Feb. 1, 2016

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | USATSI Photo Gallery

By Chris Masters

Inside The Game: #3 Notre Dame 68, Duke 61
Feb. 1, 2016 – Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)

It Was Over When: Sophomore forward Brianna Turner converted two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame its final margin of victory, 68-61. Turner’s foul shots capped an 18-6 Fighting Irish run over the final 5:41, including a stretch of more than five minutes when Notre Dame did not allow Duke to score a single point.

Game Ball Goes To: Graduate student guard Madison Cable who scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, including five critical points (on a three-pointer and a steal/layup) to spark Notre Dame’s fourth-quarter comeback. Cable also grabbed seven rebounds and swiped a season-high five steals, the latter one off her career high set exactly one year to the day in a win at home over Wake Forest.

Unsung Hero: Freshman guard Arike Ogunbowale got the Fighting Irish going in the first half, scoring 12 of her 16 points before intermission. She then dished out a key assist to senior guard Hannah Huffman, whose layup with 45 seconds left gave Notre Dame a 63-55 lead.

Unofficial Play of the Game, Part I: No play in Monday’s victory was bigger than Cable’s transition three-pointer from the right wing with 3:59 remaining, a triple that put Notre Dame in front to stay at 57-55. However, equally valuable was Cable’s alert play coming right out of a Duke timeout less than a minute later, as she stepped in front of a pass by Duke’s Kyra Lambert and went in for an uncontested layup, putting the Fighting Irish up 61-55.

Unofficial Play of the Game, Part II: Ogunbowale made a strong bid for a spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays late in the first quarter, taking an outlet pass and driving up the court before delivering a stutter-step to blow by Lambert and finish a layup that gave Notre Dame a 16-9 lead with 2:43 left in the opening period.

Stat Of The Game: Notre Dame’s five turnovers were its fewest in a single game since Nov. 16, 2007, when it committed a school record-low three turnovers at Maryland.

Additional Notes: Notre Dame is off to a 21-1 start for the fourth time in six years and sixth time in program history (also 2000-01, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 25 consecutive games decided by single digits and/or in overtime, including all six such contests this season ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame improves to 47-1 all-time against ACC opponents (40-1 regular season, 7-0 postseason), including its last 22 in a row ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 54 of their last 56 regular season road games ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame had four double-digit scorers for the 13th time this year (12-1 record) and is now 130-6 (.956) in such games since the start of the 2009-10 season, including wins in 100 of its last 102 contests ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish bench outscored its opponent’s reserve unit for the 20th time in 22 opportunities this season ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame tied its season low with 10 third-quarter points, having previously posted that total on Dec. 2 in the third period of a 75-72 win over No. 10/12 Ohio State at Purcell Pavilion ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish continue their remarkable success when leading at halftime, rising to 203-2 (.990) in the past seven seasons (21-0 this year), including an active 128-game winning streak when they hold the lead at intermission ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame is 13-0 all-time when playing on ESPN’s “Big Monday” broadcast (7-0 at home, 6-0 on the road) ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish have won 27 consecutive games in the month of February and are 122-28 (.813) in February games since the 1995-96 season, and 170-43 (.798) in the month of February during the 29-year tenure of head coach Muffet McGraw ââ’¬¦ Notre Dame improves to 12-1 all-time against Duke (3-1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium) and has won the past 10 games in the series, including all six meetings (regular season and postseason) since joining the ACC in 2013-14 ââ’¬¦ the Fighting Irish are 30-2 (.938) all-time against North Carolina schools, including an active 19-game winning streak – they also are 10-1 (.909) all-time in true road games against North Carolina teams and 18-1 (.947) all-time when playing in the Tar Heel State ââ’¬¦ Turner recorded her first double-double of the season and 11th of her young career, while tying her season high with 13 rebounds (she also had 13 boards on Jan. 14 in a win at Boston College) ââ’¬¦ Turner’s four blocks give her 146 for her career, tying for sixth place in school history with Courtney LaVere (2002-06) ââ’¬¦ senior guard/captain Michaela Mabrey had a rarity on Monday – only her second missed free throw in the past two seasons and her first since March 20, 2015, in the first round of the NCAA Championship against Montana at Purcell Pavilion (Mabrey went 19-of-20 from the line last year and was 9-of-9 this season prior to missing the first of two foul shots with 17.8 seconds to play).

Up Next For The Fighting Irish: Notre Dame returns home for another ACC matchup at 7 p.m. (ET) Thursday when it welcomes North Carolina State to Purcell Pavilion. The game will be televised live on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, while radio coverage will be available in South Bend on Pulse FM (96.9/92.1) and free of charge around the world through the official Notre Dame athletics online multimedia platform, WatchND (watchnd.tv).

– ND –

Chris Masters, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2001 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s basketball and women’s golf programs. A native of San Francisco, California, Masters is a 1996 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, earned his master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).