Lindsay Schrader drives against Villavona's Tia Grant during the first half.

#13/9 Irish Fall At Villanova, 55-48

Jan. 24, 2009

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VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP)–Laura Kurz scored 16 points, including a key layup and two free throws in the final 2:29, and Villanova beat No. 13/9 Notre Dame 55-48 on Saturday.

The Wildcats (11-8, 3-2 BIG EAST) defeated the Fighting Irish for the first time since Feb. 7, 2006. It was their first win over a ranked team since beating No. 22 Boston College in the quarterfinals of the 2005 BIG EAST Tournament.

Ashley Barlow scored 11 points and Erica Solomon grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (15-3, 4-2), which lost for the second time in three road games.

Villanova never trailed in leading by as many as 14 points in the first half and held a 30-20 advantage at halftime thanks to Notre Dame’s 25 percent shooting (6-of-24).

Melissa Lechlitner’s 3-pointer got the Irish within 49-48 with 2:54 left, but Kurz made a layup and two free throws and Maria Getty added two free throws to seal the victory.

— ND —

POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame sees its two-game series winning streak against Villanova snapped, but still holds a 15-9 lead all-time over the Wildcats … exactly half of the 24 games in the series have been decided by eight points or fewer (teams have split those 12 close games), including seven of the past nine contests (VU has won five of those seven) … Notre Dame now has forced 59 Villanova turnovers in the past three series games, an average of 19.7 per game (VU was averaging 12.8 turnovers per game coming into Saturday’s contest) … all three Irish losses this season have come on the road by 10 points or fewer … Notre Dame falls to 7-1 this season (191-13 in its 14-year BIG EAST membership) when holding its opponent to fewer than 60 points … the Irish were held to season lows for points in a game (previous was 59 on two occasions), points in a half (tied the second-half total at Michigan on Dec. 10), field goal percentage (previously was .344 vs. #17/20 Purdue on Dec. 7) and assists (tied the total at Valparaiso on Dec. 13) … for the first time all season, Notre Dame did not have multiple double-digit point scorers, something the Irish had not done since Jan. 13, 2008, in a 56-50 loss at West Virginia … Villanova’s 10 three-pointers were the most by an Irish opponent since Jan. 5, 2008, when Tennessee made 11 treys in an 87-63 win at the Joyce Center … freshman forward Erica Solomon collected a season-high 10 rebounds, one more than her previous best that she set on Dec. 2 at Eastern Michigan.