Notre Dame Women’s Basketball: Irish Steamroll Louisville

Junior Brianna Turner and sophomore Arike Ogunbowale helped the Notre Dame Fighting Irish turn a once close top-15 matchup against the Louisville Cardinals into a blowout, winning 85-66.

The No. 7 Irish (22-3 overall, 10-1 in ACC) were up just five points as the second quarter opened, but forced multiple turnovers and owned the offensive glass. By the time the Cardinals called timeout with 6:26 remaining before the half, the Irish had ripped off a 13-2 run.

The Irish held a 50-28 lead at halftime over the Cardinals, who entered No. 12 at 20-5 overall (7-3 in the ACC). It was Notre Dame’s tenth consecutive win over the Cardinals.

Notre Dame committed just three turnovers, one of the squad’s best all-time performances.

Louisville guard Asia Durr led all scorers with 31 points. Ogunbowale led the Irish with 22 points, while freshman Jackie Young provided relief off the bench with 16 points and seven rebounds. Turner finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Irish shot 50 percent from the floor, close to their season average of 48.9 percent. But they struggled to drain the three, going just 3-for-16 (19 percent), well below their season average of 40 percent.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed its second seeding Monday, slotting Notre Dame as a two seed. Florida State (#5 in the Associated Press poll; 21-2), Stanford (#8 in AP; 20-3) and Oregon State (#9 in AP; 22-2) are the three other two seeds.

The committee presently has Connecticut (#1 in AP; 22-0), Baylor (#2; 23-1), South Carolina (#6; 20-2) and Mississippi St. (#4; 23-1) as the No. 1 seeds.

The Irish women’s next game is at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who are just 3-7 in conference play (14-9 overall). The game is at the Purcell Pavilion.