Dec. 28, 2005
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Lindsay Schrader scored 13 points as No. 12 Notre Dame beat Valparaiso 58-50.
Megan Duffy and Courtney LaVere each added 10 points for the Irish (9-1) in their first game after a 10-day holiday break.
LaVere, a forward, set a career high with six assists.
Betsy Rietema scored 11 points and Tamra Braun 10 to lead Valparaiso (5-5).
Notre Dame had 19 turnovers, but held the Crusaders to 36 percent shooting. The Irish outscored Valparaiso 38-14 in the paint and shot 50 percent from the field.
Notre Dame used a 10-0 early run to take a 12-2 lead and closed the half with a 9-4 run to take a 30-18 halftime lead. The Irish led by as many as 17 points in the second half.
Schrader and Charel Allen each had seven rebounds as Notre Dame outrebounded the Crusaders 37-22.
The Irish reserves, led by LaVere and Allen, who had eight points, outscored the Crusaders’ 24-9.
Notre Dame hosts No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame is off to a 9-1 start for the fourth time in school history, all in the past eight seasons (also 1998-99, 2000-01 and 2004-05) … the Irish now are 19-0 all-time against Valparaiso, the best record against one opponent in school history … Notre Dame has now held the Crusaders to 50 points or less in seven of their nine series meetings in South Bend … Wednesday’s game vs. Valparaiso was the first home contest for Notre Dame in 29 days, the longest drought between Joyce Center games since 1981-82 (36 days) … the Irish are 6-0 this season in day games … Notre Dame is 50-10 (.833) all-time at home against Indiana schools, including wins in 13 of their last 14 outings … Notre Dame is 8-0 this season when it leads at halftime and 105-8 (.929) in such games since the start of the 2000-01 campaign … the Irish have held five opponents under 60 points this season, going 5-0 in those games, and improving to 155-9 (.945) when doing so since the beginning of the 1995-96 season (Notre Dame’s first in the BIG EAST Conference) … the Irish have trailed for a combined total of just 15 seconds in their last three games (a 39-38 deficit midway through the second half vs. #22/21 Utah on Dec. 18 in Las Vegas) … the Irish defense has been stout in its last three wins, allowinig 53.0 ppg. with a .309 field goal percentage (50-of-162) … Notre Dame held Valparaiso to an opponent season-low 22 rebounds, the fewest by an Irish foe since Feb. 12, 2005, when Georgetown collected only 21 boards in a 72-58 ND win at the Joyce Center … the Irish also limited the Crusaders to an opponent season-low 18 first-half points, the fewest since West Virginia also had 18 on March 6, 2005, in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals at Hartford, Conn. (a 70-59 ND win) … Notre Dame has had three or more players score in double figures in nine of 10 games this season (all wins) … the Irish committed a season-low nine fouls vs. Valparaiso, their leanest infraction total since Jan. 23, 2005, when they were whistled for eight fouls in a 63-47 win over No. 6/7 Rutgers at the Joyce Center … freshman guard Lindsay Schrader led the Irish in scoring for the first time in her career with 13 points today, and she is the fourth different player to earn top scoring honors for Notre Dame this season (others are Charel Allen, Melissa D’Amico and Megan Duffy) … senior forward Courtney LaVere distributed a career-high six assists, one more than her previous best that she had set on two occasions (most recently on Nov. 12, 2004 vs. Illinois State at the Joyce Center in the first round of the Preseason WNIT) … Wednesday’s attendance of 6,430 was a season high, but that mark will last only one game — Saturday’s contest with No. 1 Tennessee is a sellout (11,418), the third in school history.