Oct. 31, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s basketball team got its 2006-07 season off to a successful start with an 82-55 exhibition victory over Lake Superior State before a Halloween night crowd of 5,626 fans at the Joyce Center. The Irish now have won 20 consecutive exhibition games and are 25-1 in preseason play, dating back to the 1993-94 season.
Junior guard Charel Allen (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) had game highs of 20 points (on 8-of-13 shooting) and 10 rebounds, pacing three Notre Dame players in double figures. Senior guard Breona Gray (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds, while junior center Melissa D’Amico (Manorville, N.Y./William Floyd) scored 10 points.
All 11 Irish players who suited up got into the contest, with 10 of them finding their way into the scorebook. The four Notre Dame freshmen also made their unofficial college debuts on Tuesday night, with guard Melissa Lechlitner (Mishawaka, Ind./South Bend St. Joseph’s) tallying eight points, four rebounds and a team-high four steals to head up the rookie corps. Backcourt mate Ashley Barlow (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) had seven points and five rebounds (all offensive) in 12 minutes before she took an elbow to the face midway through the second half and did not return.
As a team, the Irish snared 51 rebounds (26 offensive) and finished on the positive side of the assist/turnover ledger (21 assists, 20 turnovers). Notre Dame also shot .397 from the field (31-of-78), including a .357 mark (5-of-14) from the three-point line, which is playing at the experimental distance of 20 feet, six inches for the exhibition season.
Jaclyn Armstrong was the only player to reach double digits for Lake Superior State, finishing with 11 points. Mandi Johnson collected nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds, but also was charged with 10 turnovers, part of 32 giveaways on the night for the Lakers, who are based in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and play in the Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
It took about four minutes for both teams to shake loose the offseason rust, with LSSU taking a pair of one-point leads, the last coming at 6-5 on a three-pointer by Shalyn Beauchamp 3:18 into the contest. Notre Dame then shifted its offense into high gear, going on a 20-5 run during the next 5:55 to take command. The junior trio of Allen, D’Amico and guard Tulyah Gaines (North Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne) scored six points apiece during the spurt.
The Irish pushed their lead to 20 points when Gray’s free throw gave the hosts a 37-17 lead at the 5:21 mark. A triple by the Notre Dame co-captain moments later boosted her team’s edge to 40-19, before Lake Superior State closed out the first half by scoring eight of the final 12 points.
Armstrong hit a layup in the opening minute of the second half to pull the Lakers within 44-29, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. A 16-6 Irish run hiked the lead back to 25 points, capped by five points from Barlow. LSSU briefly peeked inside 20 points midway through the second stanza, but Notre Dame eventually moved out to a game-high 29-point margin on a couple of occasions before the night was out.
The Irish will play their second and final exhibition game of the 2006-07 season on Sunday with a 2 p.m. (ET) contest against Northwood at the Joyce Center. The Timberwolves also are members of the GLIAC, and will be making their ’06-07 debut when they visit South Bend this weekend.
— ND —