Nov. 1, 2005
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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior All-America guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) scored a team-high 18 points to pace four Notre Dame players in double figures as the Irish tipped off their 2005-06 season with an 84-59 exhibition victory over Division II entity Indianapolis on Tuesday night before a crowd of 5,053 fans at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame now is 23-1 in its last 24 exhibition games, dating back to the 1993-94 season, and has won 18 consecutive exhibition contests.
Duffy connected on 7-of-13 shots from the floor, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and added a game-high seven assists with just one turnover. Sophomore center Melissa D’Amico (Manorville, N.Y./William Floyd) looked strong as well, collecting 16 points (7-12 FG) and a best seven rebounds. Freshman guard Lindsay Schrader (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) got the starting nod in her first outing and responded with 13 points (6-13 FG), while matching D’Amico’s game-high seven rebounds. Senior forward Courtney LaVere rounded out the double-figure scoring quartet with 10 points (5-9 FG).
As a team, Notre Dame shot 53 percent from the floor (35-of-66) and owned a 40-29 edge on the boards. The Irish also had 25 assists and only 14 turnovers on the evening, with sophomore guard Tulyah Gaines (North Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne HS) nearly equalling Duffy’s performance with six assists and one turnover.
“We have a lot of things we need to work on,” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. “Our defense and rebounding weren’t that good tonight and that’s something we’ll address in practice. Offensively, we had some moments where we looked all right, but their zone caught us off-guard a little since they hadn’t played it at all last year and this was their first game this season.”
Indianapolis was led by Mandy Geryak’s game-high 23 points, as the transfer from Xavier was making her first appearance in a Greyhound uniform after redshirting last season. Vanessa Jackson, a transfer from Morehead State, added 11 points off the bench.
Notre Dame stormed from the gate with a 15-5 run during the first 6:08 of the contest, getting six points from D’Amico in the stretch. However, Indianapolis rallied back with a 19-7 run of its own and actually took the lead when Geryak hit a layup at the 9:54 mark.
With the crowd buzzing nervously, the Irish went to work, closing the first half on a 22-7 spurt, with Schrader and LaVere each kicking in six points for the home team. Sophomore guard Amanda Tsipis (Perry, Ohio/Perry) also contributed during the run with a basket, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in the final four minutes of the period as Notre Dame went to the locker room on top, 44-31.
The Greyhounds kept the margin at 13 points for the first two minutes of the second half. The Irish then iced the game with a 20-8 run that pushed them in front by a 68-43 count on a three-pointer by Duffy at the 8:33 juncture. Notre Dame opened up its largest lead of the night at 84-57 on a short jumper by freshman forward Chandrica Smith (Stone Mountain, Ga./Oak Hill Academy (Va.)) with one minute to play.
The Irish will return to action Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. (ET) when they play host to another Division II school, Ferris State in a second exhibition game at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame opens the regular season Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. (ET) against Michigan, also at the Joyce Center.
— ND —