Freshman forward Becca Bruszewski (left) poured in a season-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to help the Irish roll past Central Michigan, 94-41 on Tuesday night.

Irish Blow Out Chippewas, 94-41

Nov. 20, 2007

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich (AP) — Freshman Becca Bruszewski scored a career-high 13 points to lead six Notre Dame players in double figures Tuesday night in a 94-41 rout of Central Michigan.

The No. 23/24 Fighting Irish (3-1) pulled away from the Chippewas (2-2) for good with a 20-0 run in the final 6 minutes of the first half.

Ashley Barlow and Melissa Lechlitner each had 12 points. Barlow also had a career-high 11 rebounds. Tulyah Gaines added 11. Melissa D’Amico and Lindsay Schrader each had 10.

The Fighting Irish, who were coming off a 75-59 loss to third-ranked Maryland, shot 61 percent from the floor in the first half, and 56 percent for the game.

Central Michigan shot 27 percent from the floor, and no Chippewas finished in double digits. They also had 22 turnovers. Freshman Shonda Long led Central Michigan with eight points, while Britni Houghton and Candace Wilson each had seven.

— ND —

POST GAME NOTES: The 53-point win was the largest for Notre Dame since March 4, 2001, when the Irish defeated Georgetown, 89-33 in a BIG EAST Conference Championship quarterfinal at Storrs, Conn. … Tuesday’s winning margin also is the second-largest ever recorded by a Notre Dame squad on an opponent’s floor — largest of the 21-year Muffet McGraw era — and exceeded only by an 84-27 win at Valparaiso on Jan. 21, 1982 … Notre Dame had six double-figure scorers in a game for the first time since Nov. 12, 2004, when the Irish also had six double-digit producers against Illinois State in the first round of the Preseason WNIT at the Joyce Center … Notre Dame shot a blistering .559 from the field, its best field goal percentage since Jan. 4, 2006, when the Irish shot an even 56 percent in a 66-63 loss at St. John’s … Notre Dame held an opposing team without a single double-digit scorer for the first time since Jan. 2, 2005, when the Irish defeated Seton Hall, 54-33 at the Joyce Center (SHU’s leading scorer that night was Heta Korpivaara with seven points) … CMU’s 19 first-half points matched last year’s season-low by a Notre Dame opponent, established by Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28, 2006 at the Joyce Center … the Irish picked up their 15th consecutive win over a Mid-American Conference opponent, a streak that dates back to 1995 … Notre Dame continued an impressive run of balanced production, as freshman forward Becca Bruszewski became the sixth different player (counting both exhibitions) to lead the team in scoring this season; what’s more, sophomore guard Ashley Barlow became the fifth different Irish player to lead the squad in rebounding (only freshman forward Devereaux Peters has had multiple team-high rebounding nights vs. Hillsdale and Western Kentucky) … Barlow’s 11 rebounds were a career high, one more than her previous best that she’d set twice before (most recently vs. California on March 18, 2007 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament) … Barlow’s double-double was the second of her career, following a 19-point, 10-rebound effort in an overtime win vs. Bowling Green on Nov. 13, 2006 at the Joyce Center … senior guard Tulyah Gaines knocked down her first career three-pointer at Central Michigan … in each of Notre Dame’s three wins this season, the Irish have not trailed for a single second, and have been tied for a total of 22 seconds after the first basket has been scored (3-3 vs. WKU on Nov. 13).