Jan. 22, 2008
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Deirdre Naughton scored 20 points and No. rv/25 DePaul shot a season-high 60 percent to beat No. 16 Notre Dame 81-80 on Tuesday night.
The Fighting Irish (15-4, 3-2 BIG EAST) had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Holly Medley stole the ball from Charel Allen with 2 seconds left and dribbled away as the clock ran out.
DePaul (14-4, 3-2) shot 72 percent in the first half and beat the Irish for the third straight time.
The Blue Demons, which led by two at halftime, went on a 9-0 run early in the second half to open a 58-49 lead. Allie Quigley ignited the run when she converted on a three-point play, then Naughton did it again 36 seconds later. Missy Mitidiero capped the run with a 3-pointer.
The Irish cut the lead to 71-70 when Allen hit a 3 with 4:37 left. But the Blue Demons stretched the lead to five moments later when Natasha Williams scored inside and Quigley made a pair of free throws.
Brittany Mallory’s two foul shots for the Irish cut the lead to 81-80. Quigley caught the inbounds pass and while being covered by Mallory lost her dribble out of bounds to give the Irish a chance with 4 seconds left. Quigley scored 16 points for DePaul, Williams had 14 and Mitidiero added 12.
Ashley Barlow scored a career-high 23 points for the Irish, Allen had 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Erica Williamson tied her career high with 16 points.
— ND —
POST GAME NOTES: All four Notre Dame losses this season have come to teams ranked in one or both of the major national polls (also #3 Maryland, #3 Tennessee and #16 West Virginia) … DePaul wins its third consecutive game in the series, the first time either side has done that since Jan. 27, 1990, when the Blue Demons won the last of a series-long five in a row vs. Notre Dame … for the first time in nine regular-season games, the road team claims a series win, with DePaul the last to do on Feb. 11, 1992, a 62-49 victory at the Joyce Center … in each of the past 10 series games, the winning side has scored at least 75 points, with both teams topping 70 points in the past four outings (and five of six) … four of the past six games in the series have been decided by eight points or less, including three by five points or fewer … for just the fourth time in 114 games since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, Notre Dame loses when scoring at least 80 points (last occurred on Dec. 8, 1998 in a 106-81 loss to #1 Connecticut at the Joyce Center) … Notre Dame scores at least 80 points for the 11th time this season … DePaul’s 10-point comeback is the largest by an Irish opponent since March 21, 2005, when #rv/24 Arizona State came back from 13 points down to defeat #11/13 Notre Dame, 70-61 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Fresno, Calif. … the Irish lose for the first time in 12 games this season when outrebounding their opponent … Notre Dame’s 10 turnovers were its second-lowest total of the season (school-record three at Maryland on Nov. 16) … DePaul’s .600 field goal percentage is the highest by an Irish opponent since Jan. 7, 1994, when No. 1 Tennessee shot an opponent record .673 (37-55) from the floor in a 105-70 win at the Joyce Center … sophomore guard Ashley Barlow scored a career-high 23 points, one more than her total at Purdue on Dec. 8 … sophomore center Erica Williamson tied her career high with 16 points, matching the output she had against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 29 … senior guard Charel Allen moved into 12th place on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 1,327 points, passing Margaret Nowlin (1,312 points from 1988-92).