February 13, 1999
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) – Tomora Young scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half and No. 9 Rutgers used its top-ranked defense to beat No. 6 Notre Dame 77-57 Saturday, ending an 11-game winning streak for the Irish.
Linda Miles came off the bench and scored 17 points late and point guard Tasha Pointer added 15 and 10 assists as Rutgers (22-4, 14-1 Big East) held Notre Dame (20-3, 12-3) to its lowest point total of the season.
The win was the fifth straight and 16th in 18 games for Rutgers, which is tied with Connecticut for first place in the conference.
Sheila McMillen hit six 3-pointers to lead Notre Dame with 18 points. Ruth Riley added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Danielle Green had 11 points for the Irish, who were limited to 33 percent shooting (18 of 54) and had 23 turnovers, their second-highest total of the season.
Rutgers came into the game looking to take away Notre Dame’s inside game and the Lady Knights did for the most part. There was a sequence early in the first half when the Irish tried to force the ball inside and had seven straight turnovers.
Young helped Rutgers take control late in the first half, scoring 11 points during a 19-3 spurt that gave the Lady Knights a 39-27 lead.
Notre Dame made a couple of runs and got within 54-48 when Green hit two free throws with 7:28 to go.
Pointer then fed Dana Boonen for a layup to ignite a 16-2 spurt during which the Lady Knights hit 10 of 11 free throws, with Boonen making four. Pointer had five points in the game-clinching run and Miles had four.
Notre Dame came into the game averaging 83.8 points. Its previous low was 63 in a one-point win over Villanova.
Rutgers’ defense came into the game yielding an average of 55.4 points.
By TOM CANAVAN
AP Sports Writer