. 24/21 USC, when she scored 13 points … junior forward Crystal Erwin scored in double figures for the second consecutive game and third time in the past five outings (she has 10 career double-digit games) … senior forward Courtney LaVere edged closer to becoming the 22nd 1,000-point scorer in school history — she is 10 away from the milestone … senior guard Megan Duffy now has 1,013 points, moving her past Kelley Siemon into 20th place on the Irish career scoring list (Siemon had 1,006 points from 1997-2001).