Nov. 27, 2007
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Ashley Barlow scored 18 points, Charel Allen added 17 and Notre Dame (No. 22 AP/No. 23 ESPN/USA Today) used a pressing defense to open a big first-half lead and beat Canisius 93-47 on Tuesday night.
The Fighting Irish (5-1) forced 29 turnovers and held the Golden Griffins (3-2) to a season-low 34 percent shooting. The Irish also outscored Canisius 50-12 inside and had a 46-28 rebounding edge.
Devereaux Peters added 12 points and Lindsay Schrader and Brittany Mallory added 10 points each for the Irish, who shot 51 percent. Laura Buetow and Amanda Cavo led Canisius with 10 points each.
After the Irish quickly took an 8-0 lead, the Golden Griffins answered with an 8-0 run of their own. But they couldn’t keep up when the Irish began pressing full court. The first trip down the court, Micayla Drysdale missed a 3-pointer she put up just as the shot clock expired.
The Irish then went on a 25-4 run, with seven Irish players scoring. During one 5-minute scoreless drought, the Griffins turned the ball over seven times on nine possessions, including three travel calls. Canisius only got off two shots during that spurt and one of them was blocked by Erica Williamson.
The Irish forced 18 turnovers in the first half, including 11 steals, to open a 49-22 halftime lead. Notre Dame won its third straight game by at least 30 points, the first time that’s happened since January 1999.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: Notre Dame has won three consecutive games by at least 30 points for the first time since Jan. 20-30, 1999, when the Irish strung together four such victories against Seton Hall (87-47), St. John’s (99-60), Syracuse (94-61) and Providence (97-59) … Notre Dame also posted its third consecutive game with at least 88 points, the first time that’s happened since the last three games of that aforementioned series from Jan. 23-30, 1999 … the Irish had five double-figure scorers for the third consecutive game, the first time they’ve done that since at least the 1989-90 season (further research pending) … for the third time in six games this season, all 11 Notre Dame players on the roster scored points (also vs. Miami-Ohio and Central Michigan) … the Irish forced at least 25 turnovers for the third time this season (also Western Kentucky and Boston College) … Notre Dame registered double-digit steals for the third consecutive game and fourth time this season — in the past three games, the Irish are averaging 15.7 steals per game … Notre Dame knocked down a season-high six three-pointers on a season-best .400 three-point percentage … the Irish shot better than 50 percent for the third time this season (also Miami-Ohio and Central Michigan) … Notre Dame has limited its last three opponents to an average of 48.7 points per game and a .200 three-point percentage (7-of-35) … the Irish now are 22-0 all-time at home (41-3 overall) against New York schools … Notre Dame has won 16 of its last 17 games (11 in a row) vs. first-time opponents, including a perfect 9-0 record at home in that time (2000-01 to present) … senior guard Charel Allen scored a season-high 17 points … sophomore guard Ashley Barlow dished out a career-high six assists, topping her old mark of four dimes, set on four occasions (most recently vs. California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 2007) … junior guard Lindsay Schrader tied her career high with four assists, the fifth time she’s had that total (most recently at Cincinnati on Feb. 25, 2006) … freshman forward Devereaux Peters tied her season high with 12 points and blocked at least three shots for the third time this year … freshman guard Brittany Mallory scored in double figures for the second consecutive game and delivered a season-high three assists.