Dec. 10, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Stephany Skrba scored four of her 20 points in overtime to help Michigan hand No. 8 Notre Dame its first loss, 63-59 Wednesday night.
Skrba scored on two straight possessions in the extra period and the Fighting Irish (7-1) missed a pair of layups in the final seconds. The Wolverines (6-4) held Notre Dame scoreless for the final 3:24.
Michigan’s Jessica Minnfield made a spinning layup with 4 seconds left in regulation to tie it and stole a lob pass seconds later to ensure overtime. She added a pair of free throws to ice the game.
Reserve Ashley Barlow scored 14 points to lead the Irish, who had not trailed an opponent in the second half this season.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame played its first overtime game since March 25, 2008, when the Irish downed No. 14/13 Oklahoma, 79-75 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at West Lafayette, Ind. … Wednesday’s loss is the first for the Irish in OT since Jan. 13, 2007, when they dropped an 87-78 decision at South Florida … Notre Dame sees its season-opening seven-game winning streak snapped after matching the second-best start in school history … the Irish fall to 9-7 all-time against Michigan and also had their three-game series win streak come to an end, with the Wolverines earning their first victory over Notre Dame since Dec. 2, 2001 (78-63 at the Women’s College Basketball Showcase in Grand Rapids, Mich.) … UM has historically had the upper hand over the Irish in Ann Arbor, improving to 5-2 all-time against Notre Dame at Crisler Arena … Wednesday’s verdict bucked a series trend that had seen the Irish go 8-0 when holding the Wolverines to fewer than 65 points … it was the second overtime game in the series, along with a 66-60 UM win on Dec. 8, 1979, in South Bend … Wednesday’s loss marked just the third time in the past 31 opportunities that Notre Dame has lost after leading at halftime … the Irish committed a season-high 23 turnovers … Notre Dame’s four free throws were its fewest from the foul line since Nov. 16, 2007, when the Irish also made four foul shots at Maryland … Notre Dame’s six free throw attempts were its fewest in its BIG EAST Conference era (1995-96 to present) — the last time the Irish visited the free throw line so infrequently was March 10, 1995, when they went 5-of-6 in an 87-64 loss at Northern Illinois in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinals … junior guard/tri-captain Ashley Barlow returned to action Wednesday and scored a team-high 14 points, extending her streak of double-figure scoring games to 11 in a row, going back to last season … sophomore forward Becca Bruszewski posted her third double-digit scoring night of the year.